Premier Motor Service has reached a new agreement with the NSW government overnight, so bus travellers on the north and south coasts, are not hit with a 2,500 per cent fare increase.

Pensioners and concession card holders won’t pay a massive fee hike of $5.00 to $130.00 on a return bus fare from Bomaderry to Eden.

More details will be released next week.

The price rise is the result of the end of a state government contract with a privately-owned bus company.

Bus company Premier Motor Service was contracted by the NSW government to provide a deregulated long distance bus services on the New South Wales south and north coasts.

Image Credit: Premier Motor Service

Premier Motor Service was told its contract for services between Eden to Bomaderry and Lismore to Tweed Heads had expired.

The services operate from Bomaderry to Batemans Bay, Bega and Eden and Tweed Heads to Ballina and Lismore.

According to the ABC, more than 28,000 passengers a year use the South Coast service and about 60 per cent are concession card holders.

“Whilst the electorate of the Minister for the Illawarra and South Coast enjoys a free shuttle bus, this government is smashing south coast residents by cutting transport subsidies to our only form of interconnected public transport along the south-east,” Ward said.

Sue Muffler uses the bus service on the New South Wales Far South Coast more than a dozen times to access things like medical appointments, Sydney Airport, or simply enjoying a taste of city life.

A 300-kilometre trip from the 75-year-old's home in Merimbula to Bomaderry had cost her just $2.50, but has now skyrocketed to $65.00.

Ms Muffler said the bus had been an accessible way for her to reach the start of the South Coast Line on the Intercity Trains Network at Bomaderry without needing a car.



Ms Muffler said she would be willing to pay more than $2.50 for the trip, but $65 one way was a shock.

"That is just an incredibly huge amount that a lot of people won't be able to afford," she told the ABC.

Premier Motor Service said it was disappointed at the decision and was seeking legal advice.