Key information
Decision type: Mayor
Reference code: MD1485
Date signed:
Decision by: Boris Johnson, Former Mayor of London (May 2008 - May 2016)
Executive summary
This paper sets out Transport for London’s (TfL’s) fare change proposals to be implemented from 31 May 2015 on National Rail services between Liverpool Street and stations in north and east London, which will transfer to TfL on that date.
From 31 May, it is proposed that TfL-set pay as you go fares will apply on the Transferring Services. Concession acceptance will move to the TfL basis. Brentwood station, which is currently not zoned, will be placed in Zone 9. No other fares on the Transferring Services will change. No tickets will be withdrawn. The result of the changes is that no fares will go up and many will come down, in some cases quite significantly. In a number of cases the TfL concessions basis will provide cheaper fares and additional free travel opportunities.
The cost of the complete package of fare changes in May 2015 is estimated to be of the order of £5m per annum. TfL’s revenue budgets include provisions for this cost.
Decision
The Mayor:
(i) Approves the proposed revisions to fares to be implemented from 31 May 2015 as set out below; and
(ii) Directs TfL to implement the level and structure of fares from the 31 May 2015 in accordance with the Schedule attached.
Part 1: Non-confidential facts and advice
1.1 On 31 May 2015 a number of National Rail services between Liverpool Street and stations in north and east London will transfer to TfL (see Annex A). The Transferring Services comprise principally:
• Services in the Lea Valley area terminating at Enfield Town, Cheshunt and Chingford, which will transfer to LOROL (see map in Annex A).
• The “all stations” service terminating at Shenfield, which will transfer to TfL Rail.
This note describes proposed changes to fares to coincide with the service transfers.
1.2 All the stations involved are already equipped with Oyster and contactless card readers. However, most of the stations charge NR zonal or Operator specific pay as you go fares. These fares are generally significantly higher than the TfL equivalents. The terms of acceptance for London concessions such as the Freedom Pass are also more restrictive on the Transferring Services than on TfL services.
Overview of proposed fare changes in May 2015
1.3 From the date of the transfers to TfL, it is proposed that TfL-set pay as you go fares will apply on the Transferring Services. Concession acceptance will move to the TfL basis. Brentwood station, which is currently not zoned, will be placed in Zone 9 for Travelcard and PAYG pricing purposes. No other fares will change. No tickets will be withdrawn.
1.4 The result of the changes is that no fares will go up and many will come down, in some cases quite significantly. In a number of cases the TfL concessions basis will provide cheaper fares and additional free travel opportunities.
1.5 The terms of transfer of the services require TfL to ensure that fares are set in such a manner as not to create new anomalies in the overall national rail pricing structure.
TfL Concession Acceptance and the Transferring Services
1.6 All TfL concessions and discounts that currently apply to Tube, DLR and LOROL services will apply on the services transferring to TfL control. Concession enhancements will comprise principally free travel for accompanied under 11s and flat Zip card fares for Zones 1-6 of 85p peak and 75p off-peak for the under 16s. Holders of Freedom Passes, Veterans Concessions and 60+ concessions will be able to travel pre-09.30.
Fares from Shenfield
1.7 Although certain of the train services transferring to TfL Rail in May 2015 terminate at Shenfield, the station will continue to be served primarily by fast main line services to London. Shenfield station will continue to be managed and controlled by the Greater Anglia Train Operator.
1.8 The Train Operator will continue to set all fares from Shenfield to Zone 1 and beyond, including the pay as you go fares and all through fares to the rest of the NR network via London Rail services. This is the position today as well and will remain unchanged.
1.9 There will also be no change to 60 plus and Freedom Pass acceptance on the main line service between Shenfield and London.
1.10 All non-Zone 1 fares from Shenfield to the rest of the TfL rail network will be set by TfL. The Train Operator will no longer set these fares to east London including docklands and Stratford. The TfL fares proposed are shown in Annex B.
