Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Hi - my son will be travelling from zone 3-6 by train in September. I wondered if anyone else's child commutes by train, what do you do ticket wise? I have started looking at fares on different websites, but my it's confusing! A friend's child does a similar commute, and she says they think the Oyster card is cheaper than a railcard, which surprises me somewhat. The benefit of the oyster (zip) card I guess is that it can be used on buses etc too, not just a specific train route.


Any advice/ anecdotes gratefully received!

The Zip Oyster card allows free transport on London buses but they have to pay for trains and tubes and for this you need to put money on the card like you would for an adult. The 11-16 rates are cheaper. However, I think you can buy a special zip oyster if they going to be using trains lots for something like ?100 (poss a year?) which they can then use unlimited times on trains - you will have to look at the TFL website.
BTW under 11 free transport in London is a little messy. Buses and tubes fine but not all train lines. If we get the ginger line from Peckham then free for my 6yr old but I think I have to pay on all other train lines that run through there - defo when going to Victoria / London Bridge / Bromley. So if you travelling into town with your little ones then bus it or use the ginger line to connect to the tube and they will be free :)

Thanks everyone - MrsTP, thanks for that tip about the special zipcard, will look into that. As he is travelling zone 3-6, something like 75p in rush hour I think, so will be a lot cheaper than a railcard, and he can use a zipcard on the bus as well if he has to. (Although I thought buses were free for under 16s...something else to look into!)


Thanks again.

Buses are free for under 16s but they need a zip oyster card to prove their age and if under 11 but look older there is a younger card they can get again to prove their age. Bus drivers have been known (rarely) to refuse 11-16s who forget their zip card onto the bus even though it is free for them to travel.
On TFL website there is an information about Oyster cards for kids. It explain different cards for younger kids 5-11 and 11-16. There is a map which shows where kids can travel for free and what requirements are for them to travel. On national rail children have to pay. London Underground and overground it's free but I think they need to be accompany by an adult when younger. I got my daughter Oyster card with the photo done at home via TFL website, you pay 10? admin fee for the card and you can top up and register it with your oyster account so you can see the usage Online too.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Depends on what the Barista says doesnt it? There was no physical confrontation with the driver, OP thinks she is being targetted when she isnt. These guys work min wage under strict schedules so give them a break unless they damage your stuff
    • CPR Dave, attendance records are available on Southwark's website. Maggie Browning has attended 100% of meetings. Jon Hartley has attended 65%.
    • I do hope NOT, wouldn't trust Farage as far as I could throw him, Starmer & co.  He's backed by GB News which focus's predominantly on immigration while the BBC focus predominantly on the Israel - Gazza conflict.   
    • Everyone gets the point that Corbynites try to make with the "total number of votes cast" statistic, it's just a specious one.  In 2017, Corbyn's Labour got fewer votes than May's Tories (both the percentage of votes and aggregate number of votes). In 2019, Corbyn's Labour fewer votes than Johnson's Tories (both the percentage of votes and aggregate number of votes); and he managed to drop 2.7 million votes or 6.9% of vote share between the two elections. I repeat, he got trounced by Boris F***ing Johnson and the Tories after the Brexit omnishambles. It is not true that a "fairer" electoral system would have seen Labour beat the Tories: Labour simply got fewer votes than the Tories. Corbyn lost twice. There is no metric by which he won the general election. His failure to win was a disaster for the UK, and let Johnson and Truss and Sunak into office. Corbynites have to let go of this delusion that Corbyn but really won somehow if you squint in a certain way. It is completely irrelevant that Labour under Corbyn got more votes than Labour under Starmer. It is like saying Hull City was more successful in its 2014 FA Cup Final than Chelsea was in its 2018 FA Cup Final, because Hull scored 2 goals when Chelsea only scored 1. But guess what - Chelsea won its game and Hull City lost. Corbyn's fans turned out to vote for him - but an even larger group of people who found him repellant were motivated enough to show up and vote Tory.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...