Fares inflation (Travelcard / Cap)

[bakerstreet]

I watched an episode of the excellent Secrets of the London Underground.

It contained an item of history suggesting that - in 1988 - the cost of an adult one day all zone Travelcard was £2.

The current actual price for purchase in 2023 is £14.90 (1-6 cap) £15.20 (Off peak Travelcard 1-6)

Putting £2 into the Bank of England’s inflation calculator here

it calculates that £2 in 1988 is the equivalent of

Spoiler: Price calculation

£5.29

in 2023.

I know that the BoE calculation is an average and of course some goods and services will see higher or lower increases than this.

But the differential really surprised me. Perhaps it shouldn’t have done.

Did you guess anywhere near?

 

[madjack]

(The Travelcard was only for Bus and Underground at that time, no? It was a Capitalcard for rail services as well until the New Travelcard in 1989...)

But even so, yes, that made me feel sad.

 

[TrenHotel]

All-zone One Day Capitalcards were £2.50 in June 1987: https://www.srpublicity.co.uk/nse/nse04.htm

(edit: looking more closely at the ad, and thinking back to what I paid when I first started using them, I think they were £2.60 in 1988)

 

[MichaelAMW]

I have always assumed the fare rises were to account for the largely vastly better sevice that runs these days - well, or certainly did prior to Easter 2020. When I were a lad, just to give a family-related example, I had relatives at the bottom end of the District branch to Wimbledon: on a Saturdy afternoon the service was every 20 minutes, which it certainly isn't at present - it's 12 tph. The Bakerlo was 6 tph mid/late evening; now it's 15 tph. Baker Street to Rickmansworth was 1 tph, now it's 4 tph - and there were zero trains off peak or evening or Saturdays or Sundays through to the City.

 

[JonathanH]

I have always assumed the fare rises were to account for the largely vastly better sevice that runs these days - well, or certainly did prior to Easter 2020.

The all zones fare now is a compromise between the peak and off-peak fare of years ago.

 

[Dr_Intoxicated]

The all zones fare now is a compromise between the peak and off-peak fare of years ago.

Yes it was deemed that peak passengers were unfairly subsidising off peak and in one adjustment the price of an off peak travel card went up steeply. I forget the date

 

[AM9]

Yes it was deemed that peak passengers were unfairly subsidising off peak and in one adjustment the price of an off peak travel card went up steeply. I forget the date

Which is another way of saying that off-peak passengers weren't subsidising the high cost of providing additional capacity that was only needed for about four hours on five days per week.

 

[Joe Paxton]

The all zones fare now is a compromise between the peak and off-peak fare of years ago.

Yes it was deemed that peak passengers were unfairly subsidising off peak and in one adjustment the price of an off peak travel card went up steeply. I forget the date

The differentiation between peak and off-peak daily PAYG caps was abolished from 2 January 2015 - the changes are detailed in this contemporary London Reconnections article. It came about as a result of changes which were intended to provide more affordable fares for part-time workers.

An extract from the article:

To deliver the Mayor’s pledge on “part time” tickets TfL have removed the distinction between peak and off peak caps and changed the daily cap to be 1/5th (20%) of the 7 day Travelcard price.

 

[JonathanH]

It came about as a result of changes which were intended to provide more affordable fares for part-time workers.

Thanks for digging that out. Another quote from that article is

However there are quite severe consequences for those people who travel after 0930 Monday to Friday or at weekends. For those resident in zones 1-3 then their daily caps will be lower than at present. However those travelling to or from zones 4, 5 or 6 will see substantial increases. At present someone travelling from Zone 6 into the centre has a daily cap of £8.50 if using PAYG. From January 2015 this increases to £11.70.

Also, the following seems prophetic given what is now happening.

Overall you could be forgiven for thinking that TfL and the Train Operating Companies are very much minded to see the end of the One Day Travelcard product in paper form.

 

[Mikey C]

It always surprises me that Oyster/PAYG daily capping doesn't differentiate between peak and off peak.

But worse is the lack of any separate Caps not involving Zone 1. If you travel just in Zone 6 or Zones 5 and 6, your cap is the same £14.90 as the 1-6 Cap, and thus irrelevant.

Which is another way of saying that off-peak passengers weren't subsidising the high cost of providing additional capacity that was only needed for about four hours on five days per week.

