An inflation-busting fare increase on Croydon’s trams and London buses “will be hard to take for passengers”, according to a transport watchdog.
Going up: after a three-year fare freeze, Tram and bus fares are set to rise in November
Single bus and tram fares will increase 10p to £1.85 on November 1, Transport for London announced at the weekend, as they extended a fares freeze across the networks by a further four months.
Tube fares were increased in March, but bus fares were kept at the same level until July 5. Tram fares have been linked to Tube fares since TfL has operated the network.
Bus and tram fares have been frozen at £1.75 since March 2023.
Single bus and tram fares for concession holders will increase by 5p on November 1, while the daily fare cap is set to rise 30p to £5.55.
This will bring bus and tram fares in line with increases to Tube fares made in March, TfL said.
Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan said: “I’m pleased to extend the freeze on bus and tram fares for another four months, and will continue doing everything in my power to keep TfL services as affordable as possible, as I know the cost-of-living crisis is still hitting many Londoners hard.”
Stuttering recovery: Tram passenger numbers were still below the post-covid peak again in 2025-2026, reflecting the numerous closures of the system for engineering works
But passenger watchdog London TravelWatch said, “The four-month extension of the bus fare freeze, alongside the Weekend Hopper Fare summer promotion, provides some welcome ongoing relief for Londoners from the cost-of-living crisis. And it is good that TfL is continuing to roll out existing commitments to improve the experience of travelling by bus.
“But the inflation-busting increase in bus fares due in November – if it happens – will be hard to take for passengers on lower incomes who depend on this form of transport, particularly when they are seeing the slowest ever bus speeds across the network or, in some cases, reduced service frequencies on their routes.
“TfL faces an admittedly tough challenge in containing the level of subsidy supporting its bus operations, while at the same time providing attractive services which reverse the 25% fall in bus passenger numbers from their high point over a decade ago.
“It remains to be seen whether TfL’s strategy will succeed.”
Figures from TfL suggest that passenger numbers on the tram network, which runs through Croydon and across south London between Wimbledon and Beckenham, remain below pre-covid levels, at 20.1million.
Tram passengers peaked in 2019 at 28.1million.
Of some concern to the tram managers is that the latest figure is significantly lower than that for 2023, reflecting frequent closures for engineering works and operational issues with the 25-year-old network’s infrastructure.
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Whilst I know it will definitely affect some people, I believe that amounts to 5% increase in 3.5 years. Is that inflation busting?