How do you pay for night bus in London?

You can travel using pay as you go with contactless (card or device) or your Oyster card. You can also travel using your Oyster card with a 7 Day, Monthly and Annual Bus & Tram Pass.



Paying for night buses in London works the same way as daytime buses, but with a few important details to keep in mind. Here’s a complete guide:

The Core Rule: Cash is Not Accepted

You cannot pay with cash to the driver on any London bus, including night buses. You must use one of the following contactless payment methods.

Accepted Payment Methods

  1. Contactless Debit/Credit Card: Simply tap your card on the yellow reader when you board. Use the same card for all your journeys to benefit from daily/weekly fare capping.
  2. Mobile Phone/ Smartwatch (Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.): Works exactly like a contactless card. Tap your device on the reader.
  3. Oyster Card: Tap your Oyster on the yellow reader. You must always tap in, but do not tap out when you get off the bus.
  4. Travelcard (loaded on an Oyster Card): If you have a valid Travelcard for the zones you are travelling in, your bus travel is included at no extra cost.

Key Things to Know for Night Buses

  • Route Numbers: Night buses are prefixed with an ‘N’ (e.g., N15, N29, N73). They run from around 11:30 PM to 5:00 AM, filling the gap when the Tube and most trains are closed.
  • Fare: A single journey on any night bus costs £1.80 (as of 2024). This is charged as a Bus & Tram fare.

People Also Ask

Night buses London is a city that never sleeps and the main bus lines run 24 hours a day. Besides the lines that run 24 hours a day, many buses run at night and can be identified by the letter N in front of their normal number, so for example, bus 15 will become N15 at nighttime.

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London buses are all cashless, so you need an Oyster card, Travelcard or contactless payment card to ride. Bus fare is £1.75, and a day of bus-only travel will cost a maximum of £5.25. You can transfer to other buses or trams for free an unlimited number of times within one hour of touching in for your first journey.

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Pay as you go You don't have to work out the cost of your journey in advance. You can pay as you go using contactless (card or device), an Oyster card or a Visitor Oyster card. It also offers great value as pay as you go is cheaper than buying single tickets and you get daily and weekly capping.

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What is the Night Tube?
  1. A 24-hour service now runs on the Central, Victoria, Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines on Fridays and Saturdays.
  2. Trains run every 10 or 20 minutes, depending on stations.
  3. This new service runs alongside existing Night Bus and taxi services.


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Many of London's bus routes run 24/7. When the Underground closes between about midnight and about 5am, extra night buses are put on. In the centre of London you only wait a few minutes for a bus whatever time of day or night.

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Always touch in on a yellow card reader at the start of your journey and touch out at the end to pay the right fare. (On a bus or tram you only need to touch in.)

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You can get an Oyster card:
  1. Online with a contactless and Oyster account, if you live in the UK.
  2. At Oyster Ticket Stops in many newsagents in London.
  3. At all Tube, most London Overground and most Elizabeth line stations.
  4. Some DLR stations.
  5. At Visitor Centres.
  6. At the Tramlink Shop in Croydon.


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How much does an Oyster card cost? The Oyster card costs £7. You then add money to the card to pay for your travel. The £7 fee is not a deposit.

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Most UK buses do accept cash, London is one of the few cities to have gone cashless on all public transport. In London, you can either pay by using an approved contactless card or an Oyster Card.

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If you don't have a contactless credit/debit card and don't want to purchase an Oyster card, you can purchase a One Day Bus Pass. The is a paper ticket that gives you unlimited travel until 4:29 AM the following day.

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