London to get even more expensive with big jump in council tax and Tube fares

  • london
  • January 18, 2023
  • Comments Off on London to get even more expensive with big jump in council tax and Tube fares
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Transport for London has announced bus and tube fares will rise to the most expensive they have been in a decade.

Journey costs will increase by an average of 5.9 per cent – the biggest hike for more than 10 years.

For the second successive year, bus fares will rise 10p – taking them to £1.75 from March 5.

The daily and weekly cap on pay-as-you-go Tube fares will increase by up to 6.7 per cent, depending on how many zones are travelled.

A ban introduced at the start of the pandemic on Londoners over 60 travelling for free before 9am is being made permanent from today – a move that will anger many thousands of pensioners but which will generate £40m a year in extra fares.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he has been forced by the Government to mirror the 5.9 per cent rise in national rail fares.

Mr Khan said: ‘I froze TfL fares for five years from 2016 to make transport more affordable for millions of Londoners. But my hands have been tied since the pandemic by the strict conditions set by the government in the recent emergency funding agreement for TfL, which means fares have to be increase in London by the same amount as National Rail fares – 5.9 per cent.

‘This is a challenging time for our city, with a government that is not fully funding our public services, but I’m determined to step up so that we can continue building a greener, safer and fairer London for everyone.’



Main Tfl price changes

· A zone 1 peak-hours Tube fare will increase by 30p to £2.80, a 12 per cent jump.

· Off peak, the Zone 1 Tube fare increases by 20p to £2.70.

· Most single Tube fares only rise by 10p.

· The daily cap on the cost of multiple bus trips will increase by 30p to £5.25.

· A seven-day bus and tram pass will increase by £1.40 to £24.70.

· The Hopper ticket, which allows multiple bus journeys within an hour for the cost of a single fare, will be retained.

· The daily cap on Tube or rail travel within zones 1-4 will increase by 70p to £11.70

· A weekly zones 1-6 Travelcard will increase by £4 to £74.50.

‘This will ensure we can protect and further improve our vital frontline public services, including the police, transport and the London Fire Brigade.’

He said single fares in central London had been deliberately increased by more than those outside zone 1 to keep costs ‘as low as possible’ for Londoners travelling from the suburbs into work.

He also said it is because journeys solely within zone 1 were ‘more likely to be made for tourism or leisure’.

He also recognised that car use in the suburbs is higher and wanted to avoid discouraging greater use of public transport.

He has abandoned plans to increase the qualifying age for the 60 Oyster, meaning that the benefit will continue to start at age 60 – though with no free travel until after 9am.

Peter Fortune, deputy leader of the GLA Conservatives, said: ‘London is now facing a major cost of Khan crisis.

‘Sadiq Khan’s council tax will have risen 57 per cent since he was elected, as he hits Londoners with another big increase in fares.’

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