Sadiq Khan heralds ‘groundbreaking’ trial to cut Tube and rail fares on Fridays

Passengers using contactless and Oyster cards for travel in London and surrounding areas on Fridays are now charged off-peak fares.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has launched a ‘groundbreaking’ scheme to cut Tube and train fares on Fridays (Victoria Jones/PA)
PA Wire
Neil Lancefield8 March 2024

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has launched a “groundbreaking” scheme to cut Tube and train fares on Fridays.

Passengers using contactless and Oyster cards for travel in London and surrounding areas on Fridays are now charged off-peak fares.

This is aimed at encouraging more people back onto public transport and into offices on that day.

It’s clear that many people are still not coming into the office on Fridays

Sadiq Khan

Mr Khan has allocated £24 million from his budget for the 2024/25 financial year to compensate Transport for London and train operators for revenue lost during the trial, which runs until the end of May.

The pilot applies to services run by the Tube, Elizabeth line, London Overground and mainline train operators.

Peak pay-as-you-go fares usually apply on Tube and rail services in London on weekdays between 6.30am and 9.30am, and between 4pm and 7pm.

This means someone commuting by Tube from Zone 6 in outer London into Zone 1 in the centre of the capital at peak times pays £5.60 per journey.

Under the trial, this fare has been cut to £3.60 on Fridays.

The pilot also means 60+ and Freedom Pass cards – which cannot be used before 9am on weekdays – are valid all day on Fridays.

TfL statistics show midweek ridership on the Tube is at 85% of pre-pandemic levels, but the figure for Fridays is just 73%.

It is hoped increasing the number of workers going to offices on Fridays would raise revenue for the hospitality sector through additional spending on lunches, after-work drinks and evening entertainment.

Mr Khan said: “Off-peak Fridays are here. I’m delighted that this groundbreaking trial is now up and running and that there will also be special hospitality, business and entertainment deals taking place on Fridays.

“It’s clear that many people are still not coming into the office on Fridays compared to before the pandemic, which is having a major knock-on effect on our shops, restaurants, pubs and cultural venues.

“So as well as freezing fares for another year, we’re introducing this off-peak trial to get more Londoners back to the office on Fridays and to support the hospitality, culture and retail sectors as we continue building a better more prosperous London for everyone.”

The daily pay-as-you-go price cap has been amended to an off-peak rate on Fridays during the trial.

Paper single tickets and Day Travelcards still have peak-time restrictions.

Examples of other London discounts introduced for Fridays include 20% off the bill at Gaucho restaurants, off-peak prices to see musical Wicked and half-price tickets for the Turn It Up exhibition at the Science Museum.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in