Is there much additional "rush hour" capacity on the TfL network? It's not as bus and tube frequencies are massively higher during the peaks, as opposed to say 10am or 3pm.

 

[MikeWh]

The increase in off-peak caps for zones 4-6 gave rise to the automatic refunds if you exceeded a tapered 'off-peak cap' two days a week, or 4 days over a fortnight, or 8 days over 4 weeks. This lasted a few years until the tapered cap had reached the actual daily cap.

 

[Mojo]

Is there much additional "rush hour" capacity on the TfL network? It's not as bus and tube frequencies are massively higher during the peaks, as opposed to say 10am or 3pm.

Consistently you’ll have more trains in service during the peaks compared to off-peak, for instance at 9am there are 522 trains in service and 524 at 6pm; this contrasts with 437 trains at midday. Throughout the central area on the Underground frequencies are typically higher, although some lines also run less frequent trains at certain locations during peak times.

 

[Mikey C]

Consistently you’ll have more trains in service during the peaks compared to off-peak, for instance at 9am there are 522 trains in service and 524 at 6pm; this contrasts with 437 trains at midday. Throughout the central area on the Underground frequencies are typically higher, although some lines also run less frequent trains at certain locations during peak times.

But it's nowhere near the capacity uplift seen on the National Rail commuter routes. Especially as train lengths don't vary.

Similarly bus frequencies on a lot of routes are basically the same all day, between say 6am and 8pm

 

[notverydeep]

But it's nowhere near the capacity uplift seen on the National Rail commuter routes. Especially as train lengths don't vary.

Similarly bus frequencies on a lot of routes are basically the same all day, between say 6am and 8pm

That is because most National Rail commuter lines have a terrible off peak / weekend service by comparison to those on the Underground! LU frequencies have been lifted significantly over the last two decades through the weekday interpeak, evenings and weekends. Saturday afternoon services in particular have been lifted, with 30 trains per hour (tph) on the Victoria line and 27 tph on the Central. This has prompted significant growth in off peak traffic that continues post pandemic. This growth hasn't been mirrored on even on non-TfL National Rail services in London, many of which have off peak frequencies stuck in the 1980s and 1990s...

 

[AM9]

Is there much additional "rush hour" capacity on the TfL network? It's not as bus and tube frequencies are massively higher during the peaks, as opposed to say 10am or 3pm.

By 'capacity', I was including the infrastructure measures to handle greater crowding, i.e. extra escalators, wider passageways and more public facing staff, - all of which smooths the journey of peak loads.

 

[Route115?]

Its interesting that the busiest time used to be the AM so charing more before 09:30 or 10:00 made sense. Now the PM peak is often busier. Parts of the Piccadilly & Bakerloo lines are busier on Saturdays than Friday AM peak (ok probably not Thursday mornings). Peak fares probably make less sense from a traffic perspective compared with pre-covid times. You could also argue that from a commercial perspective peak traffic is less elastic so you could charge extra. However city metros do not operate entirely on commercial lines (although the DfT has given TfL some tough targets). Interestingly Scotland is experimenting with abolishing peak fares. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

 

[Harpers Tate]

True of most public transport fares, I suspect. They have about doubled in real terms since, say 1990. And about doubled in relation to the cost of motoring, too.
Hereabouts in 1990 (so, after deregulation and local subsidies) the (presumably) commercial bus fare from here to the city was 80p. Equates to about £2 today. Oddly enough - it is currently £2 - but only because of the fare capping scheme. Prior to that, it was £3.50.

 

[JonathanH]

Interestingly Scotland is experimenting with abolishing peak fares. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

London abolished separate peak capping at the start of 2015, for ordinary users.

 

[Craig1122]

Around 2000ish the all zones family travelcard was £3.20 adult and 80p for a child. So £8 for a family of four. The equivalent now even with free child travel would be £30 if you hit the cap.

By way of balance the 2-4 oyster single is £1.90/£2.80. Back then most fares round the North London line were £3+

So some users have been hit with some very steep rises, others less so.

 

[pbin]

It always surprises me that Oyster/PAYG daily capping doesn't differentiate between peak and off peak.

If you have a railcard, it sort of does. As long as you don’t travel in the AM peak, you have a reduced cap. I still don’t like the system though.