London mayor’s £24m fares cut on Fridays made ‘no noticeable difference’ – TfL

Sir Sadiq Khan’s £24 million scheme to cut London’s Tube and train fares on Fridays to boost passenger numbers made “no noticeable difference” to demand, Transport for London (TfL) said.

The mayor of London hailed the trial as “groundbreaking” when it was launched in March last year.

The 13-week pilot involved making Friday fares off-peak at all times of the day, instead of peak prices being used for weekday travel between 6.30am and 9.30am, and between 4pm and 7pm.

But a TfL report on the trial stated: “There was no noticeable difference in the number of pay-as-you-go journeys made at peak times during the trial compared to pre-trial.”

It added: “While there were no discernible changes in our ridership data, the trial was popular with Londoners, businesses and business improvement districts, particularly in areas where hospitality and cultural venues are particularly reliant on trade from local business rather than visitors.”

City Hall hoped the trial would increase the number of workers going to offices on Fridays and subsequently raise revenue for the hospitality sector through additional spending on lunches, after-work drinks and evening entertainment.

When it was launched, TfL statistics showed midweek ridership on the Tube was at 85% of pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, but the figure for Fridays was just 73%.

Sir Sadiq allocated £24 million from his budget for the 2024/25 financial year to compensate TfL and train operators for revenue lost during the trial.

A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq said: “The mayor and TfL are continually exploring innovative approaches to making public transport as attractive and as affordable as possible for Londoners.

“The Friday fares trial was also a direct response to the concerns of London’s businesses, who see incentivising travel on quieter days of the week as a key priority.

“The data gathered from this trial form part of a wider look at how we address post-Covid demand for public transport, and contained some valuable learnings to inform future decision making.”

A TfL spokesperson said: “Like many transport authorities across the world, we are always looking at way to innovate and grow ridership on our services.

“The Off Peak Friday fares trial formed part of a wider approach to make fares and ticketing more flexible and innovative, and looked at whether reducing fares on Fridays would impact ridership and revenue, as well as London’s wider economy.”