Inside TfL’s newest price hike

Dear Londoners — Spring has sprung! Ok, so the temperature hasn’t quite topped 10 degrees yet, and next week looks to be both cold and dull — but the important thing is that right now the sky is blue, the daffodils are out, and we’ve seen the sun for a few days in a row. 

We hope you’ve been enjoying the beautiful weather as much as we have, and that it’s left you energised for the coming week. Speaking of which, we have some corkers lined up for you, including pieces on the mysterious anti-cruising posters springing up around Hampstead Heath and a deep-dive into warring Clapton football clubs (how’s that for diverse subject matter?).

We’re also pretty excited that we’ve sailed over the 300 paid subscriber mark — a massive thanks to everybody who’s pledged to support us so far. If you haven’t yet done so, get full access to our type of high-quality, long-form journalism with an early-bird discount by clicking the buttons below.

Now, on with your Monday briefing.

Big story: Why fees are increasing on London’s Tubes and trains

Topline: Your Tube journey is about to cost more — around 4.6% more, to be precise.

The background: In October last year, it was announced that rail fares across the country would go up by 4.6%, making this the second above inflation rise in 12 years. The increase was set at 1% above the retail prices index (RPI) inflation, which stood at 3.6% when this decision was made in July 2024. This was already significantly higher than the consumer prices index (CPI) measure the government usually uses, which was 2.2%. That change has now gone into effect, and it impacts TfL services as well.

How much will this cost me?: For all zone 1 single peak fares, you’ll be paying £2.90 — 10p more than you were yesterday. The daily cap for zones 1–2 has risen by 40p to £8.90, while the daily cap for zones 1–3 has risen by 90p to £10.50.

The good news: The rail fare increase doesn’t affect other forms of public transport. This means that bus and tram fares are, thankfully, still frozen. And due to previous freezes, the capital still offers better value travel than the rest of Britain’s network: TfL fares now are 9% lower than if they’d risen in line with previous national rail fare hikes since 2016, while bus and tram fares have only risen 25p in that period.

What else is happening at TfL?: It isn’t just customers who are having to come up with extra cash — TfL has also been asked to fish around in its pockets to try and find savings of more than £20m. This shortfall was revealed at a City Hall meeting last Thursday, in which it emerged that TfL needs to come up with £23m due to government legislation that increased employers' National Insurance (NI) contributions. Although the government has provided help to cover the cost of the increased contributions, this doesn’t seem to have been enough — David Bellamy, chief of staff for mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, said that the government had not “provided as much money as we would have hoped for”.

Your news briefing

🏠 Last week we published an investigation into a series of new housing projects in Barking riddled with defects. At the centre of it all was a firm called Bouygues, who claimed that collapsing balconies at one of its new estates in Barking was an unprecedented accident caused by a failure by one of its subcontractors. But thanks to a reader who sent in a tip after our briefing on Friday, we’ve found that this is far from their first incident. Another newbuild project they worked on in Kilburn was subject to a £15m legal claim by its developer after serious defects and fire safety flaws were found in the building.

🚜 The Met have banned all tractors from entering the capital ahead of another planned protest by farmers angry at the government’s reforms to inheritance tax. In the past, the vehicles have been pictured blocking roads and impeding ambulances. 

🎨 The Royal Academy of Arts is cutting sixty jobs, around 18% of its entire workforce, thanks to a “serious financial challenge”, reports The Guardian. The institution is currently without a chief executive, after its last head Axel Ruger left in 2024, and last year received just 622,000 visitors — almost half the annual visitors it recorded before Covid. 

🐶 London’s longest serving fire dog, Sherlock, is retiring after 12 years of “distinguished” service, reports The Standard. Sherlock is trained to identify the presence of ignitable liquids, like acetone and petrol, and attended dozens of major incidents, including the Grenfell fire. 

Got a story for us to look into? Please get in touch.

We’re still on a quest for a new office space. Please reach out to editor@the-londoner.co.uk if you have any tips or offers for us!