Fares from Brentwood
1.11 The train service from Brentwood will be provided by TfL Rail from 31 May and the station will transfer to TfL control. Brentwood currently has bespoke pay as you go and Travelcard fares set by Greater Anglia. The station is currently not assigned to a numbered zone. When London fares there move to TfL control, it is proposed to assign Brentwood to Zone 9 – the highest numbered. This does not impact on any other zoning requests within London. This means that Travelcard fares and daily capping will apply at Zone 9 levels. All other Brentwood fares, including single tickets and point to point seasons will be unchanged. The local London via Shenfield routing concession will also remain in place.
1.12 All TfL controlled stations will then be included in the 1-9 zone fare system. Only National Rail controlled stations farther from London will operate bespoke station specific fares (Watford Junction; Broxbourne; Shenfield; and four stations on c2c services – Chafford Hundred, Grays, Ockendon and Purfleet). As a result of the assignment to Zone 9, the 7 day Zone 1 Travelcard from Brentwood falls in price from £87.40, the bespoke fare set from that station by Greater Anglia today, to £83.40 as shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Brentwood Travelcard Prices and PAYG Caps (£)
PAYG fares on the Transferring Services
1.13 PAYG fares on the Transferring Services for travel on LOROL and TfL Rail services will move to a TfL-set basis in May 2015. No fares will go up and in many cases, the TfL PAYG fares will substantially reduce the fares currently charged.
1.14 By way of example, the National Rail-set peak Zones 1-6 PAYG fare from Romford to Oxford Circus falls from £7.60 to the TfL rate of £5.10. The off-peak fare falls from £5.20 to £3.10.
1.15 National Rail pay as you go provides fares to each London terminus which are below those to the rest of Zone 1. TfL pay as you go fares do not make this distinction. However, the TfL Zone 1 fares are generally below the National Rail fares to the terminus. For example, the National Rail-set peak Zones 1-6 PAYG fare from Romford to Liverpool Street is £6.00 or 90 pence more than the TfL Zone 1 rate of £5.10.
1.16 Where imposing the TfL Zone 1 fare would result in a fares increase, fares to Liverpool Street via the Transferring Services are proposed to be frozen from 31 May. See Tables 2.1 and 2.2 below.
1.17 Annex B provides a comprehensive picture of all the pay as you go fare changes on the Transferring Services.
Table 2.1: TfL peak PAYG fares to Zone 1 and London Liverpool Street
on the Transferring Services relative to today
Table 2.2: TfL off-peak PAYG fares to Zone 1 and London Liverpool Street on the Transferring Services relative to today
Brentwood fares to Zone 1
1.18 The proposed peak PAYG fare from Brentwood to LU Zone 1 is shown at £8.20 in the tables above and the off-peak fare at £5.30. The new peak fare to LU Zone 1 provides Brentwood customers with a £1.50 fare reduction. The new off-peak fare provides a £2.30 reduction.
1.19 As mentioned previously, Brentwood will be placed in Zone 9. The new Brentwood fares are 130p higher than the current Metropolitan Line Zone 1-9 fare from Amersham. The higher fare proposed for the Transferring Services reflects TfL’s undertakings to recognise the government’s fare policy objectives for National Rail and fares on adjacent services when setting Crossrail fares.
Non-zone 1 pay as you go fares on the Transferring Services
1.20 The proposed May 2015 fares on the Transferring Services include a number of non-Zone 1 PAYG fares which are set above current TfL zone fares. While avoiding any fare increases for users of the Transferring Services, the aim here is to create a fare scale for longer distance travel outside Zone 1, which is more consistent with Train Operator fares from beyond the zones.
1.21 In the peak, the existing structure of TfL fares appears generally appropriate for the Transferring Services and only a few non Zone 1 fares on the Transferring Services are set above current TfL zone fares:
• No peak fares for travel within Zones 2-6 are set above current TfL rates.
• Four peak fares from Zones 7 and 8 to Zones 2 to 6 are set above current TfL rates. Two of these fares are frozen and two reduced by around 10%. See Annexes B and C.
• Most peak fares from Brentwood and Shenfield to non-Zone 1 destinations are set at a premium to current TfL rates. The issues here are the same as for Brentwood fares to Zone 1. Fares are either frozen or come down by 10% or so compared with today.
