London transport fares rocket (From This Is Local London)

London transport fares rocket

1:46pm Tuesday 2nd January 2007 in

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NEW YEAR fare hikes on buses, trains and the Tube threaten to make London the world's most expensive capital to travel in, with a single underground fare costing almost four times as much as in New York.

A single on the Tube will cost £4 under the new pricing system which came into force today - compared with the equivalent of £1.07 in New York and the European average of £1.37.

The increases - of up to 33 per cent on buses and underground trains - have come under fierce attack, with rail operators accused of trying to price passengers out to combat overcrowding.

London Assembly Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Geoff Pope said London Underground users were paying more than passengers in Tokyo, Paris and Rome, describing London as "the world's most expensive public transport capital".

He added: "Unfortunately, sky high tube fares do not mean value for money: Londoners are paying the price for overcrowded and unreliable journeys."

Oyster cards pushed

However, Oyster card fares are being frozen across London on the Tube and buses in a bid to encourage people to use the system instead of paying by cash.

Cash users on London's buses face hikes of more than double the rate of inflation, with the single cash fare up 33 per cent to £2. But a peak single bus fare with an Oyster card costs just £1 for the same journey.

A Zone 1 Tube ticket, priced at £4 for cash users, has been frozen at £1.50 with an Oyster card, which costs £3.

Cash use on the Tube has halved in the past year, from just under 15 per cent in 2005 to about 6 per cent. Over the same period, cash use on buses has fallen from 10 per cent to 5 per cent of all journeys.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone argues that penalising those who pay with cash is necessary to reduce running costs and cut delays. He said: "There are now huge savings to be made by using Oyster.

"We have been able to freeze many Oyster pay-as-you-go and Tube fares this year. Many now cost half the same journey paid by cash."

'Extremely concerned'

However London's TravelWatch fears the price hikes could drive people away from public transport back to cars and taxis.

The watchdog's chairman, Brian Cooke, said: "We are extremely concerned about the exorbitant cash fares on buses, which rise by a third, from £1.50 to £2, and on tubes in Zone 1, passengers will see a single fare rise to an astronomical £4 - even if they only go one stop.

"This will especially hit infrequent visitors and tourists to London who will not necessarily benefit from the cheaper prices available when using Oystercards."

Those travelling to or from London by train also face higher costs, with fares set by the Government - including season tickets and some off-peak tickets - rising by 4.3 per cent nationwide. The 60 per cent of unregulated fares set by private operators will rise by up to 11 per cent.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) defended the increases, arguing that the revenue was necessary to pay for improvements on the railways.

'Better services'

Two years ago the Mayor of London announced that bus fares would rise by 10 per cent above inflation for three subsequent years to help fund the biggest investment programme on London transport since the second world war.

He insists that this year the third ten per cent increase in fares had been "significantly cut back".

"We said that in order to pay for massive investment in our public transport system including new rail links and better services there would be three years of ten per cent fares increases," Mr Livingstone said.

"The savings and efficiencies made by Transport for London mean that the planned ten per cent increase in fares for this year has been cut back."

He added that other schemes had been introduced in the capital to make travel easier for young people, including free travel on buses and trams for under 16s.