As many as 60,000 Croydon residents could lose their 60+ Oyster discount travelcard if calls to scrap the benefit to reduce future fare rises are taken on board by Transport for London.
Card trick: lobby groups are trying to take free travel privileges away from the over-60s
The 60+ Oyster entitles holders to free travel on London’s buses, Tubes, the Croydon Tram and most trains (after 9.30am each day). Removing the card could save the capital’s transport authority £80million or more each year in fare revenue, according to TfL’s own figures.
TfL says it has 379,216 60+ Oyster cards in use across London, of which 119,735 were registered in 2024-2025. There are no usage figures available by borough, but the 2021 Census showed that approximately 60,000 Croydon residents are aged 60 or over.
With 13.6% over-65s, Croydon’s pensioner population is higher than the London average of 11.9%.
Scrapping free travel privileges for pensioners, including the Freedom Pass, was among the bat-shit crazy ideas floated by the Tories’ disastrous candidate for London Mayor, Shaun Bailey, at one of those “blue sky thinking” sessions held at Conservative Party Conference six years ago. Bailey proved to be such a useless candidate and London Assembly Member that he now has a seat for life in the House of Lords…
The 60+ Oyster card was introduced in London in 2012. Anyone living in a London borough is eligible for the card once they reach their 60th birthday, but with TfL looking at its budgets ever more closely, the £84million of revenue lost in 2023-2024 is being eyed with increasing interest by City Hall’s bean-counters. Over the last three financial years, TfL says lost revenue through 60+ Oyster card use amounted to almost £210million.
TfL estimates that one-third of journeys taken with the 60+ Oyster card would not happen if any fare were charged for these journeys.
Calls to scrap the Oyster card have come from “campaigners for intergenerational fairness”, while groups representing older people say the card is “a lifeline for many to prevent social isolation and loneliness”.
Lobbying against pensioner benefits: Liz Emerson
The Herne Hill-based Intergenerational Foundation sets out its policy stall on its website quite clearly: “By 2050, Britain will have to spend £80billion per year above what it does now on pensions, long-term elderly care and the NHS.” And bus passes, too, unless the Intergenerational Foundation gets its way.
Liz Emerson, the Foundation’s chief executive, said, “On intergenerational fairness grounds, the Mayor of London must stop this free travel bung to workers below state pension age.
“Why should struggling younger workers facing unprecedented living costs continue to subsidise this freebie?”
There has been no statement from TfL in response to the lobbying from Emerson and the Intergenerational Foundation.
Tube fares rose 4.6% in March, with research that month showing that the capital’s public transport fares were the most expensive of any major world city.
In June, TfL announced that it is to increase its registration fee for 60+ Oyster cards by 75%, and also increase annual renewal fees.
The application fee for the 60+ London Oyster card will rise to £35, up from the previous £20. The fee for the annual eligibility check and for a replacement photocards is to almost double, from £10 to £18.
TfL is operating with a £23million shortfall.
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As I have been saying for at least the last 20 years, I know that they are going to withdraw the Freedom Pass before I get to qualify for one. Having seen this story yesterday, I tried to apply for my 60+ card (the semi freedom pass, that you have to pay a bit for and encourages you to have a lie-in as it doesn’t work until 9/9.30am, but you can only apply two weeks before your 60th birthday, which means I have to wait until next Friday.
Re. the Intergenerational Foundation, the reason that younger workers are facing “unprecedented living costs” is because they blow all their money on drugs, alcohol, vapes, etc.!
This was always a soft target and what softer than older people? If you can take away their winter fuel allowance, raid their pensions etc. why not travel? One less reason to live in London.
This will most probably be frowned on by many, but here we go. If TFL need to save money link the card to the national retirement age. I believe the card was originally aimed at 60 to fit in when retirement age was 60 for women. Now the retirement age has increased it’s not as relevant to be available at 60. I have held a freedom card since I was 60 (now 67)but rarely used it until I retired a year ago as it was not useful for just the occasional trip when off.Now tend to use it more preferring it to driving as long as going not out for heavy shopping. I am 67. Pensioners need these cards not so useful generally if you are working as not usable during rush hours. On another matter is fair evasion. Many evaders see public transport as a free service being aggressive when challenged. This needs to be got to grips with as they are stealing money from TFL and in turn the fare paying customers in the form of increased fares.
The “60,000 Croydon residents” is misleading. It is based on an estimate of everyone in the borough over 60 whereas the 60+ Oyster Card is only available for those not yet eligible for a Freedom Pass. This is a much smaller number.
To get a better estimate of 60+ Oyster eligibility you would have to find out how many people in Croydon have a Freedom Pass (FOI request to the council?) and subtract that from your 60k residents.
In the absence of actual borough figures from TfL for Oyster registrations, the 60,000 number is offered purely as a guide to the number of older people in this borough which, as the Census shows, is above the London average.
The Office for National Statistics’ most recent data release “Population estimates for England and Wales: mid-2024” shows Croydon’s to be home to 409,342 people. From that same source we find that 12.9% were of the age 60 to 65 and thus eligible for a 60+ Oyster card. That works out at 52,805.
