Tube travel with children

[Boglins]

I've tried looking for this info on the tfl site but I haven't found the answer to this specific question!

If we're travelling on the underground with 2 adults and 2 under 11's, the children travel free, is that right? If each adult uses their contactless card for payment, how do the children get through the turnstiles?

Or are we better off getting some kind of oyster/travel card, rather than using contactless? We'll be going from zone 7 to 1 and back again.

You go through the wide gate with the kids

Re the turnstiles, they have wide ones intended for use by people with children/people in wheelchairs/luggage etc.

and the kids are free

They just go ahead of you - stand them in front of you while you tap your card, and both go through together. Or use the wide gate, staff will wave you through.

Go through the family/wide barriers at every station. If not available summon a guard who will let your children through with you.

You make sure your kids stand right next to, right in front or right behind you as you go through the wide gates.

The staff tend to stand near the wide gates as they frequently go wrong or have fare dodgers using them who the staff give some lip.

If you do it regularly at stations with loads of gates you learn to give single people without luggage or children a stare.

@RedWingBoots I am laughing so hard at your last paragraph. It is so true.

Ah, perfect, thank you! I've only ever been to London with other adults so I hadn't realised you could use the wide gates for this!

But if you do come up out of the tube and end up travelling back home or wherever on the normal train, don’t forget that the gates are DIFFERENT and snap shut pretty quickly. Don’t whisk your child through ahead of you and then get trapped in the gate, Paddington bear style….