The TfL daily cap is the most you can be charged when using public transport (trains and buses) in London. Use the same card, and once your fares for the day add up to the cap for the zones you have used, every journey after that is free. You do not buy it, you do not opt in, and you do not need a Travelcard. It just happens in the background.
How much is the TfL daily cap?
Here are the 2026 daily caps for the journeys most people make, the ones that include Zone 1. Tube and rail Travelcards and caps are frozen until March 2027, so these prices hold for the rest of 2026 and into early 2027.
| Zones | Daily cap (peak) | Daily cap (off-peak) |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 only | £8.90 | £8.90 |
| Zones 1-2 | £8.90 | £8.90 |
| Zones 1-3 | £10.50 | £10.50 |
| Zones 1-4 | £12.80 | £12.80 |
| Zones 1-5 | £15.30 | £15.30 |
| Zones 1-6 | £16.30 | £16.30 |
| Zones 1-7 | £17.80 | £16.30 |
| Zones 1-8 | £21.00 | £16.30 |
| Zones 1-9 | £23.30 | £16.30 |
Two things jump out. For everything up to Zones 1-6 the peak and off-peak caps are now the same number, so the time of day does not change your daily ceiling. The split only opens up once you travel out to Zone 7 and beyond, where starting your day after 09:30 lowers the cap.
If your travel stays in the outer zones and never touches Zone 1, the caps are lower and the picture gets more detailed. The full matrix is below.
Click here to show the full daily cap table (all zone combinations)
| Zones | Daily cap (peak) | Daily cap (off-peak) | Weekly cap (Mon-Sun) | |---|---|---|---| | Zone 1 only | £8.90 | £8.90 | £44.70 | | Zones 1-2 | £8.90 | £8.90 | £44.70 | | Zones 1-3 | £10.50 | £10.50 | £52.50 | | Zones 1-4 | £12.80 | £12.80 | £64.20 | | Zones 1-5 | £15.30 | £15.30 | £76.40 | | Zones 1-6 | £16.30 | £16.30 | £81.60 | | Zones 1-7 | £17.80 | £16.30 | £88.90 | | Zones 1-8 | £21.00 | £16.30 | £104.90 | | Zones 1-9 | £23.30 | £16.30 | £116.40 | | Zone 2 only | £8.90 | £8.90 | £33.50 | | Zones 2-3 | £10.50 | £10.50 | £33.50 | | Zones 2-4 | £12.80 | £12.80 | £37.10 | | Zones 2-5 | £15.30 | £15.30 | £44.50 | | Zones 2-6 | £16.30 | £16.30 | £55.90 | | Zones 2-7 | £17.80 | £16.30 | £57.90 | | Zones 2-8 | £21.00 | £16.30 | £78.90 | | Zones 2-9 | £23.30 | £16.30 | £78.90 | | Zone 3 only | £10.50 | £10.50 | £33.50 | | Zones 3-4 | £12.80 | £12.80 | £33.50 | | Zones 3-5 | £15.30 | £15.30 | £37.10 | | Zones 3-6 | £16.30 | £16.30 | £44.50 | | Zones 3-7 | £17.80 | £16.30 | £57.90 | | Zones 3-8 | £21.00 | £16.30 | £78.90 | | Zones 3-9 | £23.30 | £16.30 | £78.90 | | Zone 4 only | £12.80 | £12.80 | £33.50 | | Zones 4-5 | £15.30 | £15.30 | £33.50 | | Zones 4-6 | £16.30 | £16.30 | £37.10 | | Zones 4-7 | £17.80 | £16.30 | £41.90 | | Zones 4-8 | £21.00 | £16.30 | £70.70 | | Zones 4-9 | £23.30 | £16.30 | £70.70 | | Zone 5 only | £15.30 | £15.30 | £33.50 | | Zones 5-6 | £16.30 | £16.30 | £33.50 | | Zones 5-7 | £17.80 | £16.30 | £41.90 | | Zones 5-8 | £21.00 | £16.30 | £70.70 | | Zones 5-9 | £23.30 | £16.30 | £70.70 | | Zone 6 only | £16.30 | £16.30 | £33.50 | | Zones 6-7 | £17.80 | £16.30 | £41.90 | | Zones 6-8 | £21.00 | £16.30 | £70.70 | | Zones 6-9 | £23.30 | £16.30 | £70.70 | | Zone 7 only | £17.80 | £16.30 | £41.90 | | Zones 7-8 | £21.00 | £16.30 | £70.70 | | Zones 7-9 | £23.30 | £16.30 | £70.70 | | Zone 8 only | £21.00 | £16.30 | £70.70 | | Zones 8-9 | £23.30 | £16.30 | £70.70 |
The caps cover the Tube, DLR, Elizabeth line, London Overground, and most National Rail services in Zones 1 to 9 as well as bus. Two services sit outside the system: Southeastern high-speed trains and the Heathrow Express are not included in caps at all.
