Changes will be introduced from next week (Picture: TfL)
Londoners will get discounted rail fares from next week but there’s a catch – it will only last until May.
Those travelling around who use contactless or oyster cards will be charged off-peak fares on Fridays from March 8.
The whole point of the scheme from London Mayor Sadiq Khan is to get Londoners out and back into the office and spending money in hospitality venues in the evenings post-pandemic.
For example, someone commuting by Tube from Zone 6 in outer London into Zone 1 in the centre of the capital at peak times currently pays £5.60 per journey.
Under the trial, this fare will be cut to £3.60 on Fridays.
Freedom Pass cards and 60+ cards will also be valid all day on Fridays. Currently they can’t be used before 9am on weekdays.
But it is not all good news because the trial scheme is set to end at the end of May with no guarantees it will continue.
And if you are not a Londoner the news is even worse because rail fares across the UK will rise 4.9% from Sunday.
Sadiq Khan wants to encourage more Londoners to use the tube and rail network on a Friday (Picture: Reuters)
Mr Khan has had to also allocate around £24 million from his budget to make up for lost revenue during the two-month trial.
Currently midweek ridership on the Tube is at 85% of pre-pandemic levels but it is only at 73% on Fridays.
Sadiq Khan said: ‘I’m doing all I can to support Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis and to support London’s economic recovery.
‘This includes freezing TfL fares for another year to make transport more affordable for millions of Londoners and to encourage more people to use our transport network. But I want to do more.
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‘Encouraging more people back into the city on Fridays could give a much-needed boost to the hospitality, business and leisure sectors, supporting London’s wider economic growth as we continue to build a fairer, greener and more prosperous London for everyone.
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‘So, I’m making a call to all Londoners: to help London keep roaring back – let’s do Fridays.’
TfL chief technology officer Shashi Verma said: ‘While millions of people travel using bus, Tube and rail services across London every day, we are still seeing ridership on Fridays, particularly during peak hours, being lower than other days of the week.
‘This trial of making Fridays off-peak will help us better understand how targeted initiatives like this could help potentially support economic growth by encouraging more people back onto public transport and into the office on a day that is currently quieter than other weekdays.’
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