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<p>I am aware that my Rt Hon Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury recently wrote
to the five largest UK bus operators seeking their assurance that they are doing all
they can to ensure passengers benefit from the fall in oil prices.</p><p> </p><p>The
bus market outside London is deregulated, with the vast majority of services provided
on a commercial basis by private sector bus operators. Decisions on the level of fares
are a commercial matter for individual bus operators.</p><p> </p><p>As fuel costs
are such a small proportion of the cost of providing rail services we would not expect
to see a strong relationship between the two. Rail fares are set based on inflation,
of which fuel prices are a component.</p><p> </p>
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