The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London (TfL) have today announced that Elizabeth line pay as you go fares within Zones 1-6 will be the same as the fares on existing TfL services, ensuring affordable travel for millions of Londoners when the railway opens through central London in December this year.
All customer service and travel information on the line will be fully integrated with TfL’s other services, with daily fare capping for Oyster and contactless applying.
This will mean that journeys on the brand-new line will cost the same as an equivalent Tube journey. As a result, passengers on the Elizabeth line will reap the benefits of the Mayor’s TfL fares freeze.
Customers will also see savings well in advance of the Elizabeth line opening in December. From Sunday 20 May, the current Heathrow Connect service between Heathrow Terminals 2/3, Heathrow Terminal 4 and Paddington will be transferred to TfL.
While TfL zones do not apply to these Heathrow fares, for the first time, customers will be able to use pay as you go with Oyster and contactless across the route all the way from Paddington to Heathrow. Fares will also be cheaper or in line with the current standard fares charged for Heathrow Connect.
Standard zonal fares will continue to apply for journeys between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington, with special single fares applying for journeys to and from Heathrow Airport.
Example fares include:
A journey from Heathrow Airport to Ealing Broadway currently costs £8.00 using Heathrow Connect. From May, this will fall to £7.30 (peak) and £6.00 (off-peak).
A journey from Shepherds Bush to Heathrow Airport via Ealing Broadway currently costs £12.50 using the Central line and Heathrow Connect. From May, this will fall to £7.30 (peak) and £6.00 (off-peak).
As part of the integrated service, daily fare capping for Oyster and contactless and weekly fare capping for contactless will apply, with travelcards that cover Zone 6 able to be used on services to Heathrow. For daily and weekly capping, Heathrow will be designated as ‘Zone 6’, meaning that ‘pay as you go’ customers travelling to and from the Airport from within Zones 1-6 will never pay more than the daily cap of £12.50.
All concessions which offer free or discounted travel, including the Zip Card, 60+ photocards and Veterans Concessionary Travel, will be valid on the Elizabeth line. This will significantly reduce the cost for families travelling to Heathrow via Paddington, and mean that, from May 2018, a family of four (two adults and two children under 11) will save more than £10 travelling from Paddington to Heathrow.
Further details available from TfL’s website.
