Travelcard
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| Location | Greater London |
|---|---|
| Launched | May 1983 |
| Technology | |
| Manager | Transport for London |
| Currency | GBP |
| Validity |
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| Retailed |
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| Variants |
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| Website | http://www.tfl.gov.uk/ |
The Travelcard is an inter-modal travel ticket for unlimited use on the London Underground, London Overground, TfL Rail, Docklands Light Railway, Tramlink, London Buses and National Rail services in the Greater London area. Travelcards can be purchased for a period of time varying from one day to a year, from Transport for London, National Rail and their agents. Depending on where it is purchased, and the length of validity, a Travelcard is either printed on a paper ticket with a magnetic stripe or encoded onto an Oyster card, Transport for London's contactless electronic smart card. The cost of a Travelcard is determined by the area it covers and, for this purpose, London is divided into a number of fare zones. The Travelcard season ticket for unlimited travel on London Buses and the London Underground was launched on 22 May 1983 by London Transport. One Day Travelcards and validity on other transport modes were added from 1984 onwards. The introduction of the Travelcard caused an increase in patronage and reduced the number of tickets that needed to be purchased by passengers.
Before the introduction of the Travelcard, tickets for the London Underground were purchased on a 'point-to-point' basis between two stations, either as a single, return or season ticket; and were priced according to distance travelled. Tickets for travel on London Buses and British Rail were purchased separately. The Travelcard was introduced as the third in a series of major fare revisions that had started in 1981. The introduction of the Travelcard was intended to increase patronage on London Underground and London Buses, particularly during less busy times and to speed up the boarding of bus services.
On 4 October 1981, following the Greater London Council election, the incoming Labour administration simplified fares in Greater London by introducing four new bus fare zones and two central London Underground zones, named City and West End, where flat fares applied for the first time. This was accompanied by a cut in prices of about a third and was marketed as the Fares Fair campaign. Following successful legal action against it, on 21 March 1982 London Bus fares were doubled and London Underground fares increased by 91%. The two central area zones were retained and the fares to all other stations were restructured to be graduated at three mile intervals; and thus grouping those stations within three miles of the central zones in an 'inner zone'.
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