How the daily cap actually works
It runs on a 04:30am to 04:29am
The capping day starts at 04:30am and runs to 04:29am the next morning. So a late night out that crosses midnight still counts as one day for capping.
The daily cap is one fifth of the weekly cap
TfL sets the daily caps at a fifth of the weekly cap for the same zones. That is the structural relationship, and it explains why heavy travellers naturally drift toward the weekly ceiling. If you travel five full days, you have effectively paid the week.
Peak and off-peak, and why the touch-in time is what counts
Peak fares apply Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays, from 06:30am to 09:30am in the morning and 16:00 to 19:00 in the afternoon. Everything else is off-peak, including all weekend travel. For Zones 1 to 6 this makes no difference, because the two caps are the same. For Zones 7 to 9 it means starting your day after 09:30 gives you the lower off-peak ceiling.
The weekly cap is fixed Monday to Sunday
The weekly cap runs from Monday at 04:30am to the following Monday at 04:29. It is not a rolling seven days. If you arrive in London on a Thursday and travel hard for a week, you get the back half of one Monday-to-Sunday week and the front half of the next, and you may never reach either weekly cap. That can leave you paying more across seven days than a 7-day Travelcard would have cost. A 7-day Travelcard, by contrast, starts on whatever day you choose. So for a non-Monday start, the Travelcard is worth checking against the contactless weekly cap.
Does the bus count toward the daily cap? Yes, but only one way
If you use a train at any point in the day, your bus and tram fares get pulled into the train cap for the zones you travelled in. They are not charged on top. Say you spend £5.25 on buses and £6.80 on the Tube, all within Zones 1 and 2. Added up that is £12.05, but the Zones 1-2 cap is £8.90, so £8.90 is all you pay. The bus fares counted toward that ceiling, and once you reached it everything else that day was free, train or bus.
Note that the bus fares count toward the train cap, but train fares never count toward the bus and tram cap. The two caps run in parallel and you pay whichever applies to the mix you actually travelled:
- Buses and trams only, all day: capped at £5.25. (This bus and tram cap is frozen until 5 July 2026, a shorter freeze than the train caps, so it may change after that.)
- Add even one train journey: you are now under the zonal cap (£8.90 for Zones 1-2, more for wider zones), and your bus fares feed into it. So in the example above you never hit the separate £5.25 bus cap. The moment a Tube journey was involved, your bus spend simply became part of the £8.90 you were always going to be capped at.
One more detail, because buses are not zoned. Your bus fares count toward the train cap no matter where the buses ran. If your train travel stayed in Zones 1-2 but you also took a bus out in Zone 4, the bus still counts toward the Zones 1-2 cap. Your train zones set the cap, and the bus fares feed into it. For the bus and tram cap on its own, including how the Hopper fare works, see our guide to the London bus fare cap.
Keep all your taps on one card
The cap only works if the system can link your journeys together, and it links them by payment method. Use the same physical card, or the same phone or watch, for everything in a day. Two problems break this. Splitting your travel across an Oyster for some trips and a contactless card for others gives the system two separate tallies, neither of which may reach the cap. And "card clash", where two contactless cards sit in the same wallet or phone case, can scatter a single day across different cards and even charge you a maximum fare. One card, all day.
Frequently asked questions
What is the TfL daily cap? It is the maximum you pay for pay as you go travel on the Tube and most London rail services in one day. Once your fares reach the cap for the zones you have travelled in, the rest of that day's journeys are free.
How much is the daily cap for Zones 1-2? £8.90 in 2026, the same for peak and off-peak.
How much is the daily cap for Zones 1-6? £16.30 in 2026, the same for peak and off-peak.
When does the daily cap reset? At 04:30 each morning. Travel after midnight still counts toward the previous day until 04:29.
Is the cap different on contactless and Oyster? No. The daily and weekly caps are identical. Contactless just saves you the Oyster card fee.
Does the daily cap include the bus? Yes, if you also use a train that day. Your bus and tram fares count toward the train cap for the zones you travelled in, rather than being charged on top. The reverse is not true: train fares do not count toward the separate bus and tram cap. If you only use buses and trams, you are capped at £5.25. See our bus fare cap guide for the full detail.
Do I need to do anything to get the cap? No. Tap in and out with the same card or device and the cap applies automatically.
Fares are correct for 2026. Tube and rail caps are frozen until March 2027. Always check the live fare for your exact journey before you travel.