Paul Corfield wrote:
On Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:23:45 -0800 (PST), martin
wrote:

On Jan 25, 10:50 am, "Steve Dulieu"
wrote:
Because it doesn't always work properly. This is what happened to me over
the weekend;
As I work for LUL I'd got a new PAYG loaded Oyster with 20 quid on it for
use on National Rail.
I thought I'd read somewhere (or possibly just imagined) that LUL
staff passes could now be loaded with a PAYG balance for use where
they're not free. I take it that this isn't the case?

No, not correct. It is impossible to load any Oyster product to a staff
pass. This is similar to the situation where cash cannot be loaded to
Freedom Passes.

If you're ancient like me and have privilege ticket facilities then you
can get a privilege rate PAYG Oyster card for use on NR lines where a
TfL staff pass is not valid. I have one of these but have not yet used
it in anger.

Staff without privilege facilities have to do what Steve D has done and
have a public card for use on NR.

Having two cards throws up all sorts of conundrums about where to
validate and not. Even worse for those of us who also get free travel
on a TOC line as a perk of the job. If I wanted to travel from
Chingford to Liverpool St I'd have to validate at Chingford, rush off
the train at Walthamstow Central to touch out and pay for that bit,
validate my staff pass for entry, get back on the train and then touch
out at the other end. Oh and I need to hold an additional ticket for
the free bit from Walthamstow to Liv St! Needless to say I haven't
tried this yet ;-)

Similar situation for me. I have an annual Priv rate Z123 which LUL
still insist on issuing on a paper ticket. I still need to carry an
Oyster Card for buses. Problem comes to extensions beyond Zone 3 when
the only way is to buy a priv rate paper extension unless I break my
journey the station before the zone boundary and use the priv rate PAYG.

A few years back one central London station ran out of paper tickets
when I came to renew my annual ticket. After a lot of attempts, they
loaded it on to my Oyster Card and somehow I got free bus travel for a
year! Conveniently, it did work for priv rate extensions. When I went to
renew it the following year I got a lecture from the ticket seller at
Turnpike Lane saying it shouldn't have been put on to Oyster!

--
Phil Richards, London, UK
3,600+ railway photos since 1980 at:
http://europeanrail.fotopic.net
http://britishrail.fotopic.net