Thousands of London commuters face travel cost price hike from next year

 
Thousands face an increase in commuting fares FILE IMAGE

Thousands of tube and bus passengers travelling into central London face a major hike in fares next year, the Standard can reveal.

The higher charges will kick in on January 2 after the mayor axed some cut-price rates from outer London for off-peak travellers.

Some passengers who benefited from a daily cap of £8.50 off-peak - travelling outside the hours of 6.30am - 9.30am and 4pm-7pm - will from 2015 have their daily travel capped at a new “all-day” rate of £11.70 - a 38 pc increase. Between zones 1-5 the rise is 28 per cent to £10.90, and between zones 1-4 the rise is 20 per cent to £9.20 a day.

Transport for London admitted that the annual shake-up of fares often produced “winners and losers”.

Some 5,000 passengers face an increase of £2-3 a day when the off-peak cap is scrapped, and a further 20,000 would be hit with a five per cent hike, according to TfL.

It insisted many others do no take enough daily journeys to be affected by the higher cap.

It said there were 600,000 “winners” - commuters who will benefit from a lower peak-time cap which was the focus of the mayor’s fares review announced earlier this week.

TfL director of customer experience Shashi Verma told the Standard: “In any major reorganisation of this kind, it always leaves winners and losers. There are 600,000 winners and potentially 25,000 losers of whom the real losers are only about 5,000.

"Off-peak caps have been removed and some of the caps are a bit higher. A cap is a cap it is not a fare and if you increase the cap it doesn’t mean people end up paying the value of the higher cap.”

Leader of the London Assembly Liberal Democrats Caroline Pidgeon said: “The devil is always in the detail when it comes to the Mayor’s fare proposals.

Price hike: TfL has admitted that the annual shake-up of fare would result in 'winners and losers' (Picture: Alex Lentati)

"Hidden away in the Mayor’s fare package is the harsh fact that people from outer London, such as Uxbridge and Kingston, and who only start their journey after 9.30 am will from the New Year face significantly higher fares when using Oyster pay as you go.”

Some passengers said the rise was “unfair” and complained it was hidden in the mayor’s fares announcement.

One passenger who contacted the Standard said: “I live and work in Zone 5. People like me who travel occasionally into London for evenings or at weekends are going to be hit hard by the new fares structure and the disappearance of the Off-Peak Oyster cap.

"I will end up paying £10.90 in 2015 for weekday evening travel in London, instead of the current £8.50. “

The Lib Dems also raised concerns that the changes could add to increase train overcrowding, with commuters no longer incentivised to wait until 9.30am to benefit from the start of the off-peak starting. This could lead to commuter trains become even more crowded following these fare changes, Ms Pidgeon said.

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