New here? Make sure to catch up on Hannah’s fascinating weekend read on the revival of London folklore, and how the capital’s inhabitants are finding their identity in the capital’s oldest myths. Read the full piece here. 

Wining and dining 

With endless offerings and non-stop openings, we all know that deciding where to eat and drink in the capital can be fraught. We want to make it easy — so every week we’ll give you our insider guide to the city’s best spots. 

One perfect meal: Forza Wine National Theatre

The problem of where best to take a visitor to London — family member, friend, long-distance lover — can be a difficult one. You need somewhere reliable, yes, but also somewhere special, somewhere where the ambiance is as excellent as the food. And crucially, it needs to suit even the fussiest of customers. Our top pick is Forza Wine at the National Theatre which, despite having only been open for a year and a half, has already established itself in the pantheon of London restaurant go-tos. 

The menu at Forza leans towards seasonal, Italian-ish small plates — currently, the stars of the show are the elegant octopus-curls of bitter tardivo, paired with chickpeas and parmesan, and the sweetly earthy purple sprouting broccoli, goats curd and walnuts. And, as the name suggests, the wine list is excellent (as are the cocktails). It’s informal in the best way — elbows on tables, wine-rimed lips, continual laughter — and, with its balcony overlooking the river, the perfect spot for spring.

One perfect pint: The Prince of Wales, Kennington

With the earth gradually tilting on its orbit towards the sun, what was previously solid darkness around 7pm is now becoming the amber glow of spring. This makes it the perfect time to double up your pub experience with some boules practice. At The Prince of Wales in Kennington, punters ferry their takeaway pints to Cleaver Square, where boules games spring up in splendid little rows. It’s one of those games you don’t really have to think about, meaning you can play for hours — ideal for both endless conversation and endless pints. 

The pub itself is a handsome, red-brick affair, complete with glossy hardwood bar and ceiling height cross-paned windows that bathe the place in light even on the cloudiest of days.

Our favourite reads

Operation Mincemeat: How Britain's Weirdest WWII Mission Became a Broadway Musical — Amelia Tait, Esquire 

In 1943, the uniformed corpse of a homeless man was floated onto the Spanish coast. The unwitting cadaver was part of a strange idea MI6 called, ‘Operation Mincemeat’. The plan was to convince Hitler that a senior military officer had died and serendipitously washed up on the shore carrying top secret documents. Amelia Tait explores how, almost a century later, Operation Mincemeat came first to the West End, and then to Broadway. 

The invisible city: how a homeless man built a life underground — Tom Lamont, the Guardian

A weekend jaunt on Hampstead Heath had us recalling this fantastic Guardian long read from 2020 on Dominic Van Allen, a homeless man who dug himself a bunker under the sprawling, 320-hectare park. It’s a poignant, beautiful portrait of life on the city’s margins, and the lives of those hidden away from view.

To Do List

This week

🏗️ If you felt that The Brutalist was robbed at Sunday night’s Oscar’s, perhaps you can work through some of that resentment with a full cardio work-out in one of London’s brutalist masterpieces. This Saturday, Alexandra and Ainsworth Residents Association are hosting Brutalist Bootcamp at Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate. The events page says to “wear suitable trainers, workout clothes, and water”. 

🚯 Yes, you’ve heard of rubbish music, but how about Rubbish Music? Tonight, Cafe Oto is hosting a live performance event from Matt Atkins and Beibei Wang. The concert, which features four sets, focuses on detritus, junk percussion and garbage, and seeks to “imagine new possibilities for rubbish with our orchestra of dirty oven grills, plastic wrappers, old toilet plungers, wine bottles, nasal spray and cardboard boxes”.

From the archive

Filmed in 1963, when the grand townhouses of Camberwell were overcrowded slums being cleared for modernist estates, The Changing Face of Camberwell is a fascinating relic from a time that now seems nearly unfathomable — walk down any of the streets in this film, and what were once tumbledown Georgian hovels are now some of the city’s most desirable (and expensive) residences.

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