It’s a bit galling to read today that fare increases in train travel are drawing criticism. Yes they are awful, but come on, we’ve known about them for months. So moaning on the day they go up is pointless.
Still I do have sympathy for tourists in London. Anybody from out of town is getting really stung on the Tube now unless they have a tracking device Oyster Card. A Zone 1 fare has gone up from £3 to £4 if you pay cash. It’s only £l;1.50 on a Pay As You Go Oyster Card. But of course tourists and visitors who don’t buy a Travelcard are pretty unlikely to go to the hassle of filling out a form and paying the £3.00 “refundable deposit” for the card. And if they do, they’ll inevitably leave London with credit still on the card – cash that they’re unlikely to get back.
As someone in one of today’s papers points out, if there are five of you, and you want to make a single trip across the middle of London, and you don’t have Oyster Cards, you’re almost certainly better off taking a cab than jumping on the tube, since your fare is most unlikely to be more than £20.