image source, Getty Images
- Author, Noah Vickers
- Role, Local democracy reporter
A £24m trial scheme offering off-peak fares in London (TfL) throughout Friday has been found to have had a “negligible” impact on bringing more people into central London, City Hall Conservatives have said.
City Hall introduced a three-month trial period in March to attract workers to the office and boost hospitality and culture.
Tube passenger figures – which are not a full analysis of the system’s impact as they also included the Overground, DLR Elizabeth and London Rail services – showed that the system appeared to have only led to a 3% increase in take-up.
TfL said daily passenger figures were less useful for assessing the impact of the system and their analysis would “take into account a number of aspects”.
A surge in Londoners working from home means Fridays in the city center are quieter than they were before the pandemic.
The trial ran on Friday for 13 weeks, starting on March 8 and ending on May 31.
Around 40.6 million journeys were made on London Underground on Fridays during the trial period, excluding Good Friday, when all fares were off-peak because it was a bank holiday.
The number of journeys during the same set of Fridays in 2023 was only slightly lower, around 39.4 million journeys, again excluding Good Friday.
The figures available on TfL’s website only cover Tube journeys and do not include ridership on the Elizabeth, Overground, DLR and London National Rail services, which were all also part of the trial.
TfL said in its financial report earlier this month that total journeys across all its services were up just over 6% compared to last year, meaning the 3% rise on the Tube on Friday could largely be played out without trial.
“negligible impact”
State rail strikes also appear to have reduced ridership on two of the relevant Fridays in 2023.
Keith Prince, the Conservative council spokesman for transport, said: “Friday off-peak will end up costing taxpayers an estimated £24 million, despite having a negligible impact on passenger numbers.”
He added that the money would be better spent in other areas, such as improving the central line and expanding the fleet of zero-emission buses.
Caroline Russell, a Green Party MP, called on the Labor mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to restore free travel for older people before 9am, which was in place during Friday’s off-peak trial.
image source, European Pressphoto Agency
A TfL spokesman said it was continuing to analyze the results of the trial.
“This analysis will take into account a number of aspects including an assessment of changes to the morning peak and overall daily footfall, as well as the impact on businesses across London,” they said.
TfL pointed out that the publicly available figures only show the total number of passengers each day, making it less useful for assessing any specific increase in journeys during the peak periods covered by the trial.
The authority also noted that passenger numbers always fluctuated around public holidays, the Easter period and the April and May school holidays.
The £24m funding to support the trial was “used to offset the difference in revenue shortfall” created by the scheme, the Mayor’s Office said at the time it was signed off.
Town hall sources have previously dismissed suggestions the mayor had “farmed” the money to spend just before his re-election bid on May 2, calling the allegations “absolute nonsense”.
Last week, the mayor said he hoped a comprehensive analysis of the process would be released “in the next few months.”
The Liberal Democrats were also asked to comment.