On 24 Jan, 11:01, " wrote:
On Jan 23, 8:36 pm, (Neil Williams)
wrote: On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:34:24 +0000, James Farrar

(snip)

As an example, since Oyster PAYG became valid on London Midland
"mainline", the 1824 EUS-Northampton has become decidedly busier than
it was before. Presumably the PAYG users were previously using the
Bakerloo to Harrow and Wealdstone.

I don't understand why there would be any change. Oyster's always been
valid to H&W on all trains.


As I describe elsewhere, the information at Harrow & Wealdstone
concerning Oyster validity is likely to be much clearer and more
prominent now than it was before London Overground launched in
November. The fact that Oyster PAYG was valid on the fast trains did
appear somewhat opaque in the days of Silverlink. However I can't
imagine that this makes a massive difference.


And since PAYG has been valid all the way to Watford Junction, it's
been much much cheaper[1] to travel after 7pm. So I'd have expected
the 19:04 to be the train that saw a dramatic increase in traffic if
any did.

Just to be clear for other readers, the WJ to Euston fare for the
morning commute (7am - 9.30am) is £5.50. The return journey would cost
that if one leaves Euston before 7pm, but after 7pm the fare drops to
£3.


Provided you make at least one of your journeys in the 7pm-7am window
it's cheaper to use PAYG rather than an annual gold card from Watford
Junction

I'm not sure about one of these calculations...


WJ-Euston 2268 which is 8.70 per business day. PAYG is 8.50 per
day[1]. Once you allow for at least 28 days holiday it's 9.70 per day
by goldcard.


That's fine - the Oyster PAYG fare being £5.50 + £3 = £8.50.


WJ-Zone1 2604. 10GBP/business day. PAYG is 9.00. Allowing for
holidays, goldcard is 11.20.

[1] Assuming one journey in the 7am-7pm and one in the 7pm-7am
periods.


I cannot see where you got the total fare when using Oyster PAYG as
£9.00.

A through PAYG fare between Watford Junction and zone 1 on the
Underground[*] is £6.00 (weekdays 7am-7pm) or £3.50 (all other
times). The total is thus £9.50.

And this would be more expensive if the passenger got on the
Underground in central London to make their way back to Euston before
7pm...

£6 (morning through journey WJ - Euston - LU zone 1)
+ £1.50 (single z1 Underground journey)
+ £3 (post-7pm Euston to WJ fare)
Total = £10.50


And of course these calculations all shift about somewhat if a
commuter regularly takes a pre-7pm train from Euston back to WJ, in
which case they'd get charged the higher £5.50 fare twice so the daily
total would be £11 (or for a through journey from LU zone 1 it would
be £6 twice, so £12).


-----[*] Though in actual fact this fare would cover someone entering the
Underground network at Euston in zone 1 and travelling out on the
Underground - or indeed on a rail route where PAYG was valid - to zone
6, for example to Upminster.