London bus and tram fares will increase this November

One of London’s best micro-perks is the hopper fare, letting you take multiple buses or trams and only pay once. But that fare is going up next month.

TfL has announced fare rises for buses and trams, the first such rise since 2023.

From the 1st November, bus and tram fares will jump by 10p to £1.85. And the correspding daily fare cap goes up to £5.55, from its previous £5.25 limit.

It is, thankfully, not too egregious a rise, and marks the end of mayor Sadiq Khan’s price freeze.

“Had bus fares increased in line with inflation since 2016, they would be £2.35 today - but previous Mayoral fare freezes over the last 10 years mean customers continue to pay 60p less per journey than they would have if the Mayor of London had not taken action,” TfL said back in July when the freeze was extended until November.

It works out at a roughly 5.7 per cent price rise, which is significantly greater than the current rate of inflation of 3.1% according to the Office for National Statistics.

“London’s bus fares remain some of the lowest in the UK, and this is only the third time they’ve increased over the past decade, meaning they are still 17 per cent lower than if they had risen in line with inflation throughout this period,” a TfL spokesperson said in a statement.

But what happens now, and next? The outlook for further future price bumps rests on the UK Autumn Budget, which will be announced on 28th October by chancellor John Healey.

However, Andy Burnham has already signalled a bus-forward approach to public transport. In July the Prime Minster unveiled his plan for a 2027 £2 cap on bus fares in England, affecting areas outside of London.

It’s a plan estimated to cost £500 million, funded by changes to international climate-based projects.

National rail fares, meanwhile, are frozen until March 2027. This was announced almost a year ago in November 2025, the first rail freeze of its kind in 30 years.

That freeze lasts until March 2027, after which there may well be another price jump for train fares.

Elsewhere in London bus and tram travel, TfL has annonunced tram engineering works that will affect routes during the upcoming half term holidays. There’s disruption on tram lines east of Croydon from 24th October to 5th November, so double check planned routes for any trips during that period.

“We're carrying out most of these works during the October half-term period when demand is lower to minimise disruption as much as possible,” says Mark Davis, TfL general manager.

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