TFL under maintenance for 11-15 zip card

[Hangingbyathread322]

Does anyone know of a different route to apply for a 11-15 zip card as the website has been under maintenance?

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The site has been down for something like three days now...

TFL had a cyber on Monday so I guess they are still dealing with it.

dp used the website on Monday evening, I think, to add some credit to an existing 11-15 account (bus travel is free but tube/train travel is much cheaper but not free). I saw nothing saying the website was under maintenance then, and I can't now. If you're having problems, try to make sure it's not loading that page from a cache when actually, it's working. (I've had this problem with library catalogue pages as I look up my library loans and reservations rather obsessively!)

The helpline is 0343 222 1234

It's definitely still down - tried in two different browsers and on my phone.

Hope bus drivers are lenient on those who cannot renew/get Zips for the start of term.

It's still not working

Still not working for me, and I need to renew dd1’s zip card by the end of the month - has anyone been able to find out / google when it might be working again? I’m trying to work out if I should just buy a pay as you go for her, so at least she has something, and then somehow claim back the adult fares if possible…

The site is still not working. I also need to renew my daughter's zip card by the end of the month.

I just dug up a 10 year old Oyster card, I cant remember which family members it is so im making do with it until the website is up and running and can apply for a zipcard. Hopefully I can claim back, for now its costing quite a bit by topping up an adult one.

I got an email from TfL today saying that if I keep a record of what I pay extra I may be able to claim it back. May!

Apart from telling me I might well be out of pocket, the email was a lot of words but no timescale for fixing it. No promise of a further update. No explanation of what the problem is and why it’s taking so long to fix.

Because of a cyber attack you can't apply for new Zip cards. You can ring the generic customer service number 0343 222 1234 and they'll point your call in the right direction.

If you can get to one of the places where they have Oyster offices (eg the major train stations) you can get a "young visitors" discount applied to the adult PAYG

It's a bit shit that this seems to have been going on so long, and that there's no local news coverage or info on workarounds

Okay, so TfL have sent me an email. Looks like this might be going on for a while.

TfL mentioned in the email about new application temporarily suspended, and asked to keep your own records for refund once the cyber incident is resolved.

It's annoying. Every child who is turning 17 in this academic year needs a renewal by the 30th of September. They really should just extend them all for a few months until people can renew.

Yes, it’s is annoying as a child commuting to school or college really adds up.

I think I’m going to buy a Visitor Oyster and get the young person discount added to it. But that will be more expensive as it only gives half adult price, plus it’s a £5 non refundable cost to get it. And it’s not clear if TfL will refund any of that.

Has anyone thought of a better solution? TfL make it so hard to compare the cost of different options, that I’ve just taken a guess at what will work best.

I would hope TFL will refund additional fares paid - they do say they will. I would be inclined just to use contactless and keep a record (although of course you can't check contactless history at the moment either! I accidentally tapped in at a mainline station instead of using the paper ticket I had for that journey and haven't been able to log in to explain).

My son has just turned 11 and so I should apply for a zip card for him now, but I'll have to wait and just keep taking him through with me. Luckily he's still at primary (walking distance) and doesn't need to travel independently on public transport just yet.

The Evening Standard website is saying (my bolding):
"As an interim measure, TfL is asking bus drivers not to refuse to allow children to travel for free if they do not possess a valid Zip Oyster card.

Due to TfL having “disconnected” much of its “back office” computer systems to halt the attack, it is currently unable to accept new applications for photocards such as the Zip card, which gives free bus travel for children and teenagers and cheaper “child” fares on the Tube, and 60+ Oyster used by older Londoners."

I can't find anything on TfL''s website or media yet.

That’s great if you use buses, and a really sensible solution, but my DC commute by train and tube and need to tap in and out.

I will keep a record but TfL just say ‘may’ be able to apply for a refund, and I suspect they’ll make it so specific as to the information you have and how you present it that it’ll be really hard to claim - like some delay repay schemes.

Just came back to this thread to say the Visitors Oyster card costs £25.50 (and that’s with no guarantee to arrive by the end of September, 5 day delivery was an extra £9 or something). So if you are going for this option in case the new photo cards aren’t available by the end of the month, you need to order now, unless you’re going to be at a London airport or on the Eurostar where you can buy them in person.

The whole situation is an absolute shitshow, and it's a disgrace that they haven't recovered from the cyber attack yet. Where is their disaster recovery plan, why didn't they have backups they could restore to, why is it taking so long? It was apparently a 17 yo boy responsible for the cyber attack, so it's quite embarrassing that it has caused so much disruption. They need to sack their head of IT security.

No timescale has been given for when things will be back. All we have is "keep your receipts, we may refund you for extra costs". Like a PP said, that's "may", not "will" - not good enough, TfL. No receipts are given for tapping in and out with a debit/credit card. And of course at the moment you can't access journey history, so there is no way of proving what you've spent, and no guarantee that your journey history will be available once they get their systems up and running.

If you need to claim travel expenses from your company - good luck with that, with no proof of journey costs available.

Our bank details may have been compromised, we're still waiting to find out about that. Other personal data has certainly been stolen.

And meanwhile every child in London starting secondary school, sixth form or a London uni needs a new Oyster photocard by 30 September.

There has been a strange lack of media coverage about this. If you read the Mayor of London's tweets, you wouldn't have a clue this was going on. Which is odd, seeing as he has overall control for TfL. You'd think he'd at least acknowledge it and apologise etc, instead of trying to sweep it under the carpet

Completely agree, @RockaLock

It's been over a week now and the communication has been very poor indeed.

my daughter's online account has been moved to October 2025, so assuming they have extended all for a year, until it's fixed.

My husband was very confused, as he told me it wasn't about to run out, as website was showing a different end date. I just checked and it's def next year and October. She's 16.

How are you logging in? I can't see anything when I try.

@MysticCatLady I have my DC's photocards added to my oyster account so that I can do auto top-ups. I can log into my account and see their cards and journey history there because that bit of the website is still working.

@MaryleboneParent the expiry date on my DS2's actual 10-15 card is 30 September 2024.

But online, on my oyster account, the expiry date for his card has always been shown as a random few days after his 17th birthday next year. I have no idea why. It's been like that since we got it 5 years ago.

So the online expiry date showing as being sometime next year is not something new, and I don't think it's in response to the cyber attack. I wouldn't necessarily assume that it will still work after 30th September!