Free travel for over-60s costs taxpayers £100,000,000 more than fare dodgers

Freebie travel benefits for pensioners are costing the taxpayer three times as much as London Underground fare dodgers do.

More than 1.5million Londoners aged 60 and over can travel for free on London’s buses, Tubes, trains and trams.

But the schemes – the 60+ Oyster Card and the Freedom Pass – cost nearly £500million a year to fund, well over the £130million a year fare-dodging costs Travel for London (TfL).

Nationwide, £400million is lost to fare-jumping a year, the Office of Rail and Road found.

TfL is predicted to spend £135million on the 60+ Oyster Card this year, up from £60million in 2016.

As Britain faces an ageing population, the cost is expected to increase to £185million a year by 2027, according to an analysis by The Telegraph.

The Freedom Pass for people over 66 costs London boroughs another £350million a year and will rise to £498million by the end of the decade.

The 60+ Oyster Card is available for Londoners aged between 60 and 65, among the highest earners in the capital, at £42,000 a year, double that of people in their 20s.

TfL says 60% of 60+ Oyster Card holders are still working, with two in 10 using it to commute.

The card, introduced by then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson in 2012, is funded by tax bills and daily driving fees like the congestion charge.

Speaking to Metro, Liz Emerson, chief executive of the research charity International Foundation said: ‘This is a disservice to younger colleagues who are paying more for their travel than those who still work and are over 60.

‘It impacts their essential spending power and helps instead those who are older and wealthy.

‘This is unfair for younger colleagues who already struggle with housing costs, wages and the cost-of-living crisis.

‘The least the Mayor can do is align free London travel with the state pension age.

A TfL spokesperson told Metro: ‘Both the Mayor and TfL are committed to making public transport in London as accessible, convenient, and affordable as possible.

‘We regularly review our range of concessions to ensure that they continue to benefit Londoners, while also remaining affordable for TfL to operate.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.