Took kids to a party in Romford yesterday. As it was a 17.30 start,
decided not to risk getting to and driving on the A12 so took train
from Dalston Kingsland, change at Stratford to TFL Rail. Apart from
trains coming back not running owing to a fatality at Stratford, so
took kids to Romford McDonald's (no hardship for them) and then got
home late, a few points:

- London Overground to Stratford - is there not air-con on these like
the trains from Dalston Junction? The outgoing train was packed and
very uncomfortable.

- Fare is absurdly cheap - £2.80 to Romford going and £2.60 coming
back, I see from journey history. Would have been more in petrol so a
result there.

- Touching in/out at Stratford - is this necessary as the touch
machines are not obvious, certainly on the TFL Rail platform and I had
to ask.

E.

On Wed, 22 Jul 2015 12:13:19 +0100, eastender
wrote:

Took kids to a party in Romford yesterday. As it was a 17.30 start,
decided not to risk getting to and driving on the A12 so took train
from Dalston Kingsland, change at Stratford to TFL Rail. Apart from
trains coming back not running owing to a fatality at Stratford, so
took kids to Romford McDonald's (no hardship for them) and then got
home late, a few points:

- London Overground to Stratford - is there not air-con on these like
the trains from Dalston Junction? The outgoing train was packed and
very uncomfortable.

It was probably a 315, a BR train from about 35 years ago. They're not
air-conditioned, but their successors will be. Didn't you notice the
opening droplights?


- Fare is absurdly cheap - £2.80 to Romford going and £2.60 coming
back, I see from journey history. Would have been more in petrol so a
result there.

That's not changed, as Oyster fares already applied on that route.


- Touching in/out at Stratford - is this necessary as the touch
machines are not obvious, certainly on the TFL Rail platform and I had
to ask.

I don't think it's necessary, but I could be wrong.

On 2015-07-22 20:38:59 +0000, Paul Corfield said:

On Wed, 22 Jul 2015 12:13:19 +0100, eastender
wrote:

Took kids to a party in Romford yesterday. As it was a 17.30 start,
decided not to risk getting to and driving on the A12 so took train
from Dalston Kingsland, change at Stratford to TFL Rail. Apart from
trains coming back not running owing to a fatality at Stratford, so
took kids to Romford McDonald's (no hardship for them) and then got
home late, a few points:

- London Overground to Stratford - is there not air-con on these like
the trains from Dalston Junction? The outgoing train was packed and
very uncomfortable.

Err they are exactly the same stock from Dalston to Stratford but the
NLL is insanely busy on that stretch. Maybe the train had a defect?

Think it must have had.


- Fare is absurdly cheap - £2.80 to Romford going and £2.60 coming
back, I see from journey history. Would have been more in petrol so a
result there.

I'm surprised it's that much although I assume you paid peak fares on
the outward journey. To give a comparison a Dalston to Harrow and
Wealdstone journey (avoiding Zone 1) only costs £1.50 off peak so the
Romford line is £1.10 more expensive covering the same number of
zones. This is because the DfT insisted on separate, more expensive
farescales when TfL took over the Shenfield and West Anglia routes.


Still it's a pretty good deal - I was surprised.


- Touching in/out at Stratford - is this necessary as the touch
machines are not obvious, certainly on the TFL Rail platform and I had
to ask.

Absolutely no need whatsoever to use a pink validator for Dalston to
Romford. There is no real alternative route so there is only one set
of fares. Always worth just putting in your journey into the TfL
Single Fare Finder to see what the fare and route options are and what
TfL may require you to do in using a pink validator.

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payment...le-fare-finder

That doesn't say anything about validation. So when we exited platform
2 at Stratford heading to platform 8 were we within a gateline? I saw
an Oyster touchpoint on the Overground platforms but couldn't see one
on platform 8 until a staff member pointed out one by the adjacent
platform, which I assume is the Jubilee line.

E.

Walter Briscoe wrote:
In message of Wed, 22 Jul
2015 21:38:59 in uk.transport.london, Paul Corfield
writes
On Wed, 22 Jul 2015 12:13:19 +0100, eastender
wrote:

Took kids to a party in Romford yesterday. As it was a 17.30 start,
decided not to risk getting to and driving on the A12 so took train
from Dalston Kingsland, change at Stratford to TFL Rail. Apart from
trains coming back not running owing to a fatality at Stratford, so
took kids to Romford McDonald's (no hardship for them) and then got
home late, a few points:


[snip]

- Fare is absurdly cheap - £2.80 to Romford going and £2.60 coming
back, I see from journey history. Would have been more in petrol so a
result there.

I'm surprised it's that much although I assume you paid peak fares on
the outward journey. To give a comparison a Dalston to Harrow and
Wealdstone journey (avoiding Zone 1) only costs £1.50 off peak so the
Romford line is £1.10 more expensive covering the same number of
zones. This is because the DfT insisted on separate, more expensive
farescales when TfL took over the Shenfield and West Anglia routes.

[snip]

Paul, you show your usual wide knowledge.
Are you able to give a URL, showing how DfT controlled the fares?
I am staggered that adjacent stations Harold Wood and Brentwood are in
zones 6 and 9 for a 4 minute journey.
I was also surprised to find Shenfield is in "Special fares apply".

Shenfield is treated exactly the same as Watford Junction.

On 27/07/2015 15:29, Recliner wrote:

Walter Briscoe wrote:
[...]
Paul, you show your usual wide knowledge.
Are you able to give a URL, showing how DfT controlled the fares?
I am staggered that adjacent stations Harold Wood and Brentwood are in
zones 6 and 9 for a 4 minute journey.
I was also surprised to find Shenfield is in "Special fares apply".

Shenfield is treated exactly the same as Watford Junction.


Yep, indeed - IIRC Shenfield fares to z1 are set by the fast trains
franchisee, currently AGA, which makes sense. Similar (if not the same)
arrangement at Watford Junction with London Midland.

Brentwood of course isn't in Greater London - it's a similar situation
to say Bushey.