west midlands travel bus fare

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Single trip

Price reduced until 31st October 2023

Buy on our mTicket app, using Tap & Cap, cash or contactless, or with a Swift PAYG card

Our drivers are unable to give change so if you pay with cash please use the exact fare.

Buy on the bus using contactless payment or cash, on our mTicket app or with a Swift PAYG card

Unlimited travel on all bus operators within the nBus zone and on all National Express buses. Our drivers are unable to give change so if you pay with cash please use the exact fare.

Flexible 5 Day Saver ticket bundle

Buy on our mTicket app

Unlimited adult travel for 5 days on all bus operators within the nBus zone and on all National Express buses.

Flexible 10 Day Saver ticket bundle

Unlimited adult travel for 10 days on all bus operators within the nBus zone and on all National Express buses.

18 & under

Buy on the bus using contactless payment or cash or with a Swift PAYG card

You are unable to buy 18 & under tickets on our mTicket app.

Unlimited 18 & under travel for 1 day on all bus operators within the nBus zone and on all National Express buses.

Our drivers are unable to give change so if you pay with cash please use the exact fare. 16-18 year olds must be living within the West Midlands county and hold a valid 16-18 Swift card. The West Midlands county consists of Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Solihull and Coventry. Children 4 years old and under travel for free when accompanied by a fare paying customer or pass holder.

Swift Pay As You Go (PAYG) top up

Pay As You Go Swift cards can be used as a cashless way to pay for Adult and 18 & under tickets on the bus.

PAYG cards can now only be topped up at a Payzone agent. The minimum you can add to your PAYG card is £10 and the card can hold a maximum of £50.

Exact fare system

Our buses have an exact fare system and the driver cannot give change, so please make sure you have the correct money. The exact fare system ensures that loading times are kept to a minimum. 

Our single journey fares are based upon 'fare stages', your fare is calculated by the number of 'fare stages' your journey takes you through. Update from 3rd July available soon. 

A Short Hop ticket lets you travel on the bus for about a mile across our network. For more information click here .

Valid for one single trip

Buy using cash, contactless payment, or a Swift PAYG card only

You are unable to buy Short Hop tickets on our mTicket app.

Birmingham Uni hop

The Birmingham Uni hop is available for all university students, employees and NHS staff members* travelling within the zone on selected services. For more information click here . 

*You must carry a valid ID card.

Buy using cash on the bus only

Birmingham Uni Hop - 5 ticket bundle

Buy on our mTicket app only

Birmingham Uni Hop - 10 ticket bundle

Group tickets are for up to 5 people travelling together within the nBus zone and on all National Express buses.

You can find out more about our Group day ticket  here .

*Up to 5 adults or 2 adults and up to 4 children

Unlimited travel for up to 5 people or 2 adults and up to 4 children for 1 day on all bus operators within the nBus zone and on all National Express buses. Our drivers are unable to give change so if you pay with cash please use the exact fare.

National Express Bus travel outside nBus zone

Tickets for any National Express bus service that travels to, from or between locations outside the nBus zone . 

Adult single extra ticket

Buy using cash, contactless or Tap & Cap

Tickets for any National Express bus service that travels to, from or between locations outside the nBus zone. These tickets are only valid on National Express bus services.

Adult NX Day Saver extra ticket

Nx group day saver extra ticket.

Buy using cash or contactless

Child single extra ticket

Buy on the bus using cash or contactless

Child NX Day Saver extra ticket

TTickets for any National Express bus service that travels to, from or between locations outside the nBus zone. These tickets are only valid on National Express bus services.

(If you are aged between 16-18 you must show a valid  West Midlands 16-18 card )

Bus & metro - travel on bus and Metro tram

Unlimited travel on all bus operators within the nBus zone , on all National Express buses and the West Midlands Metro tram.

Bus + Metro day ticket

Buy on the bus using contactless payment or cash, or with a Swift PAYG card

Unlimited adult travel on all bus operators that are part of the nBus scheme within the West Midlands zone and the West Midlands Metro tram zones 1-4. Our drivers are unable to give change so if you pay with cash please use the exact fare.

