Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has confirmed an overall rise of 2.6% across all Transport for London (TfL) services from 01 March 2021.
The fares increase – the first in five years – was a condition of the emergency TfL funding deal made with the government in November 2020.
As such, there will be a 5p increase on bus and tram fares to £1.55 and the daily cap will increase by 15p to £4.65, the same price as three single journeys. The bus and tram pass season price for a seven-day ticket will also increase to £21.90.
Passengers who travel greater distances on TfL services will see the biggest increase. On the Tube in Zones 1-6 and other rail services in London where Tube fares apply, PAYG fares will increase by 10p or 20p.
However, Khan said these increases are still significantly below what any cumulative increase would have been had fares risen in line with inflation over the last five years.
He also stressed that some single pay-as-you-go Tube, DLR, London Overground and TfL rail fares will be frozen to encourage people back into central London to aid the UK capital’s recovery. This includes trips made exclusively within Zone 1.
Furthermore, hire fees for the Santander Cycle scheme are set to remain the same, with 24-hour access for unlimited journeys of up to 30 minutes available for £2.
The Hopper fare, which was introduced in September 2016, will remain in place, permitting multiple free bus and tram transfers within an hour, as will all current concessions, including free travel for young people under the age of 18.
Khan said: “Londoners know that I have done everything possible to make public transport more affordable since I became mayor – including introducing the unlimited Hopper bus fare and freezing all TfL fares since taking office – saving the average London household over £200.
“Unfortunately, this year ministers insisted on a RPI+1 per cent fares increase in order for TfL to get the emergency government support needed as a consequence of the global pandemic.
“Public transport should be affordable to all, so I am pleased that I was able to fight off even worse government proposals to scrap free travel for under 18’s and concessions for over 60s as well as bigger fares increase.”
TfL has also published its Financial Sustainability Plan, which focuses on a green recovery and sets out how it can achieve financial sustainability after fare income was decimated by the pandemic – covering costs of day-to-day operations, maintenance and financing by 2023/24.
