By Evie Smith Adams, Simone Limbu, and Sahra Sancar
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that TFL fares are going to be rising in March this year.
Fares on the tube, buses, and rail will go up by just shy of six percent. Over 60s will also be made to pay for their travel during rush hour. Even the hopper fare on buses will increase, according to CityAM. Bus prices will go from £1.65 to £1.90.
“I froze TfL fares for five years from 2016 to make transport more affordable for millions of Londoners. But my hands have been tied since the pandemic by the strict conditions set by the Government in the recent emergency funding agreement for TfL, which means fares have to be increased in London by the same amount as national rail fares – 5.9 percent,” Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, announced.
Increase in 7-Day Travelcard from 2018 – 2022. Credit: Simone Limbu
How will commuters be affected?
How will this affect those who regularly use the service, many of who will be relying on it to get to work each day?
For them, there is no other option, if they want to get to work they will have to get public transport which means they will have to somehow find a way to pay the new fares.
How fair is this considering the ongoing strikes?
With tube and train strikes across London ongoing, what are people actually paying for? In recent months people have regularly struggled to get to work, often having to wait for packed buses or even having to miss work altogether due to lack of transport.
Now they are having to pay even more for transport services that may not even be provided to them due to striking.
The people’s thoughts
Gurjeet Singh, 20, from Swindon commutes to London for his job. He takes the train from Swindon to Victoria station and then takes the tube. He knows that the increase in travel costs will affect him.
“I think that the prices going upwards isn’t a good thing for me because it will be very expensive. Living expenses are already expensive so travel costs increasing won’t help and I think it needs to be tackled.”
Fatiha Hammed, 27, an international graduate student, said: “I commute mostly by train and by bus, and even currently the cost of commuting – I live in Coventry because I couldn’t find accommodation closer to London – is putting a dent in my finances.
“So if they raise [the prices] that’s going to be a big issue.”
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