Unlimited 18 & under travel on all bus operators that are part of the nBus scheme within the West Midlands zone and the West Midlands Metro tram zones 1-4. Our drivers are unable to give change so if you pay with cash please use the exact fare. 16-18 year olds must be living within the West Midlands county and hold a valid 16-18 Swift card. The West Midlands county consists of Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Solihull and Coventry. Children 4 years old and under travel for free when accompanied by a fare paying customer or pass holder.

(16-18 year olds must show a valid  West Midlands 16-18 card )

nNetwork - travel on bus, rail and Metro tram

Unlimited travel on all bus operators within the nBus zone , on all National Express buses ,  the West Midlands Metro tram zones 1-4 and train travel within zones 1-5 .

Family tickets are for a family of up to 2 adults and 4 children* travelling together. Minimum of 1 adult and 1 child needed.

One day nNetwork zones 1-5 ticket

Buy on the bus using cash, contactless payment or Swift PAYG card, on the tram or at West Midlands rail station

You are unable to buy nNetwork tickets using our mTicket app.

nNetwork daytripper

After 9.30am weekdays and all day weekends

Y ou are unable to buy nNetwork tickets using our mTicket app.

Family daytripper

£13.60

See all tickets & prices  

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Our passenger descriptions are designed to help you choose the right ticket for yourself or your fellow travellers.

Adult fares are applicable to all passengers aged 2+. Adults under the age of 16 are not permitted to travel alone on any European service unless accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over or they have a letter of authority from a parent or guardian.

Infants 0-1 Inclusive

Children aged under the age of 2, must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over. Unaccompanied children will not be carried.

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West Midlands Bus Users

£2 single bus fare cap – is it such a big deal in the West Midlands?

Good that Government has invested £60m to cap single adult bus fares to £2 per journey from January to March 📉 We already have some of the lowest fares in the country, and now they’ll be even cheaper to help people during a difficult time. A great chance to give bus a go 🚌 pic.twitter.com/Y34NFe6cFY — Andy Street (@andy4wm) September 7, 2022

A lot has been said recently about how the Government plans to fund bus operators to provide a ‘maximum single fare of £2.00’ for three months next year, in order to support the bus industry and get more passengers back onto buses.

While I welcome any kind of publicity or promotion that gets people using buses again, I don’t think this scheme would really work out, certainly not here in the West Midlands.

Whilst it is true that bus fares do vary wildly across the country – especially in ‘less-urban’ areas where bus fares can be quite complicated to work out being based on distance travelled – it does have to be said that outside of London, I think that bus fares within the West Midlands are amongst the cheapest, and simplest to understand, compared to other regions around the UK.

With most bus fares here having been ‘frozen’ for the last few years already, the ‘maximum adult single’ fare is still £2.40 (some operators in Coventry only charge £2.20 – at time of writing).

Some operators, including Diamond and NX Bus, already offer a ‘short-hop’ fare at a reduced £1.50, for those making shorter journeys.

Who buys a single ticket?

For whatever reason, clearly it is the case that there are people out there who will choose to use a bus to make a single journey to somewhere.

But realistically, and applying some common-sense, in the majority of cases, if someone is going to travel by bus to somewhere, logically they would also then use the bus to get back, certainly if that journey was within the same day.

Aha, the day ticket!

Day tickets have been available in the West Midlands for as long as I can remember, and certainly in more recent years if your journey involves more than one bus service, it has always been more economical to buy a day ticket, rather than single tickets for each part of your journey.

The NX Regional Daysaver costs £4.00 and allows unlimited travel for one day on any NX West Midlands/Coventry bus.

There is of course the TfWM 1day nBus ticket for £4.20 which allows unlimited travel for one day on all operators within the TfWM bounded region.

Other operators may also have their own day tickets for unlimited travel on their own buses.

Here in the West Midlands, there are very few options in the way of ‘return’ tickets, and this is because they are mostly pointless, due to the prevalence of day tickets that offer much better value for money already.

So who benefits from a £2 single fare cap?

Here in the West Midlands, probably not that many people.

