Single fares on public transport in London are a joke. This joke, non-funny as it is, is even less funny if you pay in cash for singles. Every time I go out and take a tube or bus, I seem to entirely exhaust the funds pre-loaded on my student oyster card, regardless of how much I started out with.

I guess the main gripe I have is that despite my paying for a special ’student’ oyster card at the start of the academic year (and I will have to pay again for another card this coming year), I don’t get any discount on single / one day fares - only on period tickets (7 days and up). This period discount (of about a third off) is, I admit, extremely welcome during term time when I need the tube every day, but of little use during holidays. SURELY with every sucker unlucky enough to not have an oyster card paying £4 for a tube single, and £2 for a bus journey, they could afford to give students a bit more off. But no.

I remember the days when child bus fares were 40p!