Annexes B and C set out the proposals in detail.
1.22 In the off-peak, the current flat TfL fares - 150p for five zones and 170p for 7 zones - would not comply with the undertakings to the DfT. A more graduated off-peak scale for travel on the Transferring Services outside Zone 1 is proposed. No fares on the Transferring Services increase and many fares still come down:
• Within Zones 2-6, the off-peak fares for one and two zones outside Zone 1 are reduced from 170p and 90p and set at the current 150p TfL fare.
• The fares for three, four and five zones within Zones 2-6 on the Transferring Services are set above the current TfL 150p rate but remain either at or below the current fares. The fare for three zones is reduced by 10% from today’s level to 190p. The fares for four and five zones are frozen at 240p and 260p.
• From Zones 7 and 8 to Zones 2 to 6, off-peak fares on the Transferring Services are frozen or only marginally reduced.
• From Brentwood and Shenfield, off-peak fares to non-Zone 1 destinations are set at a premium to the current TfL rate, as in the peak. Many fares do not change in May; others come down by 10% or so.
As in the peak, while avoiding any fare increases on the Transferring Services, the proposals for off-peak fares outside Zone 1 create a fare scale which is more consistent with Train Operator fares from beyond the zones. This scale rises in increments from 150p for two zones to 440p for Zones 2 to 9 (Brentwood) and 550p for Zone 2 to Shenfield. The proposed off-peak fares from Brentwood and Shenfield to Zone 2 match the current fares set by the Train Operator.
Fares from the Main Line stations from Cheshunt to Tottenham Hale
1.23 Formal control over London fares from stations on the main line from Cheshunt to Tottenham Hale is not passing to TfL in May 2015. However, it is intended that local journeys and journeys from these stations to the TfL rail network will adopt the same TfL PAYG fares as the Transferring Services. This provides a consistent customer proposition for the Lea Valley corridor and avoids possible confusion regarding which fares apply for journeys such as Cheshunt to Hackney Downs. Compensation to the Train Company is expected to be up to £1m per annum.
2.1 The Mayor is under a statutory duty to develop and implement policies for the promotion and encouragement of safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport facilities and services to, from and within Greater London. The Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS) contains the Mayor’s policies and proposals for doing this. Overall, the fare proposals aim to ensure that fare policy fully supports the objectives and policy criteria set out in the MTS.
3.1 Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as public authorities, the Mayor and TfL must have ‘due regard’ to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Protected characteristics under the Equality Act cover age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership status (duty to eliminate unlawful discrimination only). The duty applies to the Mayor’s duty to direct TfL as to the general level and structure of fares under the GLA Act 1999.
3.2 TfL has identified seven groups of Londoners (listed below) who typically face increased barriers to public transport use:
• BAME Londoners have a younger age profile than white Londoners, are more likely to live in low income households and are more likely to cite barriers to transport.
• Women tend to be the primary carer at home so are less likely to be in full-time employment and more frequently cite affordability as a barrier to transport.
• Older Londoners are more likely to be retired, and therefore many live on low incomes. They also are more likely to be white and/or disabled. For older and disabled Londoners, the greatest barrier to transport is concern over antisocial behaviour, while for all other groups it is overcrowding.
• Younger Londoners are less likely to be disabled but more likely to be from a BAME community.
• Disabled Londoners tend to be older and are more likely to be white, women or retired. They are also more likely to live on low household incomes. Disabled and older Londoners are more likely to experience difficulties relating to physical accessibility.
• Londoners on low incomes. These tend to be women and older, BAME and disabled people, and those not in work. This largely reflects working status, though the causes of low income are tied to education, qualifications, health and, in some cases, transport.
• The LGB community. Men form the greater part of the LGB community, which is in contrast to the general population. LGB Londoners also tend to be younger and have said hate crime is a concern for them.
3.3 Key issues across these groups are:
• Travelling around the Capital. On average, Londoners make 2.45 trips per weekday. However, for the equality groups covered above, the average number is lower with, for example, BAME Londoners making 2.25 trips per weekday. The exception is women who make a greater number (2.56) of short trips per weekday, on average.
• Cost of fares. For many, the affordability of fares is also a significant issue. Half of Londoners have an Oyster card, although this figure is lower among younger, older, low-income and/or disabled people. These groups may be more likely to benefit from other travel concessions or discounted fares.
• Crime and antisocial behaviour. Concerns about crime and antisocial behaviour tend to affect the travel behaviour of women, BAME Londoners, younger people and/or those on lower incomes more so than other groups (this is particularly evident for BAME and younger Londoners). For women, these concerns are more apparent after dark (during the day they are no more concerned than men). White men are less likely to view crime and antisocial behaviour as barriers to increased public transport use.
• Access to information. Some people feel there is insufficient information to help them make full use of the network – this is particularly true among BAME Londoners, those on low incomes and/or disabled people. There is also evidence to suggest a low awareness of the information tools produced by TfL.
3.4 All current concessionary fare schemes for those less able to pay are being extended to the Transferring Services in order to make public transport accessible to more people, and thereby offset or mitigate any detrimental impacts including those discussed above. The concessions are set out below:
• Children under 11 travel free (subject to a maximum of 4 accompanying an adult)
• 11-15 Oyster photocard
• 16+ Oyster photocard
• 18+ Student Oyster photocard
• Job Centre Plus Travel Discount Card
• Bus & Tram Discount photocard
• Veterans Concessionary Travel
• 60 + London Oyster photocard (men and women up to female pensionable age)
• London Freedom Pass (men and women over female pensionable age)
3.5 No significant or material adverse equalities impacts for groups with particular protected characteristics are envisaged as being likely to arise. However the Mayor is required to consider the potential equalities impacts discussed above, and any mitigations in place, at the time a decision to direct is made in relation to the fare proposals in this paper.
3.6 The Mayor is not required to conduct a statutory consultation on fares.
a) Links to Strategies and Strategic Plan
4.1 The MTS highlights the importance of improving transport opportunity for all Londoners and, in doing so, ensuring that the costs of transport remain affordable. All concessions for the less well off are being extended.
b) Risks
4.2 GLA officers consider that implementation risks are minimal.
5.1. There are no direct financial implications for the GLA from these proposals. However, TfL is dependent upon the GLA for funding principally through its share of business rates. So the level at which fares are set has the potential to impact upon the levels at which TfL’s share of business rates are set.
5.2. The total cost of all the PAYG fare and concession changes relating to the new London Overground Rail Operations Ltd and TfL Rail services is put at around £5 million per year. These costs will be borne by TfL.
5.3. Any changes to this proposal will be subject to further approval via the Authority’s decision-making process as necessary.
5.4. TfL, with the Transport team within the Development, Enterprise & Environment Directorate, are responsible for managing fares.
6.1. Under section 155(1) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (“the GLA Act”) the Mayor may issue directions to TfL as to the manner in which it is to exercise its functions, including, under section 155(1)(c), specific directions as to the exercise of its functions. Under section 174(1) of the GLA Act, the Mayor is under a duty to exercise his powers under section 155(1) so as to ensure that the general level and structure of fares for passenger transport services (provided by TfL or other persons who provide services under agreement with TfL) are determined. This decision is consistent with these statutory obligations.
6.2. Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, when the Mayor exercises a function such as the making of this decision, due regard must be had to the equalities obligations referred to in section 3 (“Equality comments”) above. Consideration is given in section 3 to the likely effects – or absence of effect – of the fare proposals on equalities groups.
Appendices attached to signed decision form
Annex A: National Rail services transferring to TfL from 31 May 2015
Annex B: Current and proposed PAYG fares on the Transferring Services
Annex C: Differences between ex-Greater Anglia and other TfL PAYG fares from May 2015
Attached as Appendix 1
Appendix 1 – TfL advice to the Mayor: fares changes May 2015
Signed decision document
MD1485 2015 May fare changes and Direction to P Hendy (signed) PDF.pdf
Supporting documents
MD1485 2015 May fare changes PDF.pdf
Appendix 1 2015 May fares revision paper advice to Mayor PDF.pdf