Older Londoners who have been unable to obtain their “free bus pass” because of the cyber attack on Transport for London will be able to apply “shortly”.
Students without a Zip Oyster card will also soon be able to apply for the concessionary travel perk, TfL says, as it continues to rebuild its online systems after being targeted by hackers at the start of September.
In addition, TfL has announced that children and teenagers in possession of expired Zip cards will be able to continue using them until the end of the year.
The temporary acceptance of expired Zip cards – which offer free bus travel and half-price Tube and train travel to children aged 11-15 and students aged 16-17 – had been due to end next week, on October 31.
TfL has been unable to process new photocard applications for concessionary travel for both older and younger Londoners for almost two months.
It has now agreed with the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, that expired cards will be accepted until December 31.
A TfL spokesman said on Thursday afternoon: “Following the recent highly sophisticated cyber security incident, we have been working hard to restore both our internal and customer-focused systems which were impacted by measures introduced as part of our response.
“Significant progress has already been made in relation to this, and we hope to begin accepting applications for new concession photocards again, albeit in a phased way, shortly.
“In order to give expired Zip photocard holders plenty of time to apply for their new photocard once this begins, TfL and the train operating companies have now extended the acceptance, where usually valid, of expired 5-10 and 11-15 Zip Oyster photocards until 31 December 2024.”
However this will offer little consolation of parents whose children have lost their Zip cards and are having to pay full fares as a consequence.
It is understood that applications from students for a first Zip card will be processed ahead of requests from older Londoners - many of whom are still in work - for a 60+ Oyster card.
Often dubbed the “free bus pass”, the 60+ Oyster – which is replaced with the council-funded Freedom Pass as the holder reaches state pension age - offers free travel after 9am on weekdays and throughout the weekend on the capital’s public transport network.
TfL says that, depending on the number of applications, its ability to process new cards may vary.
Precisely how long students and older Londoners have to wait for their new passes will depend on TfL’s successful testing of its systems.
Many parts of TfL’s website were taken out of service as a precaution to prevent the hackers accessing more data than they first achieved.
About 5,000 email addresses or home addresses were thought to have been visible to the hackers.
TfL has also been able to restore the “next train” live travel information to the TfL GO app.
The cyber attack has also resulted in passengers who use Contactless cards – but not Oyster – being unable to view their journey history or apply for refunds for “incomplete” journeys.
Some cyclists using “Boris bikes” – TfL’s Santander-sponsored bike hire scheme – have not been able to obtain refunds for being overcharged.
Earlier this month, London mayor Sadiq Khan admitted that a “big number” of Londoners had been left out of pocket as a result of having to pay higher fares as a result of the cyber attack.
TfL intends to offer refunds to these customers, and will provide information in due course. Passengers are advised to keep a record of any fares that they feel should be refunded.
London TravelWatch, the passenger watchdog, said: “We are very pleased that there is now some clarity for young people whose Zip cards have expired, and that there is plenty of time for people to continue to use their expired cards.
“This will provide some much-needed reassurance to young people and their parents, and we hope to see this news clearly communicated to them as swiftly as possible.”
John McGeachy, campaigns manager, Age UK London, said: “We are pleased to hear that TfL will begin the processing of new applications for 60+ Oyster cards following the postponement of handling new applications due to the cyber-attack on September 1.
“For many older people in London the 60+Oyster provides welcome relief and affordable travel at a time when many are struggling daily with rising costs including increases in fuel bills, rents, and council tax.
"We would hope that any further delays are at a minimum and that applications are handled as efficiently as possible.
"We also would like to see that the refunds process is easy and accessible once the 60+Oyster card is issued to ensure that older people affected by this delay quickly receive their reimbursement.”
