News | Transport

Commuters to get refunds after Boris Johnson performs U-turn on fares

 
Pippa Crerar|City Hall Editor
23 February 2015

Thousands of commuters are to receive refunds worth hundreds of pounds a year after Boris Johnson staged a U-turn on fare rises.

The Mayor has announced that the off-peak daily cap in outer London will effectively be reinstated for part-time workers. He is now under pressure to “hold his hands up” to his mistake and fully reverse his withdrawal of off-peak caps.

The higher charges kicked in on January 2, after Mr Johnson axed some cut-price rates. Some commuters who benefited from a daily cap of £8.50 off-peak faced a new “all-day” limit of £11.70. For zones 1-5 the cap went up to £10.90, and between zones 1-4 it rose to £9.20 a day.

But Transport for London will now provide automatic refunds to those who incur a higher fare than the old off-peak daily cap twice or more in a week in zones 4 to 6. The new off-peak daily caps will be £8 for zones 1-4, and £8.80 for zones 1-5 and 1-6. Refunds will be backdated to January and start in April, and then be paid monthly.

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Off-peak is defined as travelling outside the hours of 6.30am-9.30am and 4pm-7pm. The Mayor said: “I’ve de-livered on my commitment to address the needs of flexible and part-time workers, with significant fare cuts. I have asked TfL to make changes to the daily off-peak caps which mean all Londoners can benefit.”

But critics accused him of only staging a partial U-turn, as 10,000 commuters who use the transport network only once a week will still pay more.

Liberal Democrat Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon said: “While it’s welcome he has now sought to lessen the impact on part-time workers, it’s time the Mayor held his hands up and fully reversed his withdrawal of off-peak caps.”

At the time of the initial fares shake-up, TfL had admitted there were “winners and losers”. The new all-day cap for zones 1-3 was lower than the withdrawn off-peak cap.