Unpopular plan to scrap Day Travelcards withdrawn

A controversial plan to scrap Day Travelcards into London has been stopped after a deal was reached with train companies.

The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, was considering withdrawing one-day travelcards, which are added to National Rail tickets for people travelling from outside the Oyster zone.

But it was announced today that the scheme is set to remain– albeit with a price increase in this ticket type for passengers from Maidenhead, Windsor and Slough.

Without them, people visiting London from the South-east would have had to pay for their National Rail fare into London, and then switch to Oyster or contactless for onward journeys in the city.

For example, an ‘anytime’ day travelcard from Maidenhead costs £35. If this was scrapped, the same journey would require a £26 return, plus a daily cap of up to £14.90 – a total of £40.90. This would have been a 16.9 per cent greater cost.

The new proposal includes a one-off price increase of about three per cent on Day Travelcards from stations outside Zones 1-6, as part of a National Rail ticket.

This begins from March 2024 and will be in addition to any general regulated fares increase.

The idea of the proposed withdrawal of the scheme was to ‘meet the requirements of a Transport for London (TfL) funding settlement with Government’, which the Mayor of London’s office said was required due to the impacts of the pandemic.

Nonetheless, Royal Borough, Slough and Buckinghamshire councils all called for an ‘urgent’ rethink of the policy, which they felt would leave their residents out of pocket.

Cabinet members for the Royal Borough and Slough councils spoke out, alongside MPs Theresa May (Maidenhead) and Tan Dhesi (Slough) in particular.

Now, train companies have reached an agreement which means Day Travelcards can continue.

This follows ‘a long period of negotiation’ by Rail Delivery Group (RDG) - representing train operators - TfL and the Department for Transport.

Mr Khan said: “As part of the COVID-19 financial deal TfL made with the Government, there is a requirement to make savings of £600million.

“I refused to countenance removing weekly, monthly or season travelcards and today I am pleased to confirm the Day Travelcard is also now safe. 

“The offer now on the table saves a much-valued product for visitors to London, while giving TfL a fairer share of ticket revenue.”

In response to the news, Councillor Puja Bedi, Slough Borough Council’s lead member for transport, said she is ‘pleased that TfL have seen sense.’

“As an administration, we have been clear that we vigorously opposed the potential scrapping of the Day Travelcard scheme.

“This will be a huge sigh of relief to Slough families, and those who use this really important option to travel into London.”

Slough MP Tan Dhesi said he 'welcomes' the announcement also.

“After making representations to London Mayor Sadiq Khan on behalf of Slough constituents, my gratitude to him for his efforts in ensuring the continuation of the Travelcard.

"As one of the more popular tickets purchased by Slough residents, it’s crucial in connecting us to the capital for both work and leisure. "

Securing cheaper, more convenient, environmentally friendly public transport is a victory for common sense, particularly when so many have been punished by exorbitant costs in other aspects of their lives.”

Also in 'grateful' of the decision is Cllr Geoff Hill, cabinet member for transport for Windsor and Maidenhead council.

"I think it's a common-sense move to leave it in place," he said. "It encourages the use of the railways, which I believe in, and mass transit - and gets people off the road."

Regarding the price rise, he said:

"Until we have all the details, we can't comment too fully, but I suspect it won't hurt too much - people will still get value out of a travelcard."

Cllr Martin Tett, leader of Buckinghamshire Council, said:

“This positive result has been possible through our successful campaign with neighbouring local authorities.

“This is also a great outcome for the environment as people can still choose to access affordable public transport when practical for their journey.”

Windsor MP Adam Afriyie said it was a 'relief' but said it was 'frustrating that mayor Khan's poor management put it in jeopardy."

Maidenhead MP Theresa May said it was 'a good decision for Maidenhead.'

"I’m pleased the London Mayor has listened to my call, and that of others, to keep the Day Travelcard," she said. "I was clear with him that the Day Travelcard was really important for my constituents particularly at this time when many are finding the cost of living difficult.  At last he’s seen sense."

More cautious is the response from Marlow-Maidenhead Passengers' Association. Richard Porter of MMPA said:

"We're pleased that the Day Travelcard has been reprieved, but at a price.

"The price increase is described as 'one-off', but [we] don't believe it will come off in 2025. We suspect it will be added in 2024 and left in situ and be subject to the normal fare increases. We already know that fares will increase by up to 9 per cent in March, so the Travelcard could go up by 12 per cent.

"Nevertheless, the alternative of buying an Oyster card plus an additional ticket for each journey into London would be worse, especially for those of us with Railcards.

"A Railcard can be added to Oyster card if it's registered. Railcard and other discounts (eg child fares) aren't available when using PAYG/contactless from our area, and as we get reminded Oyster isn't available this side of West Drayton."