Martin Wrigley, MP for Newton Abbot is backing a campaign spearheaded by Dawlish Town Councillor Alison Foden, calling for Fair Fares for residents of Dawlish

Martin Wrigley, MP for Newton Abbot is backing a campaign spearheaded by Dawlish Town Councillor Alison Foden, calling for Fair Fares for residents of Dawlish. 

Under Stagecoach South West's new ticketing zones introduced in January 2026, Dawlish is not included within the Exeter ticket zone, but Dawlish Warren is.  This means that although Dawlish is less than half a mile away from Dawlish Warren, a return ticket from Dawlish to Exeter would cost £3.50 more than if you boarded the bus at Dawlish Warren.  

These price changes follow the reduction of the Number 2 service from 3 buses per hour to 2 in September 2025.  When challenged about this reduction Stagecoach South West have stated that they are unable to increase the frequency of this service.  

Cllr Foden, a frequent bus user, has reported that the number 2 bus is regularly so crowded it is unable to allow passengers to board.  Despite requesting additional services along this route, Cllr Foden has been met with persistent refusal from Stagecoach South West, implying that it would not be financially viable to increase the current provision to 3 buses per hour.  Faced with this refusal, Cllr Foden suggested to Stagecoach South West an “express” A379 only bus, which would not only benefit commuters and increase passenger numbers, but would also cut down on the total journey time of the current number 2 route, which according to Stagecoach South West is approximately 2 hours.  Unfortunately the express service idea was also rebutted. 

With the new ticketing zones Stagecoach South West has split Dawlish into two zones, which seems hugely unfair for all the people who wish to commute or travel from the centre of Dawlish into Exeter. Creating a two tier pricing structure by excluding Dawlish in this way will do nothing to increase bus usage, it will push more people into cars and on to the roads.

Martin Wrigley, MP for Newton Abbot stated “we are in a Climate Crisis, and one of the easiest ways to make small improvements is for more people to use public transport and leave their cars at home. By introducing this new ticketing zone which excludes the majority of Dawlish while including Dawlish Warren, Stagecoach South West will no doubt lose passengers who feel they are being unfairly penalised. If Olchard can be included in the Exeter ticket zone, which is 16.2 miles away from Exeter bus station, it seems ridiculous that Dawlish, a mere 13.5 miles away cannot.

As the local MP I am fully supportive of the campaign started by Cllr Foden requesting that Stagecoach look again at these ticketing zones to ensure fairness for local residents.”