England's Economic Heartland has leant its support to a campaign urging Sadiq Khan to reinstate London's Travelcard.
More than 20 organisations including sub-national transport bodies, business groups, passenger groups and local authorities have written to the Mayor of London urging him not to scrap the Day Travelcard next year.
Currently, people travelling into London can add a Travelcard onto their national rail ticket for use on the capital’s transport network, meaning they buy one ticket for their entire journey. But from next year, people will need to buy their national rail ticket and then either use contactless or buy an oyster card to travel within the capital, making it more difficult to access child and other discounted fares, removing the ability to access seamless, integrated ticketing and adding significantly to the cost of travelling around London.
In June the three STBs which surround London, EEH, Transport East and Transport for the South East, submitted a joint response to the proposals, saying they were a 'backwards step'.
Norman Baker, from Campaign for Better Transport, said: “The sheer number and breadth of organisations which have signed this letter shows that this decision is not only unpopular, but also potentially disastrous for the capital’s economy."
The letter, which is signed by Campaign for Better Transport, Bus Users UK, England’s Economic Heartland, Federation of Small Businesses, Greener Vision, Living Streets, London Deanery, London TravelWatch, Luton Borough Council, Medway Council, Night Time Industries Association, North Northamptonshire Council, Surrey County Council, Transport Action Network, Transport & Environment, Transport East, Transport for All, Transport for the South East, Slough Council, West Berkshire Council, Wokingham Borough Council and Urban Movement, calls on the Mayor and the Department for Transport to work with the train operating companies to find a way to keep the Travelcard to prevent people being priced out of the capital.
People can join the ‘Don’t Cut the Card’ campaign and share their views on the scrapping the Travelcard at: bettertransport.org.uk/campaigns/save-the-travelcard.