On 28 Aug 2006 08:31:04 -0700, "Dougman"
wrote:


Paul Corfield wrote:
snip original
Fundamental question - are you planning to use National Rail (Overground
in London parlance) services or just buses / tubes / dlr? This will
help determine the answer to your question.

In short, yes. It seems to my untrained eye that it helps connections
to Hornsey from Kings X and Finsbury Park for the journey to from
Victoria. We're also heading back to Victoria on the Friday night for
some theatre thing or other.

Although I'd cheerfully listen to alternatives.

Right there are two real alternatives to your suggestion.

The first is to simply buy a 7 day Travelcard for Zones 1-3. This
depends on how willing you are to make a slight financial loss compared
to the cost of the individual tickets. Personally this is what I would
do but then I value the avoidance of queuing for tickets and having a
ride at will ticket quite highly - I'd typically do something like this
if I was in a foreign city. You can buy all the day tickets in advance
if you wish but I'd choose a quietish ticket office to do it at -
Victoria Tube Station in the morning is perhaps not that place unless
you find the smaller office near the District Line!

You could buy the 7 day ticket on an Oyster card (smartcard) at Victoria
- you don't need a photocard either if you buy from a TfL outlet such as
a tube station. You will be asked to pay a £3 deposit for the card if
you buy a 7 day ticket or opt for Pay as you go (see below). You can
keep the card and re-use it on future trips to London.

The other option is to not use National Rail and opt for what is called
Pay as you Go. This is simply cash loaded to your Oyster Card and a
discounted fare is deducted each time you travel - this is much, much
cheaper than cash fares. The clever part is that the card keeps a
running total and will "cap" your total to the equivalent of the One Day
Travelcard ticket less 50p (to reflect that national rail services
typically cannot be used with PAYG). The line through Hornsey is not
valid on PAYG. The cap varies depending on when and where and on what
modes you travel - if you went around by bus all day then you'd be
capped at £3. If you add in tube and dlr then it rises depending on
zones and peak / off peak. The main rule is that you must validate your
card on the readers on buses and at tube ticket gates when you enter a
bus and enter *and* leave tube / dlr stations.

There are displays to show you your balance and ticket machines and tube
ticket offices can add value to your card. You can also do this at
newsagents that are Oyster ticket stops - I'd imagine there are plenty
of them in the part of London you are staying in.

http://www.tfl-ticketlocator.co.uk/r...ID=N8&srcBln=2

As you will be in Hornsey you are very close to Turnpike Lane tube
station - there are masses of buses on route 41 (every 5 minutes) and
144 (every 7-8 minutes) between Turnpike Lane and Hornsey - the 41
serves the station, the 144 stops down the road. There is also a
frequent W3 bus from the Hornsey area to Finsbury Park for the Victoria
Line.

The Piccadilly Line has flat, cross platform interchange to the Victoria
Line at Finsbury Park and both lines are much more frequent than the
First Capital Connect overground via Hornsey.

HTH

--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!