Mayor Sadiq Khan reveals Tube and bus fares are set to rise by almost 6% in London
Tube and bus fares in London are set to rise by almost 6%, mayor Sadiq Khan revealed today. Mr Khan said he wanted to limit the rise to 4% but his hands were tied by the terms of a government funding deal. Transport for London was given a further bailout of £1.2bn in August 2022 following the collapse of its income during the Covid pandemic. The mayor told ITV News the agreement with ministers forced him to mirror the planned 5.9% rise in national rail fares or cut services. "If we don’t increase the fares by 5.9%, the government won’t support us," said Mr Khan. He added: "The consequence of us not increasing fares by 5.9% is having to make cuts elsewhere." The mayor is expected to rubber stamp the fares hike is in the next few weeks. He was speaking at an event at Baker St station to mark the 160th anniversary of the first Tube train. Fares on TfL services including London Overground and Croydon trams rose by 4.8% in 2022.
A Department for Trasport spokesperson said: "It is for the Mayor of London to decide whether TfL fares increase in line with national fares. "We have already provided an unprecedented £6 billion of support to TfL since the start of the pandemic and ongoing support must be fair for taxpayers across the country."
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