TfL single fares and caps changes from March 2023

[bakerstreet]

I haven’t seen a thread which contains the following fares information.

Mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that Transport for London fares will rise in March of this year – meaning Londoners and visitors will be paying more to get around the capital.

Fares on the tube, buses, and rail will go up by just shy of 6 per cent, whilst a temporary move to make over-60s pay for their travel in rush hour will become permanent.

Daily ‘caps’ will increase, too, as will the hopper fare which allows Londoners to take more than one bus in the course of an hour.

TfL fare increases: How much a bus, tube or train ride will rise in 2023 - CityAM

Mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that Transport for London fares will rise in March of this year – meaning Londoners and visitors will be paying more to get around the capital. Fares on the tube, buses, and rail will go up by just shy of 6 per cent, whilst a temporary move to make over-60s [...]

www.cityam.com

Proposed Bus and tram fares

	Current	March 2023	Increase
PAYG – single	£1.65	£1.75	6.1%
PAYG – daily cap	£4.95	£5.25	6.1%
7 Day Bus & Tram Pass	£23.30	£24.70	6.0%

Zonal – Proposed Daily and weekly caps

	Current	2023	Increase
Zones	Daily	Weekly	Daily	Weekly	Daily	Weekly
12	£7.70	£38.50	£8.10	£40.50	5.2%	5.2%
123	£9.00	£45.00	£9.60	£48.00	6.7%	6.7%
1234	£11.00	£55.00	£11.70	£58.50	6.4%	6.4%
12345	£13.10	£65.50	£13.90	£69.50	6.1%	6.1%
123456	£14.10	£70.50	£14.90	£74.50	5.7%	5.7%

 

[Mal75756]

I haven’t seen a thread which contains the following fares information.

TfL fare increases: How much a bus, tube or train ride will rise in 2023 - CityAM

Mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that Transport for London fares will rise in March of this year – meaning Londoners and visitors will be paying more to get around the capital. Fares on the tube, buses, and rail will go up by just shy of 6 per cent, whilst a temporary move to make over-60s [...]

www.cityam.com

I know any increase is bad news but looking as an outsider (outside of London) this still looks like excellent value, when I consider my travel from my home town to Doncaster is £9.00 for a one trip return (30 min journey) and when i had a client in Sheffield and had to travel daily it was £14.00 one return trip (50 min journey and that was about four years ago), the London cap of £11.70 for 24 hour travel seems really good value.

Of course I still remember that people in London have other very high prices to contend with and empathise with them for that, but for train and tube services I remain envious.

 

[bakerstreet]

I know any increase is bad news but looking as an outsider (outside of London) this still looks like excellent value, when I consider my travel from my home town to Doncaster is £9.00 for a one trip return (30 min journey) and when i had a client in Sheffield and had to travel daily it was £14.00 one return trip (50 min journey and that was about four years ago), the London cap of £11.70 for 24 hour travel seems really good value.

Of course I still remember that people in London have other very high prices to contend with and emphasise with them for that, but for train and tube services I remain envious.

All very fair points

 

[miklcct]

Will the National Rail fare in the zones frozen to allow the Tube fare catching up?

 

[sprunt]

Transport for London fares will rise in March of this year – meaning Londoners and visitors will be paying more to get around the capital.

Blimey, nothing gets past City AM does it?

 

[Doppelganger]

I haven’t seen a thread which contains the following fares information.

TfL fare increases: How much a bus, tube or train ride will rise in 2023 - CityAM

Mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that Transport for London fares will rise in March of this year – meaning Londoners and visitors will be paying more to get around the capital. Fares on the tube, buses, and rail will go up by just shy of 6 per cent, whilst a temporary move to make over-60s [...]

www.cityam.com

So the richer people in zones 1 and 2 have a lower percentage increase than those from poorer areas living in the outer zones. Yep, that seems fair...

 

[JonathanH]

Will the National Rail fare in the zones frozen to allow the Tube fare catching up?

Nothing in the earlier DfT announcements suggests that will be the case.

 

[Hadders]

Will the National Rail fare in the zones frozen to allow the Tube fare catching up?

No NR fares won't be frozen.

 

[MikeWh]

I'm seeking the detailed information which usually accompanies the Mayoral Decision. If anyone spots it online, please let me know.

