Top > Business > 2007 > January > 2007-01-16

London Tube Price hike

The first working day of 2007 brought with it another hike in fees in London`s public transit grid, one of the world`s busiest and most expensive public transportation systems. The price of a trip on the underground within London went up by a third to 4 GBP. The price of a bus ticket also went up by a similar rate to 2 GBP. The high prices are intended to persuade Londoners to switch to the intelligent electronic card, the Oyster, which offers those who use it attractive prices, 1.5 GBP for a ride on the underground and 2 GBP for a ride on one of the city`s buses.

Those most likely to pay more due to the price hike, are tourists, who are not likely to buy the Oyster. The lowest public transit fees are offered by the Paris Metro, which offers its rides at 1.4 Euro. In Tokyo, the price is approximately 1 Euro and in New York a Subway ride will cost you $2.

?There are now huge savings to be made by using Oyster. We have been able to freeze many Oyster pay-as-you-go bus and Tube fares this year. Many now cost half the same journey paid by cash," He added. ?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. 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.?