The Intergenerational Foundation sounds like something thought up by the ‘geniuses’ in Tufton Street. Next we’ll be told that Farage is one of their patrons. Mayor Khan will not allow this nonsense.
Is that a Reform UK (previously Brexit Party) ‘think tank`?
Do you have any insight into this please, Inside Croydon?
I have spent 5 minutes looking at the Intergenerational Foundation web site which says it is a registered charity, has trustees and ‘supporters’.
I saw nothing about membership, numbers, or democratic governance in my short visit.
Their title is the ‘Intergenerational’ Foundation but amongst the turgid text, this appears to be not a balanced group for fairness for all ages, but one seemingly believing that the elderly are bad people or have advantages at the expense of the young and middle aged.
Some gripes just seem to miss the nature of life and age progression. Eg. mortgage home purchasers are unlikely to have bought or paid off their mortgages at age 20 compared with, say those aged 60.
As above, I did not see any campaigning about the ‘unfairness’ of older persons losing their energy, gaining aches and pains, becoming forgetful going grey etc.
This Intergenerational Foundation just appears to envy the benefits of SOME older people while not acknowledging or campaigning for their trials and tribulations.
I’ve held a 60+ Oyster Card for 3 years, which coincided with me retiring at 60. I use it around once / twice a month to go into central London. When I go, I spend money on seeing shows, talks, cafes, restaurants, etc. If it was withdrawn before I qualified for a Freedom Pass (at 65), I probably wouldn’t go into central London so often. So from a finance perspective, it’s the entertainment / hospitality sector that would suffer. That loss needs to be estimated and factored into the debate.
One of the consequences of withdrawing the 60+ Oyster card could be that some of the former users would drive a car instead — which would be counter to the Mayor of London’s policy of improving air quality.
Having to potentially pay the congestion charge and / or ULEZ charges may suppress that.
So the opponents of the scheme are never going to get old like us? We worked all our lives for this and we are NOT giving it up! Some stay on at work and need this pass to do so!
Well said. That debunks the divisive naming of whatever this organisation is.
Those currently not qualifying, those aged under 60, will, health permitting, qualify in their turn.
If they want to save money, then I suggest they take away the free fares for young people too as they are too lazy to walk even one bus stop distance as they travel for free. Maybe the free fares could be limited to child/student travel between 7.00 and 9.00, 15.00-18.00 to save the youngsters being chauffeured to school by parents?
It’s worth noting that TFL only fund the 60+ Oyster card for those 60-65. Those over 66 are funded by the local councils.
I don’t see the local councils or Mayor Khan removing this or they will get kicked out.
To be intergenerational fair TfL must also scrap the free oysters for children and re-instate full adult fates for children on buses in both the morning and evening rush hour, and re-introduce full adult fares on rail services from age 13.
Why is this intergenerational fair?
I am about to get to 60.
In 1973 I was 8 and going to/from school by bus, and a full adult fare had to be paid for mes (as we finished school after 4pm, the evening rush hours for children’s fare should start at 3pm or 2 pm to be fair – we had to pay full adult fare to get home from school, so should children now). To be intergenerationally fair those adult fares should be refunded to me to match the free bus oyster that children now get. Easiest way: let me have free bus travel now with a 60+ oyster (which doesn’t allow free travel before 09:30). Or scrap the non-adult fares for children during school journey times and inroduce child fares otherwise.
Further when I turned 13 in 1978 I had to pay full adult fares on rail journeys. Hence anyone 13+ should be required to pay full adult fares on rail services, and half adult fare upto 13.
In 1994 when I drove LRT buses in London children had to pay a raised fare before 09:30 (40p where adult fare was 40p otherwise a flat 50p for adult fares up to £1.70 – the maximum adult fare i could charge at the time, otherwise it was a flat 30p).
The 1970s had high inflation, much higher than now, so if the 60+ oyster should be withdrawn on cost basis, then TfL must also withdraw the child ZIP oyster.
An interesting comment, as the financing of the scheme is rather obscure.
£80 million actually seemed like a remarkably small sum, as it amounts to less than £10 per London resident; it’s hard to imagine any party being ready to drop such a large political bombshell for such a small return.
One Croydon Councillor told me that paying for the passes (presumably only the Freedom variety) was a major element of Council expenditure. This being the case, I can understand imposing a significant application fee in order to deter those (I know several) who claim their passes but never actually use them.
Croydon, in theory at least, funds its Freedom Passes from speeding and parking fines, and other vehicle-related income. And there’s plenty of it…
There would be a lot more vehicle-related income if the Council flexed its enforcement muscles. Every day you can see people parking cars and vans on double yellow lines *and* on the pavement at the junction of Frith Road and Church Street. That’s just one example.
Well I suppose that with the ever rising retirement age, being isolated and feeling lonely (proven to damage health as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day), won’t be an issue if free travel for those aged over 60 is removed. We’ll all still be working!
To prevent a backlash you let people who have an existing pass to retain it but no longer issue new ones.
You still get the savings but they take longer to accrue.
This cash saving assumes of course that everyone who is currently getting free rides (like me) is going to carry on using TfL services exactly as previously but is now going to pay for them.
If TFL really want to save money they should employ people to make sure people tap in and out at stations – so many people don’t pay for train travel now.
Older people are just seen as an easy target these days!