| Elderly may lose free travel over Sadiq Khan’s fare rises Posted by ChrisB at 18:32, 6th January 2026 |     |
From the Telegraph, via MSN
Thousands of pensioners could lose free travel in London after Sir Sadiq Khan put up bus and Tube fares.
Last month, the London Mayor announced that fares would rise by 7.1 per cent across the capital – twice the rate of inflation.
On Monday, the capital’s boroughs warned that this could force them to restrict funding for free travel for those aged 66 and over.
The group London Councils, which represents the 33 boroughs, said possibilities included increasing the qualifying age or means-testing it. They could also restrict the free fares to buses and the London Underground, excluding rail fares.
Londoners aged 66 and over are given a Freedom Pass that provides free transport on all Transport for London services and national rail services within Greater London.
It is funded by the London boroughs, but its annual cost is expected to rise by 11.8 per cent to £372m next year. The increase is down to the impact of Sir Sadiq’s fares rise and the growing number of Londoners entitled to a Freedom Pass.
Some 1.2 million pensioners in London have a pass and the cost of each journey taken is borne by the borough in which it starts. London Councils expects to foot the bill for more than 279 million free journeys from April.
tephen Boon, the chief operating officer, told the London Standard that the Freedom Pass was a “more generous” travel benefit than that enjoyed by pensioners in the rest of the country.
“It’s more than a bus pass, which is what it is in the rest of the country,” he said. “It’s costing more than boroughs can afford.”
He added that officials would conduct a comprehensive review of the Freedom Pass to help councillors to “understand what the options are and what the consequences could be”.
Ian Manders, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Kingston, south-west London, said the pass was an “expensive burden”. He said the borough had increased car parking charges but “it still doesn’t match how much we are spending on concessionary fares”.
Last month, the London Mayor announced that fares would rise by 7.1 per cent across the capital – twice the rate of inflation.
On Monday, the capital’s boroughs warned that this could force them to restrict funding for free travel for those aged 66 and over.
The group London Councils, which represents the 33 boroughs, said possibilities included increasing the qualifying age or means-testing it. They could also restrict the free fares to buses and the London Underground, excluding rail fares.
Londoners aged 66 and over are given a Freedom Pass that provides free transport on all Transport for London services and national rail services within Greater London.
It is funded by the London boroughs, but its annual cost is expected to rise by 11.8 per cent to £372m next year. The increase is down to the impact of Sir Sadiq’s fares rise and the growing number of Londoners entitled to a Freedom Pass.
Some 1.2 million pensioners in London have a pass and the cost of each journey taken is borne by the borough in which it starts. London Councils expects to foot the bill for more than 279 million free journeys from April.
tephen Boon, the chief operating officer, told the London Standard that the Freedom Pass was a “more generous” travel benefit than that enjoyed by pensioners in the rest of the country.
“It’s more than a bus pass, which is what it is in the rest of the country,” he said. “It’s costing more than boroughs can afford.”
He added that officials would conduct a comprehensive review of the Freedom Pass to help councillors to “understand what the options are and what the consequences could be”.
Ian Manders, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Kingston, south-west London, said the pass was an “expensive burden”. He said the borough had increased car parking charges but “it still doesn’t match how much we are spending on concessionary fares”.
