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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