National Express cuts low-fare day ticket cost by 50p

The low-fare zones cover parts of Sandwell, Dudley and Walsall, including Stourbridge, Merry Hill, Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Oldbury, Blackheath and Halesowen.

Child tickets have dropped to £1.50.

Chris Gibbens, the bus company's West Midlands commercial director, said: "Smaller high streets are facing huge challenges these days. Online shopping and out-of-town retail destinations make it more challenging for shops to survive.

"So we want to make it easier for our Black Country customers to pay local to stay local, visiting the great shops and attractions in the area."

National Express West Midlands’ first low-fare zone was launched in Sandwell and Dudley in February 2017. Since then, the bus operator says it has seen 4,000 extra bus journeys each day on the patch.

Some 67 per cent of customers surveyed by Transport for West Midlands said they were making more journeys as a result of the cheaper tickets. Almost two thirds of these journeys were shopping, while half were not being made before.

Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, welcomed the move.

He said: “It is no secret that our town centres are struggling, and we need to do everything we can to help. One of the ways in which we can do this is by making them as easy and as cheap as possible to visit. The more people we can encourage into town centres, the more likely we are to see a higher footfall.

“Public transport plays a vital role in this, and so I am delighted that National Express West Midlands is reducing the price of its day tickets for low-fare zones.

“Good transport links is part of my blueprint to revitalise town centres, which also includes more housing and a revamped business rates system.”