If you’re travelling to a rail station to catch a train, and won’t be making a return journey back for a couple of days, presuming you also then catch a bus to get back home, that’s a princely saving of 80p.

If you’re travelling to a meeting or conference, and have been promised a lift back home afterwards in the evening, that’s a grand 40p saving.

For the occasional bus traveller, considering the big deal being made about the ‘cost of living crisis’, I don’t think the odd 40p saving is going to make any huge inroads.

Regular bus passengers who take advantage of day tickets, as well as weekly/monthly season tickets, are already getting the best value that they can hope for here in the West Midlands (in my opinion).

Who loses out then?

Maybe it’s the smaller independent operators.

Despite the recent fuel price increases, and the general ‘cost of energy crisis’, about the only thing that hasn’t increased in price lately here in the West Midlands is the price of bus fares/tickets.

The ‘bigger’ bus operating groups across the country, that are financially backed by hedge-fund investors, can probably afford to ‘absorb’ increased operating costs, and no doubt will also be in receipt of ‘funding’ from central government, in order to subsidise this ‘fare cap’ at £2.

Even with government subsidy, could many smaller independent operators – especially those running in less densely populated areas – survive with reduced ticket revenue? On top of increased operating costs due to fuel and energy price increases?

Already this year, in the West Midlands, we’ve lost Claribels, Johnsons, Discount Travel Solutions and most recently Thandi Buses.

Other independent operators may already be looking over their shoulders…

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Stu is the founder of this West Midlands Bus Users website. He is not a bus enthusiast, but as a regular passenger takes an interest in public transport related matters, having relied on buses to get around for over twenty-five years now.

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Adult West Midlands Fare Cap Single

Valid on eligible Diamond West Midlands Zone services. Diamond West Midlands & Worcestershire Excluded Services: B1, R1, Bewdley Shuttle, Bromsgrove on Demand, N1, N2, R1, 500, 502, 828, 829, 302, S77.

Adult West Midlands Single

Valid on Diamond West Midlands Zone services. Valid on non fare capped services.

Child West Midlands Single

Valid on Diamond West Midlands Zone services

Concession West Midlands Pre-9:30 Twirlybird

Discounted travel for Senior and Disabled passholders before 9:30am on selected Diamond Services in the West Midlands area. Not valid on the following services 002, 45, 76, 125, 145/A, 150, 192, 202/S, 226

nBus + Metro 1 Week

7 days unlimited travel on all operators bus services plus Metro services in the Network West Midlands area. Purchase on the Diamond Bus App or Swift Card.

nBus + Metro 4 Week

28 days unlimited travel on all operators bus services plus Metro services in the Network West Midlands area

nBus + Metro Day

1 day unlimited travel on all operators bus services plus Metro services in the Network West Midlands area.

nBus Sandwell & Dudley Day

1 day unlimited travel on all operators bus services in the Sandwell & Dudley Low Fare Zone. Only available on Swift Go at www.TfWM.org

nBus Walsall Day

1 day unlimited travel on all operators bus services in the Walsall Low Fare Zone. Only available on Swift Go at www.TfWM.org

Regional nBus Adult 1 Week

7 days unlimited travel on all operators bus services in the Network West Midlands area. Not available on-bus. Purchase on the Diamond Bus App or Swift Card.

Regional nBus Adult 4 Week

28 days unlimited travel on all operators bus services in the Network West Midlands area. Not available on-bus. Purchase on the Diamond Bus App or Swift Card.

Regional nBus Adult Day

1 days unlimited travel on all operators bus services in the Network West Midlands area

Regional nBus Child 1 Week

7 days unlimited travel on all operators bus services in the Network West Midlands area. Not available on-bus. Purchase on Swift Card at www.TfWM.org

Regional nBus Child 4 Week

28 days unlimited travel on all operators bus services in the Network West Midlands area. Not available on-bus. Purchase on Swift Card at www.TfWM.org

Regional nBus Child Day

Regional nBus Group Day

1 days unlimited travel for upto 5 people on all operators bus services in the Network West Midlands area

Regional nBus Multi-Day 10

10 individual day tickets valid for travel on any operators bus services in the Network West Midlands area. Available on Swift Card at www.TfWM.org

Regional nBus Multi-Day 5

5 individual day tickets valid for travel on any operators bus services in the Network West Midlands area. Available on Swift Card at www.TfWM.org

Regional nBus Student 4 Week

28 days unlimited travel on all operators bus services in the Network West Midlands area. Not available on-bus. Available on Swift Card at www.TfWM.org

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Choose your way to pay

• Contactless

With tap and cap, make as many bus journeys as you like using the same contactless card or device and we'll cap your fare so you don't pay more than you should.

