dg comments

please empty your brain below

My 60+ card stopped working recently and I found that I hadn't renewed the proof of address. A search through emails produced the request from 2024 but not this year. Was I supposed to find the request within the online account rather than being emailed? Could this also be a sneaky way of raising a little more revenue?

dg writes: no

My application for a new photo card went through, strangely, without being asked for the proof of address. The notification mail said they'd be in contact if they need anything else. The card then arrived with no further ado, but I'm left wondering if it will suddenly stop due to no proof of address being on record again.

NickW | 23.07.25 - 8:07 a.m. | #

Recently had to do my proof of address for renewal (I am 62) so I got in just before the hike. I'd had an email telling me that it was time to do this. It was just a question of scanning in my council tax bill. It's such a huge bargain and obviously the upfront cost is recouped in very few journeys. I can't believe that some people (as I've seen on social media) are making a big deal of this.

Joan | 23.07.25 - 8:30 a.m. | #

The real scandal is the increase in the cost of a normal Oyster card from £7 to £10.

Hadders | 23.07.25 - 8:46 a.m. | #

Some people are embracing the Santander bike side quests - they are showing them on Tik Tok.

Steve Rochford | 23.07.25 - 8:48 a.m. | #

66+ cards issued by English local authorities outside London do not seem to work on the machines in London buses. Users seem to get waved through nonetheless. I wonder if drivers would be stricter with London users who have a card the machine does not recognise.

cau1khead | 23.07.25 - 9:50 a.m. | #

Is there any more published information about this signalling issue with the new DLR trains? As you point out, it's a very long delay. It would have been good if contracts had been in place with penalty clauses.

Malcolm of Kent | 23.07.25 - 9:52 a.m. | #

A DLR major fuck-up and a concessionary ticketing gouge. Just another day in (bow, scrape) TheMayorSadiqKhan's wondrous reign.

David B | 23.07.25 - 9:56 a.m. | #

Hadders: I think at this point if you're only doing two or three journeys it might incredibly be cheaper to buy paper tickets than use Oyster (since the fee isn't refundable anymore). Haven't done the figures on this, obviously.

dg writes: one journey, not two or three.

Anonymous | 23.07.25 - 10:02 a.m. | #

£35 for a cable car trip with a glass floor? I'm keeping my money!

All Over 2a | Homepage | 23.07.25 - 10:05 a.m. | #

At least the gaps in the new DLR timetable aren't as serious as in the SWR one starting next week. On some routes there will be random hour long gaps between trains. SWR haven't even made it easy to find out which services are cut. Luckily Real Time Trains works it out.

ap | 23.07.25 - 10:18 a.m. | #

I wonder if the future of the 60+ is in essence that there will be a future admission that it will be a heavily subsidised annual pass rather than 'free travel' if the annual address check continues to increase.

Really pushing hard for visitors to use contactless with that increase in price for the regular Oyster card. It wouldn't be so bad if some of it remained a deposit but I think they are unique in the world in fleecing passengers with such a high upfront card 'cost'.

matthieu1221 | 23.07.25 - 11:17 a.m. | #

I'm just grateful we still have the 60+ Oyster!
During the pandemic when usage was temporarily suspended I was convinced they'd quietly do away with it altogether before I reached 60!

Besides, if one looks at it this way, £18 is less than 5p a day over the course of a year.
Time to dig out the loose change jar?

Cornish Cockney | 23.07.25 - 11:35 a.m. | #

One thing about the old DLR timetable is the unusual situation where Stratford International to Canning Town had 6⅔ trains each hour (a 9 minute-interval service) at peak times, but 12 trains each hour (2 10-minute interval services) off-peak - a near doubling.

Si | 23.07.25 - 11:41 a.m. | #

Seriously thinking of giving up my 60+, but due to council tax not TfL renewal fees.

I fortunately own a second property outside London which has just been 100% surcharged for council tax as a second home.

It seriously would be cheaper to change my official residence (leaving my family resident in London) to remove the surcharge and giving up the 60+.

Bonus is I would also have a vote in a marginal area (MP and local) and thus my vote would actually matter (vs fairly safe seats in London where it is almost ertainly wasted)

MilesT | 23.07.25 - 1:25 p.m. | #

Reality is that 60+ Oyster is a ridiculous waste of money that exists purely for political reasons, and nothing else. You're talking about a group of people who are - officially - still of working age. If they've got children, they're likely to have grown up (although in current climate, less likely to have moved out of home), more likely to own their own home outright, and so on.

