London tube and bus fares to rise

Travellers will have to pay for above-inflation public transport fare rises in the capital in the New Year.

The daily cost of the London congestion charge for vehicles is also going up soon, Mayor Boris Johnson has announced.

He said Tube fares would have to rise in January by an average of 3.9%, while bus fares would rise by 12.7%.

The mayor also announced that the £8 daily congestion charge fee would rise to £9, for those choosing to pay by a new automated account system, and to £10 for those paying by existing methods with the changes expected to take effect from December 2010.

Mr Johnson said that the decision to put up fares had “not been taken lightly” but a small rise was needed now to prevent huge rises in years to come.

He said the increases were necessary to protect Transport for London’s (TfL) large investment programme and that he had only sanctioned the increases after ensuring that £5bn efficiency savings were being made at TfL.

The rises on the underground and on the buses are in stark contrast to the situation for national mainline rail season ticket holders who will actually find their fares going down in January thanks to the retail price index inflation figure being in minus territory.

Asked about this seeming discrepancy between national and London fares today Mr Johnson said that national rail fares were being “depressed artificially for election purposes” and would inevitably rise after the General Election.

TfL is facing a £1.7bn funding gap which the rises in fares and the increase in the congestion charge will go some way towards closing over the next three years.

Story taken from LGC Chronicle