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London extends bus and tram fare freeze

London bus and tram fares will remain frozen until November 1, with single fares staying at £1.75 alongside a new Weekend Hopper summer offer

London bus and tram fares will remain frozen for another four months, keeping the single adult fare at £1.75 until November 1.

The Mayor of London and Transport for London have extended the freeze, which was due to end on July 5. It is the seventh bus and tram fare freeze in London in the past 10 years.

The freeze means passengers can continue using the Hopper fare, which allows unlimited bus and tram journeys within one hour for £1.75.

TfL says bus and tram fares have been held at that level since March 2023. If bus fares had risen in line with inflation since 2016, TfL says they would now be £2.35, or 60p higher per journey.

The freeze will also run alongside the Mayor’s new Weekend Hopper offer. From July 25 until the end of August, passengers travelling by bus or tram on Saturdays and Sundays will be able to pay a single fare for unlimited journeys across London for the whole day.

The Weekend Hopper offer will also apply on the August Bank Holiday Monday, when large crowds are expected to travel across London for Notting Hill Carnival.

After the fare freeze ends, the single adult bus and tram fare is expected to rise by 10p to £1.85. Eligible concession card holders are expected to see a 5p increase, while the daily bus and tram cap is expected to rise by 30p to £5.55.

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The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, says the extension is designed to keep public transport affordable during cost-of-living pressure.

“I’m pleased to extend the freeze on bus and tram fares for another four months, and will continue doing everything in my power to keep TfL services as affordable as possible, as I know the cost-of-living crisis is still hitting many Londoners hard,” Khan says.

“My Hopper fare has enabled millions of people to save money on bus and tram travel over the past decade, and now the exciting new Weekend Hopper will make it even cheaper and easier for Londoners and visitors to enjoy all that our great city has to offer this summer.”

Khan says buses and trams remain essential to daily mobility across the capital.

“I know that buses and trams are a real lifeline for many Londoners, and I’m determined to keep them the most accessible and affordable modes of transport in the capital as we continue building a greener, fairer, better London for everyone,” he says.

TfL chief customer and strategy officer Alex Williams says fare revenue will continue to be reinvested into service improvements.

“We are committed to ensuring that London’s public transport remains affordable and accessible for all, with revenue raised via fares reinvested into improving services across London,” Williams says.

“Alongside our wide range of concessions, extending the freeze on bus and tram fares to November, as well as the Mayor’s Weekend Hopper scheme, which runs from July 25 until August 31, will help encourage more public transport use across London, boosting the economy and enabling people to make the most of the city with friends and family this summer.”

Buses are London’s most used form of public transport, with more than five million journeys made on a typical day.

TfL says 96 per cent of London households are within 400 metres of a bus stop, while more than 90 per cent are served by high-frequency routes.

The fare freeze sits alongside wider bus and tram investment, including more than 3,000 zero-emission buses now operating across London, new bus shelter trials, LED lighting upgrades across 12,000 shelters and continued expansion of the Superloop express bus network.

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