Transport for London Reviews 

I went to London on the 26 27 of September. I had to use my Google pay wallet. I normally pay with my debit card. On these days I had to use Google wallet. I don't use Google wallet but for some reason this week on 10 October Saturday my Google wallet was used in Feltham London I stayed in Camden Town when I went to London. I got the no 88 bus each time. So my card was used in Asda Feltham tesco Feltham and on a website called Ona*hyperltd. My bank said they tried to used it 8 times on Saturday 10 of October. Well very strange since I never used my Google pay wallet i only downloaded it because my daughter didn't have a debt card with her. When i got on the bus my daughter used my card fine but I used my Google pay it didn't go though but the lady driver let me on so has she took my info of my card here or the other driver who kept on saying used it again it didn't go through mmm very strange. I had to close my debt card and now waiting for a new card not happy. Maybe this bus company needs to go back to using money. All bus companies need to

Tfl just robbed me again. Minor delay so they say. Went to platform sign reads 15 minutes delay. Left station and know I wont get my money back, as you only get refund when you register your bank card. That will never happen. Tfl scumbag

COMPLAINT Im trying to solve a problem with a payment but immediately I sign in it appears a message saying I had so many requests so I can not continue. How am I going to update my bank card to travel if I can not log in.

Transport for London (TFL) charges for 5G connectivity, yet the service quality frequently falls below that of 2G. The network performance lags significantly behind standards in China, Japan, and even several developing countries. Additionally, adherence to published schedules appears inconsistent.

I travelled on the underground, tapping in and out using my phone. I was charged accordingly. A further charge of £36 was then taken from my account. Despite phone calls and pointless email communication back and forth (going to a different person every time and asking for information all already provided), I’ve now just been ignored and am £36 out of pocket. It is absolutely disgusting, just shows why very few trust this London Mayor. I’ll be raising this as fraud with my bank.

Absolute robbing A holes! Not from London, fined £90 for driving through Blackwall tunnel. First time in London taking my daughter to the O2 for a concert that id saved up for. Did not know my way so was focussing on getting to the destination. Did not see any signage for this otherwise I would have paid! TFL would not tell me where the signs were so I couldn't make an informed decision on paying. Did the appeal which was rejected. They do not care that you are from out of town or if you are skint and this will put you into great financial difficulty. Missing a sign to pay is it £4 or something resulting in a £90 fine is absolutely disgusting! There should be a toll there so nobody can miss it! Now my food shopping money has gone due to the greed of some jumped up little pip squeak!

Absolutely disgraceful we have a mayor who charges the daylights out of the public with less than productive service satisfaction, then cries when people jump barriers again this is someone who squanders the public money has no answers when he's to answer for the diabolical diatribe that he's responsible for overseeing. Next staff aren't friendly very unprofessional they don't seem to care when they are late which might I add the troglodyte gentleman is to go he's ruined reliability honesty and transparency for us I urge the public to join me in petition that public transport is free until our transport system is fixed and 100% commitments are followed and adhered to at all times not just until the inspector go away SADIQ

TfL’s student travel policy is deeply unfair. Despite the high cost of public transport, students are prevented from buying an annual discounted Travelcard if their Student Oyster expires less than a year later. Delays in issuing the card make this even worse, leaving students paying more through no fault of their own.

To make matters worse, a TfL employee explicitly told me I could buy the annual ticket and receive a refund for the unused month. This turned out to be completely wrong.

TfL’s rules are restrictive, its advice is unreliable, and there seems to be no solution when its own service puts customers at a disadvantage. Students deserve better than this.

Absolutely shocking service – avoid if you can.

I was waiting at Greenwich Station for the 129 at 00:45. Citymapper said the bus was arriving in 5 minutes, so I waited until 00:50. The bus was supposedly due, but guess what? An out-of-service bus drove straight past. I refreshed the app, and suddenly the next one was another 15 minutes away.

Fine, I thought. I’ll wait another 15 minutes. 01:05 rolls around, Citymapper says the bus is due, and what happens? ANOTHER out-of-service bus drives straight past.

And here’s the best part: the 01:05 bus was supposed to be the last bus of the night. After it drove past, I refreshed Citymapper, and it said there were no more buses on the route. I genuinely thought this might just be an error with the app, so I waited until 01:30 to give the service the benefit of the doubt. But no. Not a single bus came.

I was left with no alternative but to spend £8 on a Lime bike to get home instead of the £1.25 bus fare. I didn’t choose to cycle home for the fun of it; I did it because I’d waited 45 minutes, watched two out-of-service buses drive straight past, and then waited another 25 minutes in the hope that the app was wrong. Nothing turned up.

