Travelling in London

[richard17smith]

Hi, l need some advice on fares within London zones 1 and 2. there are 5 of going to London for a day. There will be 2 adults with a disabled railcard, another adult and two children aged 6 and 12. We would use the tube/buses/docklands.



1 How does the 6 year old get through barriers etc. as it would be free travel?

2 The 12 year old needs a ticket but does not have a debit card so what do they do?

3 If l use contactless debit card, how do l link it to my disabled railcard ?



Thanks

 

[JonathanH]

1 How does the 6 year old get through barriers etc. as it would be free travel?

Use the wide gate. They will be let through either by the staff member opening the gates, or just go through together with an adult.

Free travel doesn't apply on most National Rail services.

2 The 12 year old needs a ticket but does not have a debit card so what do they do?

Buy a child travelcard for them.

3 If l use contactless debit card, how do l link it to my disabled railcard ?

You can't. Only Oyster.

It may be better in some cases to buy a travelcard with the disabled railcard, and get a cheaper child travelcard for the child. I think we worked out in a previous thread that buying a travelcard online for an adult and child with a starting point of Merstham or Iver may offer a cheaper option in some cases - see https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/children’s-fares-on-london-underground.263746/

 

[talldave]

This map might help in determining free child travel options on National Rail:

https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/free-travel-areas-without-oyster-adult-accompanying-map.pdf

It might be worth checking Groupsave options - sometimes treating children as adults saves money. But that probably scuppers any Railcard usage.