Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced that Transport for London fares will be frozen for a second straight year in 2018. However you get around the city, here are five more things to look forward to next year.
1. The unlimited Hopper fare. Starting in January 2018, the Mayor’s hugely popular Hopper fare, which allows passengers to take two buses or trams for the price of one when changing within one hour, will be extended. You’ll be able to make unlimited changes on buses and trams, meaning millions of Londoners will save money on their daily journeys.
2. Oyster card capping. Weekly Oyster card fares will be automatically capped later in the year. This means that if you travel with pay-as-you-go, you won’t pay more than the price of a weekly travel card from Monday to Sunday. TfL is working hard behind the scenes to make the changes, to bring Oyster cards in line with Contactless ticketing on credit and debit cards and mobile phones.
3. The Night Overground. From December 2017, the first London Overground line will start to run 24 hours a day at the weekend between New Cross Gate and Dalston Junction – great news for those working through the night or taking advantage of east London’s vibrant night-life.
Trains on the East London Line will run throughout the night on Fridays and Saturdays, and be extended to Highbury and Islington next year, complementing the popular Night Tube.
4. The Elizabeth line. In the works for 17 years, the major east-west railway – also known as Crossrail - will launch in December 2018 when the central tunnels under London open. The Elizabeth line will run on three routes: from Paddington to Abbey Wood, Paddington to Heathrow, and Liverpool Street to Shenfield, with 41 accessible stations expected to carry 200 million people each year.
5. New Cycle Superhighways. The fully completed East-West Cycle Superhighway will give cyclists a brilliant new way to get across town, with largely segregated two-way cycle tracks running from Tower Hill to Lancaster Gate and making the route safer for cyclists and other road users.
And the North-South Cycle Superhighway will be extended to provide a safe and direct route from Elephant and Castle to King’s Cross.
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