PRIVATE bus companies are raking in billions of pounds while costs rise and services decline, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warns.

New research published by Labour today reveals how bus fares are set to soar over the coming years while private companies are expecting to make record profits.

Government statistics show that, since 2010, fares have risen at a rate that is far higher than wages, with an average bus fare in 2022 set to be 53 per cent higher in real terms than in 2010.

However the actual numbers of bus passengers has been continually on the decline, with over 10 per cent fewer passengers now than there were when the Tories and Liberal Democrats took office.

Elderly and disabled passenger numbers are set to fall by nearly 20 per cent, said Labour, and there are expected to be 5,000 fewer bus routes across the country in 2022.

However, private bus companies have made a total of £3.3 billion in profit since the 2009-10 financial year.

Labour has urged the government to remove its ban on local authorities forming their own bus companies and vowed to extend local government powers to re-regulate local bus services when in government.

The analysis comes as Mr Corbyn is set to meet residents in Derbyshire to discuss their concerns over cuts to infrastructure.

Speaking in advance of the visit, he said: “The Tories said privatisation would improve our buses but private bus companies are running bus services into the ground, while raking in billions of pounds in profit.

“Passengers now face a toxic mix of rising fares, cuts to services and reduced access.

“Labour will act in the interests of the many by protecting pensioners’ bus passes and introducing a new free pass for under-25s.

“For too long the bus industry has put profit for a few before millions of passengers.

“A future Labour government will change that.”

Labour would also introduce a new free bus pass for under-25s to encourage bus use among young people and would offer widespread improvements in services for the disabled and elderly.