Londoner finds 34-year-old Tube travel card showing how much fares have risen

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A Londoner has stumbled upon a blast from the past, unearthing a 1988 London Underground travel card and sparking a discussion about how much TfL fares have skyrocketed over the years. The off-peak ticket, valid for one day, was bought for a mere £2 on Friday, December 2, 1988.

The nostalgic find was shared on Reddit, with the user explaining it was discovered ‘in one of my parent’s old books’. According to the Bank Of England, £2 in 1988 equates to £5.32 in 2024.

In contrast, today’s adult fare for a TfL travel card covering Zones 1 to 5 stands at a hefty £15.90.

Travel cards were first introduced on London Buses and the London Underground in 1983 by London Regional Transport, which later became Transport for London (TfL). Initially, these were only season tickets, with day tickets being introduced a year later in 1984.

These tickets granted commuters access to the fare zones of the time, namely Zone 1, 2, 3a, 3b and 3c. These zones were restructured into Zones 3, 4, and 5 in 1989.

The post sparked a wave of nostalgia among fellow Redditors. “Wow, talk about nostalgia! Back then I was riding the Tube in to university every day,” one user reminisced.

“Student in London in the 80s. All came flooding back,” another added. A third user commented: “Childhood memory unlocked right there. I have this sudden memory of playing with them like they were credit cards in my purse! “.