Question for Oyster users (specifically travelcards), since it's not
particularly clear from the website! Here's an example trip:

- Get on Central line at Northolt
- Take Central line to Greenford
- Change to FGW Link to Ealing Broadway
- Take District Line to Ealing Common

Where exactly does Oyster need to be touched? Just at the start and
end of the journeys, or also at the NR Oyster validators by the sides
of their platforms? What about if I get on at a tube-only station, get
off at a National Rail-only station? Where should Oyster be waved
then?

Where exactly does Oyster need to be touched? Just at the start and
end of the journeys, or also at the NR Oyster validators by the sides
of their platforms? What about if I get on at a tube-only station, get
off at a National Rail-only station? Where should Oyster be waved
then?

With a travelcard, you need to have touched in at least once and
touched out at least once at stations where prepay is valid, so you
wouldn't need to use the validators at Northolt or Ealing Broadway.
However, you would need to use one of them if you were going to (for
example) Drayton Green.

On Sun, 03 Oct 2004 14:00:55 +0100, Matthew
wrote:


Where exactly does Oyster need to be touched? Just at the start and
end of the journeys, or also at the NR Oyster validators by the sides
of their platforms? What about if I get on at a tube-only station, get
off at a National Rail-only station? Where should Oyster be waved
then?

With a travelcard, you need to have touched in at least once and
touched out at least once at stations where prepay is valid, so you
wouldn't need to use the validators at Northolt or Ealing Broadway.

I mean Greenford not Northolt of course

On Sun, 03 Oct 2004 14:00:55 +0100, Matthew wrote:

Where exactly does Oyster need to be touched? Just at the start and
end of the journeys, or also at the NR Oyster validators by the sides
of their platforms? What about if I get on at a tube-only station, get
off at a National Rail-only station? Where should Oyster be waved
then?

With a travelcard, you need to have touched in at least once and
touched out at least once at stations where prepay is valid, so you
wouldn't need to use the validators at Northolt or Ealing Broadway.
However, you would need to use one of them if you were going to (for
example) Drayton Green.

Odd happening to me last week. I was going to Shortlands from Elephant and
Castle NR station. I have an Oystercard with an annual Zone 1-2 ticket and £10
of prepay on it for out-of-zone travel.

I saw the Oyster reader in the E&C station and thought that meant that
Shortlands had one too (like many NR stations), so I touched in, assuming that
the fare would be deducted from the prepay when I exited.

Of course, there was no reader at Shortlands and I thought "Well, I'm going to
lose the maximum fare as I didn't touch out."

Yesterday I went to add some more money and discovered that nothing had been
deducted from my Oystercard prepay amount.

My deduction is that perhaps (and don't try this at home, folks, unless you're
willing to lose lots of money) when touching in at an NR station in a zone for
which you have a valid travelcard on the Oyster, then not touching out at a
station which doesn't have a reader, you won't be charged.

I feel somewhat embarrassed about not paying when I thought I had.
--
Chris Hansen | chrishansenhome at btinternet dot com
| http://www.hansenhome.demon.co.uk or
| http://www.livejournal.com/users/chrishansenhome/

Christian Hansen
wrote the following in:


Odd happening to me last week. I was going to Shortlands from
Elephant and Castle NR station. I have an Oystercard with an
annual Zone 1-2 ticket and £10 of prepay on it for out-of-zone
travel.

I saw the Oyster reader in the E&C station and thought that meant
that Shortlands had one too (like many NR stations), so I touched
in, assuming that the fare would be deducted from the prepay when
I exited.

Of course, there was no reader at Shortlands and I thought "Well,
I'm going to lose the maximum fare as I didn't touch out."

Actually, prepay doesn't work for most sections of National Rail (IIRC
there are a few parts where it does work, an example being Upminster to
Fenchurch Street). The section you were on is probably a section where
prepay doesn't work, so if there had been a reader you wouldn't have
been able to get out anyway (and also wouldn't have been charged).

Yesterday I went to add some more money and discovered that
nothing had been deducted from my Oystercard prepay amount.

My deduction is that perhaps (and don't try this at home, folks,
unless you're willing to lose lots of money) when touching in at
an NR station in a zone for which you have a valid travelcard on
the Oyster, then not touching out at a station which doesn't have
a reader, you won't be charged.

The way Oyster works is that if you touch in at a station (any station,
LU, DLR or NR) within the zones of your travelcard you won't be charged
if you don't touch out.

--
message by the incredible Robin May.
"The British don't like successful people" - said by British failures

Who is Abi Titmuss? What is she? Why is she famous?
http://robinmay.fotopic.net

Christian Hansen wrote:

My deduction is that perhaps (and don't try this at home, folks, unless you're
willing to lose lots of money) when touching in at an NR station in a zone for
which you have a valid travelcard on the Oyster, then not touching out at a
station which doesn't have a reader, you won't be charged.

Yep - on the rare occasions I take WAGN at Walthamstow to Liverpool
Street instead of the tube on my 1-3 Oyster, I nearly always forget to
touch in/out at the Walthamstow end - and nothing has happened yet,
except an unresolved journey that doesn't actually stop me from exiting
any gates.

What WAS annoying though was once when I tried to exit some Tube gates
and couldn't, not knowing the Travelcard on the Oyster had expired and I
had been eating away my Prepay for 3 days all the way down to nothing.
What happened to those "TICKET 1 NEAR EXPIRY" messages the gates used to
say - they don't seem to do it any more.

Dave Newt wrote to uk.transport.london on Thu, 7 Oct 2004:

What WAS annoying though was once when I tried to exit some Tube
gates and couldn't, not knowing the Travelcard on the Oyster had
expired and I had been eating away my Prepay for 3 days all the way
down to nothing. What happened to those "TICKET 1 NEAR EXPIRY"
messages the gates used to say - they don't seem to do it any more.

Bus readers still say it, at least, they did on mine two days ago, when
it was due to expire. And every time I touch in, it tells the driver/me
when my new pass is due to expire.

Someone today had a weird message come up on the reader: "Passback
attempted!" What does this mean and what had he tried, however
unwittingly, to do?
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 26 September 2004

Robin May wrote in message ...

The way Oyster works is that if you touch in at a station (any station,
LU, DLR or NR) within the zones of your travelcard you won't be charged
if you don't touch out.

Indeed. But this doesn't always seem to work smoothly. For instance: I
have a Z1-3 monthly on my Oyster. Every day I touch in at the gates at
Farringdon and take Thameslink to Herne Hill (no barriers, no Oyster
readers). Lots of other people do the same thing. I was quite
surprised (last time I looked at the usage history on one of the big
machines) to find out that it had been recording
"Farringdon-Uncompleted Journey" for each of these. This doesn't
happen when, for example, I touch in at London Bridge and get off at
West Norwood (also no barriers). All these uncompleted journeys don't
seem to be having an adverse effect. Is this happening because of
Farringdon's strange status as a Tube station which just happens to be
served by grown-up trains?

On Fri, 8 Oct 2004 12:57:23 +0100, Annabel Smyth
wrote:

Someone today had a weird message come up on the reader: "Passback
attempted!" What does this mean and what had he tried, however
unwittingly, to do?

I *think* that means a second attempt to use the ticket has been made
- i.e. someones passed it back over a tube barrier to someone else to
exit, or someone passed it out a bus window for someone else to use.

Otherwise, I'm sure I'll be corrected! :-)


Cheers,

Jason.

Jason wrote to uk.transport.london on Fri, 8 Oct 2004:

On Fri, 8 Oct 2004 12:57:23 +0100, Annabel Smyth
wrote:

Someone today had a weird message come up on the reader: "Passback
attempted!" What does this mean and what had he tried, however
unwittingly, to do?

I *think* that means a second attempt to use the ticket has been made
- i.e. someones passed it back over a tube barrier to someone else to
exit, or someone passed it out a bus window for someone else to use.

Otherwise, I'm sure I'll be corrected! :-)

That figures, as I think he tried to touch in twice - the driver thought
he hadn't seen what it said the first time, I think.
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 26 September 2004