Tube and Bus Fare Rises Announced

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Mayor says 7% average increase is to fund investment

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has confirmed that from January 2012 fares on London's Tubes, Buses and London Overground will rise by an average of 7%.

On London's buses, the Oyster pay as you go fare will rise by 10p to £1.40. On the Tube, Oyster pay as you go fares typically increase by between 10p and 30p with cash fares becoming even more relatively expensive rising by between 30p and 40p. The daily price cap for bus passengers using Oyster pay as you go will be set at £4.20.

London Travelcard season ticket prices (for use on TfL and National Rail services) will rise by 8 per cent.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is justifying the increase by saying they are necessary to support continued investment in the transport network. He said: "Despite some of the toughest economic times in living memory, I have secured unprecedented levels of investment for London's transport network totalling £12bn over my four year term of office. Not since the days of our Victorian forefathers has there been improvements of this scale which includes upgrades and capacity increases ahead of 2012 and beyond to Crossrail. At the same time, we are focusing as never before on providing value for public money by committing to find significant savings of £7.6 billion at TfL, over two thirds of which have now been secured."

He criticised his predecessor Ken Livingstone for a "succession of draconian increases and knee-jerk, unaffordable pre-election freezes" and said that the rises based on a formula of RPI + 2% were as laid out in Transport for London's business plan.

Ken Livingstone said: "London already has some of the highest fares in the world, but instead of putting squeezed Londoners first, Boris Johnson is sticking to further stealth-taxes on fares even as he argues for tax cuts for the rich. These fare rises are absolutely staggering. Under Boris Johnson the price of a single bus fare will be 56% higher, a huge attack on ordinary Londoners and right across the board fares are soaring."

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, said: "This is the fourth year of fare misery that Londoners will face under Boris Johnson.

"He has already hit Londoners hard by hiking up bus fares from 90 pence to £1.30 for a single fare since he arrived at City Hall.  Today’s further rise will really hit hard many people, especially those on low incomes."

The announcement comes at the same time as it was revealed that tube drivers are to be paid a £500 bonus for not striking during the Olympics.

September 21, 2011