Broken travelcard schoolgirl denied entry to three London buses
- Published
Erlinda Goldie says she "tries to help where I can"
A schoolgirl whose travel pass had snapped in two should not have been prevented from boarding three buses, says a woman who paid her bus fare.
Erlinda Goldie says the girl, aged 13 or 14 and wearing school uniform, was denied entry to a 258 in Harrow, north-west London, on Wednesday evening.
She described Transport for London's (TfL) policy as "broken" and "busted".
TfL says it is "deeply concerned to hear about this incident and sorry for the distress caused".
The teaching assistant, who works in a secondary school for vulnerable children with special educational needs, said she saw the girl being turned away at about 17:45 BST.
She said: "I was shocked and surprised the driver said no, especially with everything that's going on with girls being quite vulnerable.
"He said 'No, I'm sorry I can't help you. There's nothing I can do. You need to get off'."
The student had a broken Zipcard, which offers free travel to students in London aged between 11 and 15.
Because she was sitting towards the front of the bus, Ms Goldie saw what happened. The 33-year-old said she paid the fare "and gave the driver quite a dirty look".
A file photo shows the bus route concerned
Ms Goldie, originally from Canada, said she had paid for eight to 10 schoolchildren who would have been unable to travel in recent weeks.
She said: "I don't want to put blame on the driver, the child or the parents.
"It's clearly a system malfunction somewhere and we need to make it easier for drivers to give leeway for vulnerable children to get home safely."
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Tom Cunnington, TfL's head of buses business development, said: "It is being investigated urgently with the operator, RATP Dev London, and the appropriate action will be taken.
"While bus drivers can refuse entry to people without the correct fare or a valid travel pass, they are trained to use their discretion, particularly when approached by young, vulnerable people or people obviously distressed - and should never leave them stranded."
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