London Bus Fares – OAP Passes For Senior Citizens Over 60

Senior citizens over 60 can travel for free on a London bus if they live in the UK and have have one of the bus passes described below.

Senior citizens who don’t have a pass, and all foreign tourists, have to pay a normal adult bus fare.

You can use an OAP bus pass that was issued by a council outside of London by taking advantage of the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme, or ENCTS (denoted by the red rose symbol on the front). This allows pensioners to travel for free on London’s buses after 9 AM Monday to Friday, or any time of day during the weekend.

Note: It only applies to buses carrying the TFL symbol:  (which is pretty much all of the buses in London). If the bus doesn’t carry the TFL symbol then you should check with the driver first. They might still allow you to travel using your pass, but you might have to travel at certain times of day, like 9:30 AM to 11 PM for example.

And OAP passes issued by a council in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland won’t work either. Only the ones issued by an English council.

No. Senior bus passes can only be used on the bus. They don’t work with any other form of public transport, so you can’t use them on the trams or London underground.

If your main home is in London and you’re old enough to receive a woman’s state pension (regardless of whether you’re a man or woman) then you can save on bus fares with a Freedom Pass (also known as an Older Persons Freedom Pass).

It’s basically just a credit card-sized piece of plastic which you tap down on the big yellow Oyster readers that you find at the front of all the buses.

A Freedom Pass entitles you to travel for free on London’s buses, the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), Elizabeth Line, trams, and most of the National Rail trains within London (standard class only).

Senior citizens also get a discount when buying a ticket on the Uber Thames Clipper and IFS Cloud Cable Car.

Yes. Free bus travel only applies outside of the morning peak period (4.30 AM to 9 AM, Monday-Friday). If you need to travel before 9 AM then you’ll have to pay the normal bus price instead. There are no time restrictions at the weekend.

You can apply for a Freedom Pass online at londoncouncils.gov.uk if you’re old enough to receive a woman’s state pension (regardless of whether you’re a man or woman). If you’re not sure whether you’re eligible then you can enter your date of birth into their eligibility calculator.

You will also need to provide them with an email address, a passport-style photograph, proof of age, and prove you live within a London borough. (Note: People who you work inside London but live outside are not eligible.)

Suitable documents to prove your age include a birth certificate, passport, driving licence or medical card. Documents for proof of address include a recent council tax bill, utility bill or television licence. Bank or building society statements are not accepted.

If you’re not yet old enough to receive a state pension but you’re still aged over 60 and your principal address is in London, then you can apply for a 60+ London Oyster Photocard to tide you over before you qualify for a Freedom Pass.

It’s used in exactly the same way as a regular Oyster card. All you have to do to get a free journey is tap it down on the big yellow Oyster readers by the bus doors.

A 60+ London Oyster Photocard entitles you to travel for free on the buses, trams, London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), Elizabeth Line (excluding the stretch that runs between West Drayton and Reading), and most National Rail trains within London.

Seniors can also benefit from a cheap discount rate when buying tickets on the Uber Thames Clipper and IFS Cloud Cable Car.

Yes. Free travel only applies after 9 AM Monday to Friday, or any time during the weekend. If you want to travel before 9 AM then you’ll have to pay a normal adult fare (unlike a regular Oyster card, it’s not possible to load any money onto a 60+ photocard, so you’ll have to find another way to pay).

National Rail trains usually have a different peak period to the London Underground. Timings will differ between the train companies, but generally speaking you have to travel after 9.30 AM Monday to Friday or any time during the weekend. You can check the timings at tfl.gov.uk.

You can apply for a 60+ London Oyster photocard at the TFL website: tfl.gov.uk/​fares/​free-and-discounted-travel.

You will have to pay £20 and provide them with an email address, a digital passport-style photo of yourself, a valid UK driving licence or digital image of your machine-readable passport (which includes your photograph, personal details and passport number), plus a debit or credit card that is registered to your home address to prove you live in a London borough.

Other ways to provide them with proof of address include a recent utility bill, or a credit statement from your bank or building society.

If you can’t provide any of those items then they also give you the option of printing off a verification letter which you can then take into your local Post Office.

Bear in mind that you’ll have to pay an extra £10 to get it renewed every 12 months, and provide them with proof of address all over again, just in case you’ve moved outside of London.

60+ London Oyster photocards are only valid until you reach the state pension age, at which point you’ll have to apply for a Freedom Pass instead. Freedom Passes give you similar benefits, but are supplied by your local council rather than TFL.