TfL fares freeze for third consecutive year

All Transport for London (TfL) fares will not rise during 2019 as part of Sadiq Khan's four-year fares freeze. 

"I’m delighted to confirm that TfL fares will be frozen once again from next January" the Mayor of London said.

"Millions of passengers have already benefited from our TfL fares freeze and our expanded ‘Hopper’ fare since I became Mayor, and keeping transport fares affordable is a vital part of encouraging more people out of their cars and onto cleaner public transport. For Oyster Card users, the introduction of new weekly capping will help people save even more money from next month.

 “Our TfL fares freeze is in contrast to the failing private rail companies, who are once again hitting London’s suburban rail passengers with an unjustified fares hike. Given the daily experience of cancellations and overcrowding, the hike in rail fares is another kick in the teeth for fed-up rail passengers"  Sadiq Khan added. 

Mayor's decision means that journeys via Tube, DLR, Bus, Tram, Emirates Air Line , rail services (where TfL fares apply) and Santander Cycles bikes will not cost more and by 2020, the TfL fares freeze will have saved the average London household around £200.

TfL fares increased by more than 42% in the eight years before Sadiq Khan came into office. 

However, there are some concerns about Khan's policies. London Assembly, the body that holds the Mayor and Mayoral advisers to account, warned recently that Transport for London is facing unprecedented financial pressures, something that is partly due to the fares freeze. 

According to the figures, Transport for London is running a deficit of £1 billion for 2018/19 and is estimated that the Mayor’s current fares freeze will cost around £640 million over the four-year Mayoral term. Delays to the opening of Crossrail have compounded TfL’s problems.

Gareth Bacon AM, Chairman of the Budget and Performance Committee, said: “TfL clearly has some way to go to become a financially sustainable public body. The first-term partial fares freeze will end up costing TfL at least £640 million; a second-term freeze could be substantially more, and it is simply not sustainable if TfL is to claw its way out of a perilous financial situation. “Freezing fares is a political decision that the Mayor can take but Londoners deserves to know exactly how much it will cost."