I don't blame anyone who is entitled to have one from using it - hey I would. But the reality is that that age based demographic really isn't more entitled to massively subsidised public transport over any other group of non-retired adults. The money would be better off spent targeting people with low incomes.

So frankly anyone complaining about having to pay £35 to get their initial card, and £18 a year to keep it, really needs to read the room. You're paying a pittance to get what's basically an annual off-peak travelcard. Hey, with the savings, you could afford to go on the Dangleway every week if you really wanted to!

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 23.07.25 - 1:30 p.m. | #

A more honest down-to-earth assessment than that in this months Modern Railways which plays down the delay.

Malcolm,

Strictly speaking it is not a signalling issue with the new trains. It is a signalling issue with the existing signalling system that lay undetected until the new trains came along. The trains perform correctly to specification.

There is also the issue of the contractor for the new depot going bust that has delayed things.

Si,

A quirk of maximising usage of trains is that some services have a better off-peak service than peak service. Stratford - Canning Town makes sense to have more off-peak trains due to Excel and Stratford Westfield being busy off-peak and even with a change of train the extra frequency can be justified.

Pedantic of Purley | 23.07.25 - 1:35 p.m. | #

Hi MilesT,

I'm so sorry to hear that owning more than one home is causing you such a heavy burden. I'd be glad to take one off your hands, if that helps. Let me know which one and when I can move in?

Thanks!

ps. Good to hear the council tax surcharge is working as intended, to discourage second home ownership so more people have somewhere to live.

House Mover | 23.07.25 - 3:25 p.m. | #

For Herts residents (and maybe others), touching a national bus pass on a TFL reader corrupts the card - I've had mine replaced twice (free) so have to remember to not touch it.

Also for Herts, we don't need to worry about being "Twerlies" (before 09:30) - the card can be used 24/7 if starting a journey in Herts

Although retired now, I was surprised to get the pass whilst still working full-time, although less so than the lucky Londoners. At least we get Railcard discounts on the Tube &c.

Nick K | 23.07.25 - 5:25 p.m. | #

The point about the Oyster card cost going to £10 is that not everyone is able to get a bank account with a contactless card - some of the most vulnerable might struggle. They’re the sort of people for whom a £10 charge for a PAYG Oyster card could be a real hardship.

Hadders | 23.07.25 - 5:35 p.m. | #

As much as (even gimmicky) encouragement of cycling is to be commended, the implementation of it is shoddy - primarily through the use of Google Maps which is appalling for cycle routing. It consistently ignores actual signposted cycle routes in favour of questionable detours through estates and tiny parks, and has no idea which roads permit contraflow cycling etc etc. This is despite TfL supposedly having engaged with them to improve cycle routing in London.

As an example of this, I regularly use C14 in Southwark. To force Google Maps to choose this cycle route (which is direct, well-used, and several years old) requires around half a dozen manual route points, which increase the journey time as GM thinks you then have to dismount and walk.

Additionally, when loading one of the cycle routes in Google maps, it doesn't have the correct Santander points in. It should read: START - pickup bike - dropoff bike - Destination 1 - pickup bike - dropoff bike - Destination 2 etc. Instead only one bike station is included (by the Side Quest designers) between each destination, making it even less useful as an exercise.

Plenty of other free cycle routing tools exist with far better understanding of the cycle routes TfL has built.

Ted | 23.07.25 - 10:17 p.m. | #

I'm pleased to add that the 24-hour availability of free bus trips starting in Herts for ENCTS holders resident there is mirrored in Cambs + Peterborough for ENCTS holders resident there.

Caulkhead, it's a waste of time trying to get card readers on London buses to read non-London ENCTS cards, as the software isn't compatible. The Big Red Book (issued to London bus drivers for guidance on various procedures) makes this clear, but some drivers have forgotten and pointlessly ask card holders to use the reader. They are supposed to inspect each such card, allow the holder on board, and press their clicker to count the events.

Ian | 24.07.25 - 12:51 a.m. | #

My (for peak) PAYG Oyster automatically rebated the £5 deposit down the line. (Previous could cash in)
Now, £7 and soon to be £10 (non refundable) is too much. I guess they want to discourage its use!

Ole Kitty | 24.07.25 - 1:53 p.m. | #

TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy