Hi all,

This weekend, I needed to travel from Croydon to Amersham, going on
Saturday and coming back on Sunday. I have made this journey a number of
times before, usually buying single tickets for each day. Last time,
which was late last year, the cost was about £6.80 for each single ticket.

This time, I checked in advance on the TfL website, and found that a
weekend travelcard exists that covers this whole journey - East Croydon
is in zone 5, Amersham is in zone D, outside the main zoning system at
the far western end of the Metropolitan line and also served by Chiltern
Trains. This zones 123456ABCD weekend travelcard costs £10.30.

I tried to buy this ticket at East Croydon station and was told that
they were not able to sell it. The best that they could offer me was a
zones 1-6 weekend travelcard, or a single to Amersham at a price of
£10.10 (I've subsequently checked this price and it would appear to be
correct).

I also tried a couple of London Transport ticket agents in Croydon, who
both said that they could not sell the zones 1-D ticket, only a zones 1-6.

I have a couple of questions:

- Is it correct that a national rail station cannot sell a zone 1-D
weekend travelcard (or a zone 1-D day travelcard)?
- If it is correct, how should I buy this ticket in Croydon, several
miles from the nearest underground station, but within the London
Transport area?
- Why has the price of an East Croydon to Amersham single increased from
about £6.80 to £10.10 in less than 12 months?

To make my journey, I bought a Croydon to London single for £3.60, and
the zone 1-D weekend travelcard from a ticket machine in Victoria
underground station. Is this really the only way for Croydon residents
to get hold of this ticket?!

Thanks!

A

Anonymouse typed


To make my journey, I bought a Croydon to London single for £3.60, and
the zone 1-D weekend travelcard from a ticket machine in Victoria
underground station. Is this really the only way for Croydon residents
to get hold of this ticket?!


This is a guess but could a 'Ticket Stop' (newsagent selling LT Passes
etc?) help you?

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Barry Salter wrote:
On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 15:10:30 +0100, Anonymouse
wrote:


I have a couple of questions:

- Is it correct that a national rail station cannot sell a zone 1-D
weekend travelcard (or a zone 1-D day travelcard)?


Yes.


- If it is correct, how should I buy this ticket in Croydon, several
miles from the nearest underground station, but within the London
Transport area?


You can't. They can only be sold at Underground stations, for reasons
best known to TfL.

Cya,

Barry


Thanks for the reply. It seems like a stupid situation, particularly as
LT agents don't seem to be able to sell the tickets either. I think I
feel a complaint to TfL coming on....

Cheers,

A

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 18:47:59 +0100, Barry Salter
wrote:

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 15:10:30 +0100, Anonymouse
wrote:

I have a couple of questions:

- Is it correct that a national rail station cannot sell a zone 1-D
weekend travelcard (or a zone 1-D day travelcard)?

Yes.

- If it is correct, how should I buy this ticket in Croydon, several
miles from the nearest underground station, but within the London
Transport area?

You can't. They can only be sold at Underground stations, for reasons
best known to TfL.

I tried to do something similar at Richmond. Ticketman said I needed to go to a
London Underground station to do the deed. WTF? Isn't Richmond a London
Underground station, or am I missing something really obvious?

Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:
Anonymouse typed



To make my journey, I bought a Croydon to London single for £3.60, and
the zone 1-D weekend travelcard from a ticket machine in Victoria
underground station. Is this really the only way for Croydon residents
to get hold of this ticket?!



This is a guess but could a 'Ticket Stop' (newsagent selling LT Passes
etc?) help you?


Thanks for the suggestion - I tried two LT agents, who can sell zone 1-6
weekend travelcards, but they both said they couldn't sell the zone 1-D
version. One of them checked on their ticket machine with no success. Of
course, it's possible that both agents gave me the wrong answer, but
this doesn't seem to be the solution. :-(

I have asked on the TfL website comments form how I should buy the
ticket. I will post here if I get an interesting reply.

A

On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 19:51:05 +0100 Anonymouse
said...

Thanks for the reply. It seems like a stupid situation, particularly as
LT agents don't seem to be able to sell the tickets either. I think I
feel a complaint to TfL coming on....

It's a bit vague. If you download the file:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/common/downloa...unty-fares.pdf

Then you'll see the note:

"It should be read in conjunction with the 2004 =3FFares and tickets=3F
booklet, which is available at your local Tube station. The booklet
contains information on the full range of tickets available, Pre Pay
charges and gives advice on how to buy your ticket and details the
tickets requiring a photocard. It also includes maps showing
Travelcard/LT Card zones"

So one would assume that the same outlets that sell Zones 1 to 6
Travelcards ought to be able to issue though to Zones A to D as well. So
it seems that TfL has got it's facts wrong.

Why not buy a Zone 1 to 6 Weekend Travelcard from East Croydon, travel
right through to Amersham then pay the difference of the two prices?

--
Phil Richards
London, UK
Home page: http://www.philrichards1.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

Phil Richards wrote:
On Sun, 05 Sep 2004 19:51:05 +0100 Anonymouse
said...


Thanks for the reply. It seems like a stupid situation, particularly as
LT agents don't seem to be able to sell the tickets either. I think I
feel a complaint to TfL coming on....


It's a bit vague. If you download the file:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/common/downloa...unty-fares.pdf

Then you'll see the note:

"It should be read in conjunction with the 2004 =3FFares and tickets=3F
booklet, which is available at your local Tube station. The booklet
contains information on the full range of tickets available, Pre Pay
charges and gives advice on how to buy your ticket and details the
tickets requiring a photocard. It also includes maps showing
Travelcard/LT Card zones"

So one would assume that the same outlets that sell Zones 1 to 6
Travelcards ought to be able to issue though to Zones A to D as well. So
it seems that TfL has got it's facts wrong.

One would assume that! However, the "Fares and Tickets" guide doesn't
even mention national rail stations in its "Where to buy your ticket"
section, so it is difficult to draw definite conclusions.

Why not buy a Zone 1 to 6 Weekend Travelcard from East Croydon, travel
right through to Amersham then pay the difference of the two prices?


Would that be legal? Especially on the underground, I thought you needed
a correct ticket for your whole journey before you boarded the train.
Perhaps I should have been prepared to argue the toss at Amersham, but
it was a hot day and I wanted a stress-free journey! :-)

A

On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 19:12:37 +0100, Helen Deborah Vecht
wrote:

Anonymouse typed


To make my journey, I bought a Croydon to London single for £3.60, and
the zone 1-D weekend travelcard from a ticket machine in Victoria
underground station. Is this really the only way for Croydon residents
to get hold of this ticket?!


This is a guess but could a 'Ticket Stop' (newsagent selling LT Passes
etc?) help you?

I had the same problem a while ago, and two or three said they
couldn't.


--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

Marc Brett wrote:

I tried to do something similar at Richmond. Ticketman said I needed to go to a
London Underground station to do the deed. WTF? Isn't Richmond a London
Underground station, or am I missing something really obvious?

An opposite example - when the Evening Standard free rail ticket
promotion was running last month I tried to have a voucher validated at
West Ham, and was told to go to Barking or Upminster. Apparently, the
ticket office at West Ham is run by LT, even though it is also a C2C
station. At Farringdon, a couple of years ago, they were unable to sell
me a ticket to East Croydon, even though Thameslink trains run directly
between both points. Also, I was at Gunnersbury the other day and it
appeared that the ticket office there is operated by LT rather than
Silverlink. It seems that for each "shared" station the ticket office
will be operated by either LT or the TOC, but not jointly. Maybe
something for Ken to look at?

--
John Ray, London UK.

In article ,
John Ray wrote:
It seems that for each "shared" station the ticket office
will be operated by either LT or the TOC, but not jointly. Maybe
something for Ken to look at?

This is only true for smaller stations, I think. Where there is
only room for a small number of ticket windows then it is (normally?)
run by whoever is running the station as a whole. I think that
London TOCs and LUL can sell a subset of each other's tickets.

If there is room for more than one or two ticket windows then often
some will be run by NR or a NR TOC and some by LUL - see, for example,
the big terminal stations, and Stratford.

--
You dont have to be illiterate to use the Internet, but it help's.