Boris Johnson to end cheap rail travel?

Friday, 16 Oct 2009, 4:59pm
Boris Johnson to end cheap rail travel?

The Mayor of London has announced that Underground and bus fares will increase by as much as 20 per cent.

Cheap rail travel may be coming to an end if the Mayor of London's plans to introduce up to 20 per cent price hikes on transport fares in the city go ahead.

Boris Johnson announced yesterday (October 15th) that journeys on the London Underground will cost 3.9 per cent more - meaning that a zone 1 pay-as-you-go fare with an Oyster card will rise from £1.60 to £1.80.

Other routes will also see a 20 pence increase, with long-distance peak time journeys experiencing even greater price hikes.

Cheap rail travel is not the only public transport service to be hit by the plans - Oyster pay-as-you-go bus fares will be up by 20 per cent and seven-day bus passes will rise from £13.80 to £16.60.

However, the 40 per cent of passengers who currently travel for free on London's trains and buses will not see any change to the service and Travelcard prices will remain frozen.

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone said: "Johnson has blamed his second year of inflation busting fare increases on 'past mistakes' and the 'current economic climate'. That is patently untrue.

"They are the result of his own policies. The fare increases are projected to raise £125 million a year. That is less than the amount Boris Johnson has thrown away subsidising well-off polluters at the expense of ordinary Londoners," he added.

Twitter users looking to take a short break in the capital city may be able to take advantage of cheap bargain deals for Travelodge, which announced it is the first budget hotel brand in the UK to use the micro-blogging technology to offer discounts.

Written by Rosie May
© Copyright

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