Honestly, what an absolute joke. And before anyone thinks this was a one-off, it has happened to me multiple times. How are buses supposedly running on a route but not actually picking anyone up? Are drivers just deciding they can’t be bothered to take passengers towards the end of their shifts? If there’s a legitimate operational reason, fine, but passengers deserve an explanation because this is ridiculous.

I ended up paying more than six times the bus fare just to get home. An actual bike was more reliable than London’s bus service. Let that sink in. These costs add up, especially when you’re relying on public transport late at night.

And what if someone urgently needed to get home because their partner was seriously ill? What if they couldn’t afford alternative transport? People rely on these services, and being repeatedly left stranded at a bus stop is not good enough.

Looking at other reviews, I’m clearly not the only person frustrated with the service. TfL seriously needs to get a grip, investigate what’s happening with route 129, and hold people accountable where necessary.

Absolutely appalling. Two buses drove past out of service, the last bus of the night came and went, I waited until 01:30 in case the app was wrong, and not a single bus arrived. I ended up spending £8 to get home instead of £1.25. Do better.

Fire the entire directorate and management.
One the worst run publi entities in UK if not Europe.

I have left a 1 star review previously due to a delay in delivery of a 16+photo card well beyond 2 weeks and having to spend nearly a £10 daily on the journey to school but I have been contacted by the customer service to help mitigate the extra costs and so TFL is really improving, which is worth noting and much appreciated! They are trying!

Overcharged on credit card travelling on tube
We did tap in and out on our card
Applied for a refund online and did receive it but this should not happen
Apparently happens all the time
Shocking
I wonder how many do not notice it on card so money not claimed back

Were going to the zoo zoo zoo, no no we have other ideas for you you!

One baby in buggy ready for their first birthday trip to the zoo with their grandparents, lunch packed, nappies and spare clothes packed, grandparents in toe, this should be easy they thought as TFL is reliable right? WRONG!!!!

They set off at 10am and head to the bus stop at the end of their road, all good so far, the 65 bus comes, allows grandparents and buggy on AND PAY, then proceeds to tell them they have to get off the bus as there is no space for them, can’t refund ticket cost back on to card but say its ok, they won’t be charged on the next bus. Bus number 2 arrives 5 minutes later, no space for the buggy, child too young not to be in the buggy, third time lucky! Surprise surprise, no space on this bus either. Grandparents not wanting to let their granddaughter down (not old enough to understand yet, but hey it’s the principle and the build up to their first parentless trip that they decide to plod on!!). A brisk 25-minute walk to Ealing Broadway station to get the Elizabeth Line, helpful staff direct them to the best route to get to the ZOO.
They board the Elizabeth line now with sprits held high!, 2 minutes before reaching Paddington the train comes to a grinding halt, a train has broken down ahead, eventually after 20 minutes and a screaming baby later, the train pulls into Paddington, all passengers on the platform advised not to board the train, the passengers on board received no instructions, where they meant to stay on or disembark, the grandparents decided to disembark, the station was so busy that the queue for the lift was at least 30 deep, they checked the escalators and decided to take their chance and carefully navigated their way up ensuring the baby and buggy remained safe, only to reach the top and realise there are width restrictions in place, so the buggy had to be lifted up and over to reach the outside world – what if there was an emergency when lifts are not allowed in use?!!
What to do now, given their experience with buses on the outskirts of London earlier that day and surely there being even more limited spaces for a buggy in more central London, the grandparents and baby walked the distance from Paddington station to London Zoo, albeit a lovely canal walk, it was very tiring and gave them time to reflect on their journey so far….
Having spent time at the Zoo, the grandparents decided to walk the short distance to Camden Town station, here they were advised the buggy would have to be folded and they would have to walk down 87 steps with a baby and buggy in hand (not to mention the changing bag, the picnic bag etc.), however the baby was asleep so this was not even an option!! Given directions to the 27 bus stop the grandparents waited in anticipation for the arrival of the bus, 4 minutes, 7 minutes, 4 minutes, then eventually it came after another 6 minutes to the cheers of the passengers awaiting to board the same bus, the back door opened and the grandparents made sure they and their grandchild were safely on board. Eventually they arrived at Paddington station, 1st train terminates here, 2nd train terminates here, 3rd train terminates here, 4th train not stopping here, 5th train to Reading – hooray! Sudden panic when over the tannoy the driver announced the next stop was Ealing Broadway, had they missed something, was the train heading straight to Reading or had they got lucky and got a faster train home, Ealing Broadway came into view and they all disembarked safely.

