London transport is world’s most expensive

Admin

March 7, 2025
2 min read

London transport is world’s most expensive

Research from the Telegraph has found that London transport is the planet’s most expensive. Last weekend, train fares across the capital have risen, with the daily cap for Zone 1 travel rising by 40p from £8.50 to £8.90. The cap for travelling across zones 1, 2, and 3 has increased to £10.50.

The newspaper compared London transport costs against those of ten major metro systems around the planet. It did say that it would be challenging to make a perfect comparison between different transport systems due to different pricing structures. But when compared against London, other cities’ transport were found to be far cheaper.

While Berlin is more expensive for a single ticket in its central zone, £2.80 vs £3.14, London has it beat for post 24-hour tickets. For London, the highest daily cap is £16.30 for Zones 1 through 6, while Berlin’s equates to only £10.17.

Paris and Washington are also far cheaper with prices starting at £1.65 and £1.78 respectively. The standard TfL rate of £2.40 single fares are three times that of Seoul (77p) and Tokyo (95p) and double Madrid’s £1.24 charge.

“Other international cities have a much larger proportion of their costs covered by government subsidies or dedicated taxes, with subsidies and taxes in many major European and North American metros accounting for around 40-60 per cent of their revenues,” a TfL spokesperson said. “If these weren’t in place, fares in those countries would likely either be more in line with, or more expensive than, TfL’s fares. We are committed to keeping fares as affordable as possible while ensuring public transport is as safe, reliable and accessible as possible. Furthermore, bus and tram fares, which are already among the lowest in the UK, have been frozen for a further year until March 2026.”

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