In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

If you want a travelcard, can you not buy it from the machines in the
main line station?

Sadly, even the closest machines in the main station are a very
long walk (at the entrance to the Thameslink platforms, and also
round the corner in the Circle, or upstairs at the MML barriers).
So while you might be able to buy a Travelcard (I don't know, and
it's not obvious that you can) it's not somewhere a Eurostar
arrivee is going to know about or stumble over.

I thought child tickets were only available from ticket offices these days?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 18:49:07
on Sun, 27 Feb 2011, remarked:

If you want a travelcard, can you not buy it from the machines in the
main line station?

Sadly, even the closest machines in the main station are a very
long walk (at the entrance to the Thameslink platforms, and also
round the corner in the Circle, or upstairs at the MML barriers).
So while you might be able to buy a Travelcard (I don't know, and
it's not obvious that you can) it's not somewhere a Eurostar
arrivee is going to know about or stumble over.

I thought child tickets were only available from ticket offices these days?

Very possibly (it was certainly the case last time I needed to buy one
for my child). I think that there's a bit of a disconnect between
reality and some people's expectations when it comes to child ticketing.
In other words, I'm not sure any automated child ticketing is possible
in the current anti-fraud atmosphere.

Which does leave us hanging out "tourists with children" to dry, when it
comes to new initiatives such as this (or indeed Oyster).

What does this mean, when it comes to decisions about whether to "queue
up or pay more", well that will depend on the urgency, and the cost
(loss of leisure opportunity) to a family of spending 20 minutes in a
queue.
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

In message , at
18:49:07 on Sun, 27 Feb 2011, remarked:

If you want a travelcard, can you not buy it from the machines in
the main line station?

Sadly, even the closest machines in the main station are a very
long walk (at the entrance to the Thameslink platforms, and also
round the corner in the Circle, or upstairs at the MML barriers).
So while you might be able to buy a Travelcard (I don't know, and
it's not obvious that you can) it's not somewhere a Eurostar
arrivee is going to know about or stumble over.

I thought child tickets were only available from ticket offices these
days?

Very possibly (it was certainly the case last time I needed to buy
one for my child). I think that there's a bit of a disconnect
between reality and some people's expectations when it comes to
child ticketing. In other words, I'm not sure any automated child
ticketing is possible in the current anti-fraud atmosphere.

Which does leave us hanging out "tourists with children" to dry,
when it comes to new initiatives such as this (or indeed Oyster).

What does this mean, when it comes to decisions about whether to
"queue up or pay more", well that will depend on the urgency, and
the cost (loss of leisure opportunity) to a family of spending 20
minutes in a queue.

My children (now over 18) were mainly able to get Day Travelcards, thereby
avoiding the queues. The game starts all over again in the autumn when my
granddaughter reaches the age of 5 but in the meantime the premium for
Travelcards has been so inflated (from Cambridge only) that they are
rarely worth buying. (1) I presume you can't get them from Nottingham at
all?

(1) except the Super-Off peak versions at weekends as long as I don't try
to use them on SWT.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

wrote:
[snip]
My children (now over 18) were mainly able to get Day Travelcards, thereby
avoiding the queues. The game starts all over again in the autumn when my
granddaughter reaches the age of 5 but in the meantime the premium for
Travelcards has been so inflated (from Cambridge only) that they are
rarely worth buying. (1) I presume you can't get them from Nottingham at
all?

Of course, up to and including the age of 10 then your granddaughter won't
need anything if accompanied by an adult to travel for free on the
Tube/DLR/LO (and select NR routes[1]), nor would she need anything to travel
unaccompanied on buses.

She'll need a ticket if travelling on most of NR routes in London (including
basically all of them south of the river) - but that's because the TOCs
aren't kindly enough to offer free travel to accompanied children under 11.
A 11-15 Oyster photocard would be one way of dealing with this - if
travelling off-peak then the applicable cap is GBP 1.30.

Off-peak Day Travelcards for children cost GBP 3.00 - or GBP 2.00 if they
are travelling with an adult who has a F&F Railcard, Network Railcard
(weekends only), Gold Card or HM Forces Railcard - needs to be purchased
from a ticket office (though I'm guessing NR ticket machines may offer them
if the adult is buying a ticket for themself too [2]). See the bottom of
this page:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14554.aspx


-----
[1] Those 'legacy routes' that accepted Oyster PAYG prior to 2010, which are
almost entirely north of the river.

[2] Not in the OED... but it will be!

In article ,
(Mizter T) wrote:

She'll need a ticket if travelling on most of NR routes in London
(including basically all of them south of the river) - but that's
because the TOCs aren't kindly enough to offer free travel to
accompanied children under 11. A 11-15 Oyster photocard would be
one way of dealing with this - if travelling off-peak then the
applicable cap is GBP 1.30.

Including Putney! Grrr! I suppose it rather depends on how long her
great-grandmother lasts. My mother is 92. To get home from Putney on
Sunday I had to use SWT because the District Wimbledon branch appeared to
be suspended. Putney was crawling with rail replacement buses, some in
very eccentric liveries. Fortunately I had an NXEA Super Off-Peak Day
Travelcard (see my other post about that confusing the SWT barriers).

Off-peak Day Travelcards for children cost GBP 3.00 - or GBP 2.00
if they are travelling with an adult who has a F&F Railcard,
Network Railcard (weekends only), Gold Card or HM Forces Railcard -
needs to be purchased from a ticket office (though I'm guessing NR
ticket machines may offer them if the adult is buying a ticket for
themself too [2]). See the bottom of this page:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14554.aspx

But not for Senior Railcard holders! The *******s!

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 09:27:12
on Mon, 28 Feb 2011, remarked:

Travelcards .... I presume you can't get them from Nottingham at all?

I think the furthest out you can get one is Kettering, or maybe
Wellingborough.
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

In message , at
09:27:12 on Mon, 28 Feb 2011, remarked:

Travelcards .... I presume you can't get them from Nottingham at all?

I think the furthest out you can get one is Kettering, or maybe
Wellingborough.

On the Midland Main Line I'm sure you're right but elsewhere? Exeter?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 18:38:19
on Mon, 28 Feb 2011, remarked:
Travelcards .... I presume you can't get them from Nottingham at all?

I think the furthest out you can get one is Kettering, or maybe
Wellingborough.

On the Midland Main Line I'm sure you're right but elsewhere? Exeter?

It might be correlated with the old NSE area, but I'm not aware of a
specific rule, or anyone checking this out recently.
--
Roland Perry