London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Students in London worry they may have to leave their school and university courses to save funds after a cyber hack on Transport for London’s (TfL) IT systems left them incapable of applying for discounted travel.
TfL discontinued applications for discounted travel passes when its procedures were hacked in early September, compromising the particulars of about 5,000 Oyster card holders. It is unable to express when the system will be restored.
Students have been left confronting a sharp enlargement in travel costs as they are forced to pay standard expense fares after the hack. A teenager from Walsall was apprehended in connection with the cyber-attack, which has also generated problems with live tube times on the TfL Go and the Citymapper apps and also the live traffic camera.
Are students considering dropping out due to expenses?
A third-year architecture undergraduate student stated she is considering dropping out because she is labouring to afford the daily fares to and from campus. Also, a 20-year-old was unable to continue her annual 18+ student Oyster photocard when it was outdated a month ago and said her weekly travel expenses have now doubled indefinitely. “My timetable is subject to last-minute changes, and I’m now unable to attend some lectures as I struggle to pay for several trips to and from campus each day,” she expressed.
The £1,192 annual Oyster card operates out at £22.50 a week for unlimited travel, but the student expressed she is having to pay twice that amount to observe lectures and travel to carry out fieldwork. She confronts the full cost of a new 12-month pass on top of the ad hoc costs when applications reopen. She stated that she was told by TfL customer services that it was “unlikely” she would be reimbursed.
“It’s already an oversized financial struggle for most students to live in London,” she stated. “I have to plan my spending meticulously and the TfL situation has forced me into unexpected debt through no fault of my own. I have to think very carefully about attending any kind of social events and my anxiety has spiralled to the point where I am wondering if I can continue doing my course.”
Last month, New City College which has 10,000 students across its campuses, cautioned that sixth-form students were mourning anxiety and were at risk of dropping out because they were discouraged from applying for Zip cards which permit free bus, train and tube travel for teenage Londoners in full-time education.