Transport for London Prices Confirmed to Increase in January
By Simon__Lee | Friday, October 29, 2010, 13:17
Of course, a rise in prices on buses and tubes affects all Londoners, and seeing as Hampstead centres around the wonderfully useful Hampstead Tube station, it seemed polite to let you know!
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The majority of tube users are likely to notice the increases
It does seem that tube prices seem to constantly be increasing. It's nice to see that TFL have tried to put a positive spin on the whole affair by emphasising the fact that 'all free and concessionary fares will remain in their entirety.' Good old Boris.
However, all isn't as good as they claim. Bus fares will be increasing by 10p on Oyster, making that a spectacular £1.30 per journey. I remember when it used to be 40p! Tube fares in zone one will in turn be increasing to £1.90 for each journey.
Season tickets will of course be increasing by the rate of inflation (plus an additional 2%!) and one day travel cars will be limited to three choices. Zones 1-2, 1-4 and 1-6. So no cheaper travel cards for those who aren't planning to go into central. Cheeky... Oh. And they'll all be increasing by a pound. Caps on your oyster card will mirror this increase.
So despite TFL's well meaning by insisting that those of us with discounted travel rates not being affected, the majority of us will be feeling the pinch of the additional fares come January. My advice? If you're under 26, grab yourself a young person's rail card, go to your nearest tube office and ask for it to be attached to your Oyster card. This isn't something that they advertise, but it means that your oyster card will cap at around £4.15 for tube journeys and if you use the overground, a lovely £5. If TFL stick to their word, this should stay the same...
If you're over 26? Get a bike...
Comments
£1.6m a bus could be quite reasonable given the level of technology we demand now, design stylings that are insisted upon, the safely features and those pesky environmental credentials everything now must have - Especially given any R&D costs from Routemaster that may need to be recouped.
I would expect subsquent orders would be cheaper once those initial sunk costs are covered.
Rubbish trucks can run to nearly £100-300k a pop to put it in perspective.
By nox120 at 13:58 on 29/10/10
ReportGood point you make there. I myself only managed to stumble upon this secret to cheap(er) travel recently and enjoyed a full month of paying 2/3 the capping price, right before my young persons card expired. Take that! However the real dilemma I'm facing now is whether to cough up another £26 to enjoy such a luxury or leave bygones to be bygones? I mean how else will they pay for Mr Johnson's super Routemaster buses that'll cost nearly £8 million for just the first 5?
Did I say super? I meant stupid.
By Bear_Face at 13:50 on 29/10/10
ReportWell the formatting in your comments box doesn't work too well but hopefully you read that!
By nox120 at 13:41 on 29/10/10
ReportA few points to balance things out:
1. London always has and continues to has much lower fares than the rest of the country - £1.30 for a bus journey of any length is a steal compared to Devon where I used to pay £5 for going a few miles (and this was nearly 10 years ago!)
2. Price increased pegged above inflation are pretty standard - If pricing rises solely in line with RPI inflation it fails to into account other rising costs such as wage inflation (Remember all those RMT strikes... This is where the money to pay them the extra comes from!)
3. Investment to improve services by building new lines and links to cope with demand costs money; with the spending review the grant money that TfL receives from the DfT is being heavily reduced so that budget gap with the increased costs of running needs to be covered from somewhere. It is either raise prices or cut costs (usually reduce the quality of service or the number of people employees both of which would cause even more outrage)
All in all when you compare the cost of travel to the rest of the UK and Europe I think we have some very competitive fares within London especially on buses.
By nox120 at 13:40 on 29/10/10
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