'Hopper fare' for London's buses and trams

The hopper fare will benefit passengers that have to use multiple bus routes

A new "hopper fare" will allow people travelling around London to make unlimited bus and tram journeys in one hour, the city's mayor has announced.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said the new fare, which he said would "save Londoners millions of pounds", will come into force early next year.

He also called on the government to freeze national rail fares.

London Assembly Tory Keith Prince said the underestimated cost of the fare would cause long-term problems.

The mayor also announced weekly capping of Oyster Card fares would be brought in later this year.

'Reckless policy'

He said that would bring Oyster charges in line with fare capping on contactless ticketing.

Mr Khan said: "Freezing travel costs is making a real difference for Londoners as the cost of living continues to rise sharply.

"The government must now follow my lead and freeze national rail fares - especially for London suburban rail services. If I can do it, why can't they?"

Mr Prince said freezing fares was a "reckless policy" which had "eluded millions of travelcard users and cost TfL hundreds of millions of pounds".

He said that along with the "underestimated cost of the hopper fare", the moves "might win the Mayor a few votes but will cause major long-term problems for London's transport system".

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "The government carefully monitors how rail fares and average earnings change, and keeps the way fare levels are calculated under review."