In message of Fri, 16 Oct
2015 21:02:55 in uk.transport.london, Paul Corfield
writes
On Fri, 16 Oct 2015 17:57:58 +0100, Clive Page
wrote:

On 16/10/2015 14:47, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 14:36:52 on Fri, 16
Oct 2015, Clive Page remarked:
I have just renewed my Senior Railcard. I now have the problem of
loading the discount on to my Oyster card. The Senior Railcard
website says "take it to any London Underground ticket office"
ignoring the fact that these are closing down faster than one can count.

Are there any left in central London, and if not how can one get this
done?

You are supposed to be able to get this done by approaching one of the
invisible helpers lurking around the ticket machines, who replace the
lurking invisible helpers who used to be behind a window.

It is definitely the case that a member of LU staff should sign on to
one of the passenger machines to set the discount for you.

Thanks for the tip. I'll look out for an invisible helper next time I
pass through a tube station. Though if they exist at King's Cross St.
Pancras my guess is that they get overwhelmed by the all-too-visible
tide of arrivals from Belgium/France/oop north who need help using
unfamiliar ticket machines.

I notice that the authorities have given up on making the Senior
Railcard machine-readable: my old one had a barcode on the back, though
just carrying a serial number I think. The new one has an empty space
were it was. There are no signs that it carries an RFID chip either.
So registering discounts still has to be done by a human for the
foreseeable future.

Last time I went through Kings Cross it was utter chaos at the main
Tube and Northern ticket halls. Huge queues of people, staff shouting
at passengers to come forward to a free machine and the crowds were
backed up to the gateline in the Northern ticket hall. I've never
seen such a mess at that ticket hall and I've seen it busy before.

I had similar experience with the "Tube" ticket hall.

Euston Square seems serviceable.
M-F 07:45-20:30 Sat 08:45-18:45 Sun 09:30-16:45

Warren Street is unreliable.
M-F 07:45-21:15 Sat 08:45-19:00 Sun 09:00-17:45
I found it shut when the station was no entry.

The Station information saying it is exit and interchange only between
0730 - 1000 until 23 October was untrue on Tuesday, 13 October. I
reported it on Wednesday, but it seems impossible to get TfL to correct
its website.
For other examples, look at the 100 bus towards Shadwell or 76 towards
Totenham Hale.

I am told St. James's Park works.
Palmer Street Shut Park & Broadway M-F 08:15-19:15 Sat 09:00-15:30 Sun
09:45-13:00

Moorgate works.
Main M-F 07:00-21:00 Sat 10:15-14:15 Sun Shut Metropolitan Shut

Tfl used to have quite a useful dynamic tube map, which had Office
Hours. I grabbed them.
--
Walter Briscoe