Forget the stress of searching for change at the bus stop, simply tap with your card or your device on our reader at the front of the bus and away you go. 

You must use the same card or device for each journey or capping won’t work.

How does it work?  You can make as many bus journeys as you like and when all your fares add up to a certain amount, we won't charge you more (your fare is automatically capped). 

We work out when you've reached a cap because we log every journey you make when you tap the same contactless (card or device) on the reader as you board the bus.

3 day and maximum capping is calculated for journeys made between a set time period of Monday to Sunday.

Follow these 3 steps

1. When getting on the bus simply place your card or device on our card machine at the front of the vehicle. Wait for the beep sound and the green screen will pop up.

2. No ticket is issued, just head to your seat and enjoy the ride! You don't need to tap your card or device again when you exit the bus as this may charge you for another journey.

3. If you are going on more than one journey in a day or across lots of days, always tap the same card or device on the reader on the bus. Even if your device is linked to the same bank account as your card, swapping between the two means we can't cap your fares. For example, if you pay with a mobile device on Monday and a contactless card on Tuesday, these fares won't count towards a 3 day or maximum cap.

How do Tap & Cap contactless tickets work/Why can’t I use Tap & Cap on other operators' buses?

The technology for Tap & Cap fares is only currently available on National Express buses, so customers can’t tap and have the fare capped on other operators’ buses. Remember, the same card or device must be tapped every time for Tap & Cap to work. If you tap on a National Express bus, your fare will automatically be capped at the best price.

Customers who wish to receive the ‘Tap & Cap’ experience across all bus operators should use   SwiftGo . This automatically caps at the best price and can also be used on the tram.

​ Check your previous payments/journeys

If you want to view your previous journeys and payments made during the previous four months just enter your card details below (don't worry your card details are captured for verification purposes only and not for payment).

If you think you have been overcharged , you will be able to check exactly what we charged you for each journey, and then compare this to what appears on your bank statement. Please be aware that the date your payment appears on your bank statement will not be the same as the date you travelled, it will usually be a few days later.

I used my credit/debit card    I used my mobile device

If you have spoken to our customer service team and they have given you a transaction ID, please choose the option below.

I have a transaction ID

For more information or any queries about our tap & cap head to our  FAQs section .

Pay by contactless

With contactless payments, you can choose the ticket you'd like without the hassle of finding change.

How does it work?

1. When getting on the bus, ask your driver for your chosen ticket(s).

2. Your choice(s) will be displayed on the reader.

3. Hold you contactless card / device to the reader until the light goes green, take your ticket(s) and have a seat.  

Check your previous payments/journeys

For more information or any queries about our contactless payments head to our  FAQs section .

Pay by cash

Paying by  cash  on our buses couldn't be simpler.

2. Put your money into the cash box, please use the exact fare as our drivers cannot give change.

3. Take your ticket and have a seat.

Pay by Swift Pay As You Go card

Paying with a   Swift Pay As You Go card   couldn't be easier.

1. When getting on the bus, ask your driver for your chosen ticket(s)

2. Hold your Swift Pay As You Go card to the reader until the light goes green

3. Take you ticket and have a seat.

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Passenger descriptions

Our passenger descriptions are designed to help you choose the right ticket for yourself or your fellow travellers.

Adult fares are applicable to all passengers aged 2+. Adults under the age of 16 are not permitted to travel alone on any European service unless accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over or they have a letter of authority from a parent or guardian.

Infants 0-1 Inclusive

Children aged under the age of 2, must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over. Unaccompanied children will not be carried.