Two of Sadiq Khan’s opponents in the next city hall election have called on the capital’s Labor mayor to help Londoners take advantage of little-known Tube discounts.
Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall and Liberal Democrat candidate Rob Blackie both say Transport for London (TfL) should make it easier for National Railcard holders to benefit from cheaper journeys on the Underground. Stated.
Holders of railcards such as the 16-25 Railcard, 26-30 Railcard and Senior Railcard will receive a 1/3 discount when traveling on the Tube, Overground, DLR or Elizabeth lines during weekday off-peak hours. You can get discounts. Or all day on the weekend.
Using a rail card also reduces your daily ‘limit’ as long as you travel during off-peak hours. For example, the limit for off-peak journeys between zones 1 to 3 is £9.60 per day, but with rail card discounts the equivalent limit is £6.30.
The discount only applies to Oyster cards, despite the fact that more than three-quarters of pay-as-you-go TfL trips are currently paid for with contactless bank cards or mobile devices.
According to TfL’s latest data from January 7 to February 3 this year, around 18% of all Oyster pay-as-you-go journeys on tube and rail services were made on cards with Railcard discounts. This represents approximately 4.2 percent of all pay-as-you-go trips made on the network, including those made using contactless.
To access cheaper travel, TfL staff need to apply discounts to their personal Oyster cards, which can be difficult as only some staff are able to do so.
This discount is not advertised by TfL itself at any Tube station, so many people eligible for the discount are unaware of it, but TfL says that the Railcard is a National Rail product and is therefore ‘promoted by the railway operator. ”. . TfL’s website also has a section explaining how to access the discount.
Conservative Ms Hall told the Daily Telegraph:
“As Mayor, I will overhaul TfL to ensure we listen to Londoners and deliver the best possible service.”
Mr Blackie, the Liberal Democrat candidate, told the newspaper: “It’s very difficult for Londoners to take advantage of Railcard discounts on the Underground. Young people, disabled people and the armed forces all deserve cheaper travel. Many of them don’t know this and TfL is deliberately making travel difficult to access.
“Mayors must find easier ways for people to apply for discounts at stations, as they can easily use free advertising space on the network to promote discounts on rail cards. Relying on a potluck of what you know how to do or not is not enough.
“If Sadiq Khan really cared about Londoners saving money amid the cost of living crisis, this would be exactly the practical thing he could do. Rather, he would be willing to take action against the electoral bogus fare freeze. likes to chase the gimmick in the headlines, which almost exclusively benefits tourists, not everyday Londoners.”
In response, Mr Khan told the Local Democracy Press: “TfL is in regular discussions with the Railway Delivery Group (RDG) and rail operating companies.”
“Certainly, we are currently in discussions with them regarding Friday off-peak. “I would also like to hear from TfL as to whether there is further work that the RDG can do in conjunction with TfL to highlight the issues that have been raised. I’ll make sure to mention it.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “Railcards are a National Rail product and are therefore promoted by railway operators. However, information about Oyster Pay as You Go railcard discounts is available on our website and is available on Railcards. It is also included in the materials provided to card applicants.”
“TfL also offers its own discounts specific to services in London, separate from or in addition to the discounts offered by the National Railcard Scheme.
“We are constantly looking at how we can improve the pay-as-you-go system. It could be tied to customers using pay-as-you-go plans.” However, the work to achieve this is long-term and will depend on agreed funding to make this happen. ”
A JNR spokesperson said: “We have previously run campaigns on behalf of the rail industry on TfL premises to raise awareness of the discounts that rail card customers can benefit from when traveling by rail. Our last rail card campaign was from 16 to 25.” They highlighted the Oyster discount on the Tube. ”