London tube and bus fares experience biggest price hike in a decade

London commuters will see the biggest price hike in tube and bus fares in a decade next month, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced.

In a bid to restore TfL’s finances, transport fares in London will rise by up to 30p per journey, depending on time and zone, with the changes coming into effect from the beginning of March.

The average price hike on fares across the board is 4.8 per cent, the biggest increase since Boris Johnson raised fares while in the post in 2012.

Single Tube fares using Oyster or contactless cards will increase by 10p in zone one, and between 10p to 30p across the rest of the Underground network.

Single bus and tram fares will rise by 10p to £1.65, while the daily cap on multiple tube journeys will rise 3.8 per cent – from £4.65 to £4.95.

TfL has estimated that it will see an annual funding black hole of £1.5bn within the next two financial years, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and reduced passenger numbers.

“Since TfL’s finances were decimated by the pandemic, the government has set strict conditions as part of the emergency funding deals to keep essential transport services running in London,” said Sadiq Khan.

“We have been forced into this position by the government and the way it continues to refuse to properly fund TfL, but I have done everything in my power to keep fares as affordable as possible.”

The price hike comes after recently announced changes to London transport pricing and discounts, such as the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow being charged at premium rates throughout the day, and over-60s being unable to access free travel before 9am, as well as the free travel age bracket being increased by six months each year for the next 12 years.

Mr Khan had managed to freeze single pay-as-you-go bus and tube fares in his first four years as mayor, but oversaw an increase of around 2.6 per cent in March last year.

His administration emphasised that transport fares have risen 13 per cent during Mr Khan’s tenure as Mayor (since 2016), while they rose 42 per cent during Boris Johnson’s eight years in power.

Mr Khan’s London transport announcement is the latest in a series of cost-of-living price hikes to hit the UK: also from next month, national rail fares will rise by 3.8 per cent, while energy companies have confirmed they will raise fuel costs in April following the announcement of a higher price cap by regulator Ofgem.