Tube to Heathrow - premium fare increases?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From City a.m.

Transport for London (TfL^» (Transport for London - about)) is under fire over a proposed increase to Piccadilly line’s journeys to Heathrow, according to recent reports.

To be put in place between Zone 1 and Zone 6, the ‘premium fare’ would see commuters pay 60 per cent more to travel, with peak prices implemented all day instead of during rush hours, news website MyLondon reported.

The move – which will help TfL with its current funding crisis – is still subject to consultation and is expected to be reviewed ahead of 4 February, the deadline for the new government funding agreement

[ChrisB]

This might explain why there are rumours also to do away with thec out of boundary off-peak travelcard….

[ChrisB]

More here on the loss of the add-on travelcard - seems Sadiq’s proposal is more than the rumour that I’ve heard

https://busandtrainuser.com/2022/01/22/travelcard-under-threat/

I can thoroughly recommend subscribing to this blog. Mainly buses, but rail featuresca lot

[Ralph Ayres]

This has all been rumbling on for months now; it relates to the Mayor of London setting out possible options to increase income if the funding deal with the Government didn't result in the amount of support needed to keep services running as previously.  I'm sure it was all set out publicly last year, though I haven't managed to track it down online as a search gets swamped by similar topics.

The reference in the article to "commuters" being hit by the premium fare is the usual sloppy journalism where all passengers are called commuters.  Anyone travelling regularly will still be able to use a Travelcard or be capped using pay as you go so will probably see little or no change, though ironically Heathrow themselves have ended their own travel to work subsidy for airport workers.  It will mostly affect occasional business travellers and tourists making one-off journeys, and London is quite unusual in not already charging a premium fare for travel to/from the airport as happens in many other capital cities.

[ChrisB]

I think the point being made is that the Travelcard, one-day AND season, is proposed to be killed off.

Yes, capping will still be there, at slightly cheaper maximum than the Travelcard add-on, and all farebox goes direct to TfL^» (Transport for London - about), rather than get tied up for weeks in the Rail Settlement Scheme.

But as for integrated ticketing, tough

[Electric train]

It is posible that its not only TfL^» (Transport for London - about) looking at off peak fares,  National operators have seen an increase in off peak passenger numbers compared to normal peak commuter times

[ChrisB]

Oh, and a permanent peak fare to Heathrow on the Piccadilly Line, I seem to recall.

[Surrey 455]

Am I right in recalling that the underground fare to Heathrow was previously at a premium? Perhaps pre Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services)?

[didcotdean]

Pre-zonal maybe. The point-to-point fares were roughly by distance usually but there might have been some added on. At opening an example fare was £1.05 to Piccadilly Circus.