You would think their adventure was over, but oh no TFL had other ideas, one grandparent and baby boarded the 65 for the return journey home as the other grandparent ran up beside the bus only for it to drive away leaving them stranded by the side of the road, the driver said he had to go and there was nothing he could do, now what if the other grandparent had got off the bus to wait for his wife, would the driver have driven off with their grandchild inside?

Now these grandparents do not use public transport very often and especially not with a baby, however will think twice in future about the mode of transport they use to ferry their grandchild for a day out, should TFL not make buses and other modes of transport more friendly for families that they are encouraging to use rather than scare families off and encourage them to drive their cars around London for a more stress free and pleasurable experience? Oh no that is probably not a possibility for how much we will be charged for congestion charge and parking, come to London, it’s family friendly, ONLY if you want a headache and the urge to NEVER experience it again!!

Delayed for four hours on 5th Sep, Paddington to Reading, Elizabeth Line. Used TFL Delay Repay - they acknowledged the delay, but wiggled out of repaying anything with the weasely catch-all "it was out of our control". Should've paid at least half back. Very poor. GWR is much better in this respect.

I’m currently on a Hammersmith and city line train to barking. The driver with his wonderful Jamaican accent has honestly made this the nicest journey I’ve ever had. Every stop, he says hello to his passengers and reminds them to be respectful to elders and pregnant women. I can’t even describe how much I appreciate this because it seems people do need reminding. He made many people on the train laugh and smile. TFL need to employ more people like him and definitely make the “kind reminders” necessary for all drivers to say. Thank you driver! Whoever you are!

Tried to update 60+ Oyster card. After being passed around and getting no where, I eventually was told to renew at Post Office. I got the letter from TFL and paid for the renewal. Got on the tube and my card was rejected. It had been cancelled. After going through a similar situation when recontacting TFL , I was told it had been cancelled by mistake as they had registered the card as lost or stolen and I needed a different letter. I was told to pay again when I receive my new card and in the meantime pay for a pay as you go oyster. I received the letter but not the new card. So phoned TFL again . ( got them on speed dial now ).Now being told that I need to pay another £18.50 before they’ll send out a new card. I have already paid out £50. Not sure if I pay another amount that I will get my card. Absolute shambles. Got to say that all the staff have been very polite but I’m not sure they know what they’re doing. Probably not their fault.

After lengthy waits (each time) I was passed back and forth between departments each wanting to take me through security questions and put me on hold/through. Friendly enough, but enough to drive you mad. I'll write off my lost money to keep my sanity. Never again.

Bane of my existence

On 10th September 2026 I had to travel to Ipswich via Forest Gate station at short notice returning the same day. Confused over the cheapest tickets to buy I asked at the booking office and in a hurry you very efficient and pleasant Nasma not only advised me but very kindly calculated and sold me the cheapest option taking into account my Senior Railcard. No mean saving for a pensioner that will definitely encourage me to do similar journeys in future, booking via the TFL office. Thank you very much Nasma

Drove through the Blackwall Tunnel on a day trip to London — had no idea there was a charge until a Penalty Charge Notice landed in the post five days later. Unlike a standard toll road, there's no barrier, no booth, nothing stopping you or making the charge obvious in the moment — just a sign you can easily miss if you're not specifically looking for it while navigating unfamiliar roads with a GPS telling you where to turn next.

Paid every other charge I was aware of that same day (ULEZ, and even the Dartford Crossing — albeit mistakenly, since I didn't actually use that route). Genuinely tried to do the right thing. Didn't matter. Submitted a representation explaining the honest confusion and same-day proof of payment elsewhere — rejected outright, with a lengthy form letter citing "the motorist's responsibility" to know every charge in advance.

The system seems designed to catch out-of-towners who don't drive in London regularly, rather than genuinely manage traffic. £90 discounted penalty for a £4 charge I'd have happily paid if there'd been any clear point-of-entry prompt — a barrier, an app notification, anything beyond a roadside sign easy to miss.

If you're driving into London from outside the city, do your homework on every single charging scheme beforehand — TfL will not cut you any slack for an honest mistake, no matter how quickly you tried to make it right.

Rip-off, cash grab, daylight robbery, a racket, a con, a fiddle, stealth tax, money for old rope, a swizz, fleecing, milking it, a tax on the unwary, highway robbery