Commuters will have to spend more to travel across London in the coming months after plans to increase fare prices were announced. 

It comes to an average fare hike of 5.9% from March 5 under new proposals confirmed by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. 

The plan will mean that the weekly cap for using buses and trams in the capital is set to increase by £1.40 to £24.70.

London Underground passengers will see the weekly cap for travel in zones one and three rise by £3 to £48.

The average increase is the same as the cap set by the Department for Transport (DfT) for regulated rail fare rises in England from the same date.

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London Tube and bus fares to increase in March

Speaking of the rise, Mr Khan said: "I froze TfL fares for five years from 2016 to make transport more affordable for millions of Londoners.

“But my hands have been tied since the pandemic by the strict conditions set by the Government in the recent emergency funding agreement for TfL, which means fares have to be increased in London by the same amount as national rail fares – 5.9%.

“This is a challenging time for our city, with a Government that is not fully funding our public services, but I’m determined to step up so that we can continue building a greener, safer and fairer London for everyone.”

Along with the fare rise, Mr Khan also announced that the suspension of free travel before 9am on weekdays for people aged 60 and over will be permanent.

The benefit was withdrawn in June 2020 as part of a coronavirus funding agreement between TfL and the Government.

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Abigail Wood, chief executive of charity Age UK London, said: “We are devastated that the voices of older Londoners have been ignored.

“Affordable transport is a lifeline, not a luxury, and this cut penalises them with no choice about when and how they travel.

“Age UK London is deeply concerned this comes at the worst possible time as the cost-of-living crisis worsens and more and more older Londoners are plunged into poverty.

“One in four older Londoners live in poverty – the highest level in the country – and London has some of the highest living costs in the world.

“This is the wrong decision at the worst possible time.”

Elsewhere, Mr Khan also set out plans to increase council tax to fund an extra 500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), representing a 50% rise in the number of officers.

He is planning to increase this share of council tax bills for the average band D property by £38.55 a year from April, including £15 for investment in policing.