 

[tspaul26]

I'm seeking the detailed information which usually accompanies the Mayoral Decision. If anyone spots it online, please let me know.

It normally takes them a few days to publish the papers so they probably won’t be online until next week.

 

[Deerfold]

So the richer people in zones 1 and 2 have a lower percentage increase than those from poorer areas living in the outer zones. Yep, that seems fair...

Does it help that PAYG fares in Zones 1-2 wlll go up by 12%?

London's tourist hotspots hit by huge 12 per cent TfL fare hike

Pay As You Go fares in Zone 1 are set to increase by 30p a trip

www.mylondon.news

Central London Tube fares are set to jump by 12 per cent as the Mayor of London says he wants to protect Londoners in outer boroughs from higher costs.

Tube Pay As You Go fares in Zone 1 will increase by 30p from £2.50 to £2.80 as journeys in the centre of London are more likely to be made for tourism or leisure, according to Sadiq Khan's office.

 

[greatkingrat]

So the richer people in zones 1 and 2 have a lower percentage increase than those from poorer areas living in the outer zones. Yep, that seems fair...

It's not that simple. While there are multi-million pound mansions and penthouses in places like Notting Hill or Chelsea, there are plenty of poorer areas in zones 1/2 as well.

 

[Deerfold]

It's not that simple. While there are multi-million pound mansions and penthouses in places like Notting Hill or Chelsea, there are plenty of poorer areas in zones 1/2 as well.

Indeed, the Lancaster West Estate (containing Grenfell Tower) is just down the road from Notting Hill, with the nearest Underground station at Labroke Grove (Zone 2).

 

[Haywain]

Indeed, the Lancaster West Estate (containing Grenfell Tower) is just down the road from Notting Hill, with the nearest Underground station at Labroke Grove (Zone 2).

There's plenty of social housing in zone 1, and many of the poorer parts of London can be found in zones 1 and 2 - such as significant parts of Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Bermondsey.

 

[zero]

Plenty of rich areas in the outer zones too... I would say poor people in Z1 are more likely to use buses while rich people who live in Z1 are less likely to use public transport.

 

[MikeWh]

I'm seeking the detailed information which usually accompanies the Mayoral Decision. If anyone spots it online, please let me know.

So the Mayoral Decision is MD3083 and includes the usual appendices. National Rail PAYG fares do also rise and the average is 5.9% as expected. I'll be doing a proper analysis over the next few days.

The zone 1 fare rises are interesting. Peak up 30p and off-peak up 20p means a difference for the first time in ages. But the all day zone 1-2 cap has only risen 40p so it returns to 3x the off-peak single. Most tourists probably make 3 journeys in a day so they won't be affected by the higher peak fare. It should also be noted that the zone 1 single fare had been frozen in 2021, so the larger increases this time round only really bring it back into line.

 

[miklcct]

Sorry, but a 12.5% increase from £1.60 to £1.80 for an off-peak single-zone tube journey?! That's ridiculous!

 

[Deerfold]

Sorry, but a 12.5% increase from £1.60 to £1.80 for an off-peak single-zone tube journey?! That's ridiculous!

After no increase last year with inflation just under 10%? It's hardly good news, but not ridiculous.

 

[duncombec]

Sorry, but a 12.5% increase from £1.60 to £1.80 for an off-peak single-zone tube journey?! That's ridiculous!

Whilst 12.5% as a headline figure may seem a lot, 20p in the grand scheme of things is a trifle compared to the increases many public transport users outside of what I'll somewhat pejoratively call "the London Bubble" have experienced over the last 12-18 months, not to mention costs for users of private transport.

As an example, the 4 minute journey between my local national rail station and the next station along the line (in either direction) comes in at £3.20 single.

For the level of service received, £1.80, or even £2, would still represent exceptionally good value.

 

[robbob700]

Will the National Rail fare in the zones frozen to allow the Tube fare catching up?

Looking at the mayoral decision document, National Rail fares seem to generally be increasing more that the TfL fares, For example a peak PAYG fare for Zones 1-4 on TfL goes up from £4.30 to £4.40 whereas on National Rail it increases from £4.60 to £4.90.
For Zones 1-6 TfL goes up from £5.50 to £5.60 whereas National Rail goes up from £7.30 to £7.70.

