Changes being brought in next week will mean Tube passengers heading into central London from Hammersmith and Fulham can travel at off-peak prices during the evening rush hour.

From January 2, anyone heading into Kensington and Chelsea, the West End or elsewhere in zone 1 between 4pm and 7pm will be charged £1.90 on their Oyster card instead of the £2.50 peak rate.

But the increased peak fare will still apply to those travelling out of zone 1 into zone 2 in the same period, and bus fares within the borough will rise again by 10 pence for Oyster pay-as-you-go users, to £1.30 for every journey.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, insisted an average fare increase of 6.8 per cent is needed to help pay for 'vital' transport projects, such as new Routemaster-style double deckers to replace the bendy 207 buses in Shepherd's Bush.

Mr Johnson said: "I have kept the fares for 2011 at the absolute minimum while still protecting the vital improvements that London's transport network needs. Those improvements include upgrades to the Tube, the delivery of Crossrail, and maintenance of London's frequent, extensive, reliable and accessible bus network."

The Mayor said he is protecting free and concessionary travel for those who need it, adding: "Even in difficult times I am not passing the buck to the travelling public - we have stuck with the fare rise we said we would deliver last year and we continue to make efficiencies at Transport for London in order to make sure Londoners are getting the best value for money possible."

Oyster pay-as-you-go Tube fares will rise by between 10 pence and 30 pence, depending on zones crossed and time of travel.

The refundable deposit for a new Oyster card will rise from £3 to £5, and paper tickets will no longer be available to buy from the 4,000 Oyster Ticket Stops found in newsagents, garages and other shops. One-off tickets will still be sold from station ticket offices and self-service machines.

Criticising the bus fare increase, Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat group at the London Assembly, said: "For the third year in a row the Mayor of London is racking up fares well ahead of the rate of inflation. Another year, another painful fare package from Boris Johnson.

"Above all else the Mayor seems determined to penalise some of the poorest Londoners. Far more than any other group of travellers he has picked on bus users who rely on Oyster pay-as-you-go. No one pretends that fares can be totally frozen for 2011, but the Mayor’s overall fare package is unfair and falls most heavily on those that can least afford to pay more."

Other changes include the abolition of any time one-day Travelcards for zones 1-3, 1-5 and 2-6, and off-peak Travelcards for zones 2-6.

All bendy buses are due to be replaced with new double deckers by the end of 2011.