Expired child and student Zip cards will remain valid for use until the end of the year. Older residents of London who have been unable to secure their “free bus pass” due to the cyber attack on Transport for London (TfL) will soon have the opportunity to apply for it. Additionally, students who do not possess a Zip Oyster card will soon be able to apply for the concessionary travel benefit, as TfL continues to restore its online systems following the cyber incident that occurred at the beginning of September. Furthermore, TfL has confirmed that children and teenagers with expired Zip cards can continue to utilize them until the year’s end.
The temporary allowance for expired Zip cards, which provide free bus travel and half-price fares on the Tube and trains for children aged 11-15 and students aged 16-17, was initially set to conclude on October 31. For nearly two months, TfL has faced challenges in processing new photocard applications for concessionary travel for both older and younger Londoners.
In collaboration with the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, TfL has now agreed to extend the acceptance of expired cards until December 31. A spokesperson for TfL stated on Thursday afternoon: “In light of the recent sophisticated cyber security incident, we have been diligently working to restore our internal and customer-facing systems that were affected by the measures implemented in response to the attack.
We have made significant progress in this regard and anticipate that we will soon begin accepting applications for new concession photocards, albeit in a phased manner. To ensure that holders of expired Zip photocards have ample time to apply for their new cards once this process commences, TfL and the train operating companies have extended the acceptance of expired 5-10 and 11-15 Zip Oyster photocards until December 31, 2024.”
However, this extension may provide little relief to parents whose children have misplaced their Zip cards and are consequently required to pay full fares. It is understood that applications from students for a free bus pass are forthcoming.