Does anyone know what the justification for National Rail fares being so much higher than TfL fares is?

 

[JonathanH]

Does anyone know what the justification for National Rail fares being so much higher than TfL fares is?

Does it need to be justified?

<Genuine question> What regulation exists on National Rail fares on Oyster and Contactless? Is the DfT free to increase them by whatever it desires or are they the regulated fares?

 

[MikeWh]

What regulation exists on National Rail fares on Oyster and Contactless? Is the DfT free to increase them by whatever it desires or are they the regulated fares?

They rise by an average of the regulated increase within the constraint that the end result has to be a multiple of 10p. I don't know for certain whether this is regulated, but I suspect it is.

TfL have decided to load the increase onto central London fares so those from zones 4-6 are rising by less.

Historically TfL fares have always been cheaper than NR fares and there is no easy way to synchronise them, depite the management benefits from doing so. IMO the government missed a golden opportunity to work with TfL (yeah, I know) after the lockdown and make big strides towards parity.

 

[Watershed]

Does it need to be justified?

Politically, I would have said so. But it's likely that these increases will go under the radar as Oyster and contactless fares aren't as "in your face" as being told the price when you pay at a ticket machine or ticket office etc.

<Genuine question> What regulation exists on National Rail fares on Oyster and Contactless? Is the DfT free to increase them by whatever it desires or are they the regulated fares?

Some Oyster fares are regulated - see the 2OBC (peak) and 2OBE (off-peak) fares in this list. Of course, fares regulation is largely nugatory under the NRCs.

 

[fandroid]

So the richer people in zones 1 and 2 have a lower percentage increase than those from poorer areas living in the outer zones. Yep, that seems fair...

Rather odd to assume that the lower-paid don't regularly have to travel in zones 1&2. All those high value buildings have to be serviced by someone- usually people who are invisible to the better-paid ones who pitch up in normal working hours

 

[JonathanH]

Rather odd to assume that the lower-paid don't regularly have to travel in zones 1&2. All those high value buildings have to be serviced by someone- usually people who are invisible to the better-paid ones who pitch up in normal working hours

Suspect the point is that they don't take occasional journeys in Zone 1-2, they do it multiple times a week, and may indeed travel by bus.

This is the comment made in the fares determination about people on low incomes, acknowledging that the fare changes may be an issue.
https://www.london.gov.uk/md3083-march-2023-fare-changes?ac-164473=164460

3.11 Londoners on low incomes tend to be women; older, Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and disabled people; and those not in work. A low income largely reflects working status, though the underlying causes may be tied to the cost of housing, childcare and transport, as well as access to education, qualifications and health. Among children living in poverty, more of them are part of low-income working families than of workless families. London has the highest poverty rates in the UK across all age groups. The combined impact of fares increases and an increased cost of living during the pandemic will have a negative impact on Londoners with low incomes. As well as this, Londoners on low incomes are more likely to use buses than the Tube. Therefore, the proposed March 2023 fare changes may have a negative impact on this group, compared with a scenario in which fares are not increased.

 

[JonathanH]

The single fare finder has now been updated with fares from 5 March 2023.

Single fare finder

Find fares between any two stations in London

tfl.gov.uk

 

[londonbridge]

He wants to protect Londoners in outer boroughs from higher costs, so he expands the ULEZ zone…..

 

[Deerfold]

He wants to protect Londoners in outer boroughs from higher costs, so he expands the ULEZ zone…..

Perhaps he wants to protect them from pollution, too.

 

[zero]

Just curious but I suppose the new fares actually come into effect at 0430?

If I touch in on a night bus at 0400 and then another at 0500, I guess it won't charge an extra 10p, but should it?

If I take a night tube journey starting before 0430 but ending after 0430, will it charge the old fare or the new? What if it's two journeys joined by an OSI?

 

[MikeWh]

The second bus will be free, but leave it until 0503 and it will cost £1.75. Unless the bus doesn't update until it gets back to the garage?

The fare scale used is decided by the time of the first touch in, so I would expect it all to be at the old rate. I don't think there are any OSIs on the night tube?