The nitty gritty of the TfL fares changes for 2023

A couple of weeks ago, the Mayor of London announced the headline changes to TfL’s fares from this March, but it was only a week later that the full details were finally released.

What is odd this year is that the press release was issued before the Mayor had signed the official decision paper authorising what changes to make, when usually the Mayor has to make the decision before the announcement can be made to the public.

In summary, this year’s changes will see bus and tram single fares to increase by 10p to £1.75, and the daily bus and tram cap raised to £5.25. The Bus & Tram Pass season price is increased to £24.70 for a 7 Day ticket. On the Tube, and on rail services in London where Tube fares apply, pay as you go (PAYG) fares will typically increase by between 10p and 30p.

However, it’s the detail that matters because although the headline is a fares rise of 5.9 percent across TfL services, there’s a lot of variation in how the changes are applied, with some fares budging very slightly and others a lot — to bring the average up to the 5.9 percent target.

That means some people will see hardly any change, and others will be hit much harder than they expected.

The changes in some areas are modest, with slightly higher rises in weekly travelcards in central London and slightly lower rises in the suburbs.

However, it’s the single fares where the biggest change is noticeable, with a 12% rise in peak hours fares within Zone 1 compared to a 2% rise in fares for a Zone 5 commuter travelling into central London.

However, what’s been slightly buried in the numbers is that off-peak fares in the inner city regions are rising sharply. As off-peak travel has recovered faster than commuting, that means more people will be seeing a lager fares rise than they might be expecting.

Outside zone 6, cash and point to point fares rise by a flat 5.9% across the board to match national rail fares – and yes, that includes the Elizabeth line to Reading.

The one mode of transport that in previous years has seen large percentage price rises, is the cable car — but this year, all prices are frozen. Won’t make a measurable impact on revenues, but it seems likely that at £6 a trip, they’ve hit the likely limit on how much can be charged to use it.

Based on current passenger numbers, the increases would be expected to produce an extra £256 million for TfL in 2023 — comprising £164m from London Underground; £72m from the buses; and £21m from the DLR, trams, London Overground and Elizabeth line. However, as the 2023 fares increase has been delayed by two months at the request of the Department for Transport (DfT) to align to fare changes on national rail services, the extra fares revenue expected in the 10 months of 2023 falls to around £213 million.

The fares will rise on 5th March 2023.