As the work from home order is lifted, many of us will be shlepping back to the office.
While some will already be there, others will be heading back properly for the first time soon. They may welcome the chance to separate work and home, but some will miss WFH’s flexibility – and try to adopt a hybrid approach to getting the job done.
Whatever the case: if you’re headed back to a London office, you might need to purchase a monthly travel card.
Transport for London (TfL) Oyster cards allow you to pay for a day, week or month of travel across the Tube, Overground, DLR, buses, trams, TfL Rail and National Rail services – plus, if you need them, the Emirates Air Line and the River Bus.
Though you can pay as you go using a contactless card or device (such as on your phone), and these fares are capped so you can only spend up to a certain amount per day – often if you’re on the Tube a lot, you might prefer to pay for the month up front.
But last time many will have paid for one was nearly two years ago, so how much do they cost in 2022?
How much are monthly travel cards in London?
Including travel to Central London, here’s what you’ll need to pay as of January 2022:
Zone 1: £ 142.10
Zone 1 – 2: £ 142.10
Zone 1 – 3: £ 167.10
Zone 1 – 4: £ 204.30
Zone 1 – 5: £ 243.10
Zone 1 – 6: £ 260
Zone 1 – 7: £ 283.10
Zone 1 – 8: £ 334.10
Zone 1 – 9: £ 370.60
If you do not need to be in Zone 1, you can choose to either pay for just one zone, or for the zone range you actually require.
Usually, it’s cheaper to travel in one zone, or between two zones. Once you start needing to commute between three, four or more zones, the monthly travel card costs starts to tot up.
It’s also more cost effective to stay in either Zone 2 or Zone 3 (both £ 106.40) than it is to travel just in Zone 1 (£ 142.10).
For the full range of prices, plus daily and annual travel card costs, check out TfL’s adult fares chart here.
As for youngsters, 11 to 15-year-olds can buy a monthly ZIP Oyster card, with fares starting from a much lower £ 71.10. 16 to 17-year-olds can also commute between Zone 1 and 2 for the same price.
Meanwhile, an apprentice or an adult student can pay £ 99.10 per month for travel card covering Zone 1 and Zone 2.
There’s also a JobCentre Plus monthly travel card, which starts at £ 77 per month.
How much have monthly travel cards gone up since the Covid pandemic began?
Tube costs have gone up a bit since the first lockdown in March 2020.
The following year, in March 2021, the cost of a monthly travel card rose by an average of 2.6%, according to TfL.
However, it looks like the prices are set to go up again in the very near future, possibly as early as March 2022. No doubt it will hit commuters right in the wallet – just as essential energy prices have soared and food shopping costs have risen .
It could potentially match the 3.8% increase general rail fares will rise by in March 2022. The Standard also indicated it could potentially reach 5%, in order to ease financial pressure on TfL caused by Covid-19.
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