Zone 1 is 3.10 pounds at peak, Travelcard prices and daily caps did not change, bus fares were held and the Heathrow Elizabeth line fare was proposed to rise
The first thing a visitor to London learns is that the Tube is expensive and the bus is not. The second is that fares change every March. According to Time Out’s guide to the changes, new fares applied from Sunday 1 March 2026 across the Underground, Overground, Elizabeth line and DLR. Tube and rail fares rose by an average of 5.8 percent, with some cheaper ticket types rising by up to 10 percent. As the article puts it, no single pay-as-you-go fare on the Tube goes up by more than 20 pence.
The Single Fares
For a traveller paying per journey, the figures from the same article are these, peak first and then off-peak. Zone 1 only: 3.10 pounds and 3.00 pounds, up from 2.90 pounds at peak. Zones 1 to 2: 3.60 pounds and 3.10 pounds. Zones 1 to 3: 3.90 pounds and 3.30 pounds. Zones 1 to 4: 4.80 pounds and 3.60 pounds. Zones 1 to 5: 5.30 pounds and 3.80 pounds. Zones 1 to 6: 5.90 pounds and 4.00 pounds. Journeys wholly outside Zone 1 are cheaper: one zone outside Zone 1 costs 2.30 pounds and 2.20 pounds, and Zones 2 to 6 cost 3.80 pounds and 2.60 pounds.
The off-peak column deserves attention. The gap between peak and off-peak is as much as 1.20 pounds on a Zone 1 to 4 journey. A visitor with a flexible day can save real money by starting after the morning peak. The article does not define the peak hours, so check the TfL site for the current times.
Why Fares Rose
The article explains that the government ordered Transport for London to raise fares by RPI inflation plus 1 percent each year until 2030, in exchange for 2 billion pounds in funding. The Mayor of London’s own announcement of the package, made on 11 December 2025, described the funding deal as 2.2 billion pounds and said fares on the Tube and rail would still be about 16 percent lower than if they had risen with inflation since 2016. Those are the Mayor’s figures, and they come with the Mayor’s framing, but the underlying facts are consistent: the rise was required, not chosen.
What Stayed the Same
Several things were held. Travelcard prices are frozen until March 2027, so daily and weekly caps do not change, which means holders reach the caps sooner. The Zip and 18+ Student photocard prices are unchanged. And bus fares are unchanged. The Mayor’s announcement said bus and tram fares would be frozen until July 2026, and the Hopper fare, which gives unlimited bus journeys within one hour, would cost 1.75 pounds. I could not confirm what happened to bus fares after July, so check the current fare before travelling.
The Mayor’s page also said that without the freezes, bus fares in March would have been 60 pence higher. The practical lesson for visitors is that the bus is the cheapest way to cover short distances, and slow enough that you will see the city. Our guide to the unspoken rules of the Underground explains how to behave on the cheaper, faster option.
The Airport Warning
The change that matters most for tourists is the airport fare. The Mayor’s December announcement proposed that the Elizabeth line single from Zone 1 to Heathrow would rise from 13.90 pounds to 15.50 pounds, and that the Piccadilly line from Zone 1 to Heathrow would rise from 5.80 pounds to 5.90 pounds. The page notes that this mainly affects tourists, since commuters are protected by the daily cap. The announcement described these as proposed changes, to be considered in a future Mayoral Decision, and the Time Out article does not list airport fares, so confirm the final figures on the TfL website. If the proposal went ahead, the Piccadilly line is the cheaper way to reach the airport, and the Elizabeth line is the faster.
How to Pay
Visitors have two good options. A contactless bank card or a phone wallet works on the Tube, Overground, Elizabeth line, DLR and buses, with fares capped daily so you never pay more than the cap. An Oyster card works the same way and can be bought at stations. Our guide to the Oyster card, the plastic that runs the city explains how it works, and our look at how the city pays with contactless covers the card route. If your bank charges foreign transaction fees, an Oyster may be cheaper.
A few habits help. Use the same card or phone for every journey so the system can apply the cap. Do not tap two different cards that look alike. Tap out at the end of every journey, since a missing tap-out is charged at a maximum fare. And check your journey history online if you suspect an error, because refunds are available for mistaken charges.
When a Travelcard Makes Sense
With Travelcard prices frozen and caps unchanged, a Travelcard is worth considering if you plan many journeys across several days. For most visitors who will take three or four journeys a day, the daily cap is enough. The break-even point depends on your itinerary, and neither article gives cap amounts, so use the TfL fare finder and compare.
For more practical advice, see our tourist survival guide, and for the wider magazine visit Bohiney Magazine. If you want to laugh at a delay, Newsthump is the right company. Whatever the fare, the Tube is still the fastest way to stand very close to a stranger.
SOURCE: bohiney.com
