A BARNSLEY MP has bashed plans to introduce a five per cent rise on some bus and rail fares from June.

Dan Jarvis, MP for Barnsley Central, has urged travel bosses to reconsider the plan.

Dan - speaking at the Northern Transport Summit - said: “This is beyond frustrating, it is unacceptable.

“Price rises just weeks before the final easing of lockdown measures will understandably be seen as an attempt to profit from the fare-paying public as they consider returning to public transport.

“It will damage efforts to get people back on the buses, and hit them in their pockets at a time of great economic uncertainty.

“After so much public support it’s not just tone deaf, it calls into question the effort to build a functioning partnership with bus companies as we reform our bus services.

“First and Stagecoach talk to us about the value they attach to working in an enhanced partnership and then in practice their attitude seems to be - ‘you pay for the infrastructure and we’ll put up the fares’.

“It’s just not good enough.

“We need a fundamentally different partnership with the bus companies, and we are looking at all options, including franchising.”

Transport bosses who carried out a review into Barnsley services’ long-running cuts, rising fares and timetable changes which ‘cut off’ communities have urged more funding to be provided to address a decline in passenger numbers.

Dan added: “Passengers have suffered - following the findings of the review and its recommendations, we owe it to them to provide a first-class bus service and one they can rely on.

“In difficult circumstances, with yearly cuts to budgets, we have lost sight of what a good bus service looks like and it’s time that we regain this perspective.”