I caught Tramlink from Wimbledon to Wellesley Road yesterday - I have a
monthly discount bus pass on Oyster which covers me for this. I touched
in my Oyster on the gates at Wimbledon and out again on the reader at
Wellesley Road. However I was surpised to see today that I'd been
charged a PrePay fare for this.

Luckily the Oystercard helpline people refunded the fare when I rang
them - turns out you have to touch in on the gates *and* on the platform
reader at Wimbledon. To me this is counter-intuitive, and I couldn't see
any indication that I had to do this at the gates at Wimbledon, or on
the posters on the tram or platforms (though I did find something on the
Oyster website later). I guess that it's because the gates can't tell
whether you are going to use the District line or Tramlink, but still...
What does anyone else think?

What's also strange is the amount it deducted - GBP1.10. The Tramlink
PrePay should be GBP0.80 single. The only guess I can make is that this
is the single or two-zone Tube PrePay fare, but I touched out at
Wellesley Road which you can't get to with Tube PrePay, and it's 3 zones
between Wimbledon and there. All very strange!

James

James Penton wrote:

What's also strange is the amount it deducted - GBP1.10. The Tramlink
PrePay should be GBP0.80 single. The only guess I can make is that
this
is the single or two-zone Tube PrePay fare, but I touched out at
Wellesley Road which you can't get to with Tube PrePay, and it's 3
zones
between Wimbledon and there. All very strange!

I think you must be right about the barriers at Wimbledon not knowing
whether you're going on the Tube or Tramlink. However, you're not
supposed to touch in and out on Tramlink - you touch in when boarding
(like when boarding a bus) and it deducts 80p. Presumably if you touch
on the reader when you get off the tram, you will get charged another
80p (and so on until you reach the appropriate cap).

So, in short, it sounds like you have to touch in twice at Wimbledon
(which is very counter-intuitive) but not at all when you get off the
tram!

I caught Tramlink from Wimbledon to Wellesley Road yesterday - I have a
monthly discount bus pass on Oyster which covers me for this. I touched
in my Oyster on the gates at Wimbledon and out again on the reader at
Wellesley Road. However I was surpised to see today that I'd been
charged a PrePay fare for this.

Apart from opening the gates at Wimbledon, you don't have exits on Tramlink
so you don't touch out at your destination.

... I guess that it's because the gates can't tell
whether you are going to use the District line or Tramlink, but still...
What does anyone else think?

That sounds correct to me. It is going to assume you are going to make a
tube journey unless you tell it otherwise.

Normally you wouldn't need to touch in on Tramlink platforms when using a
bus pass. Wimbledon is the exception. You need to touch in on the
platforms at Wimbledon when joining the system. If making a journey to
Wimbledon you also need to touch in before boarding otherwise the gates
don't let you out (anti-fraud measure so that bus passes only open the gates
if you arrived on Tramlink).

What's also strange is the amount it deducted - GBP1.10. The Tramlink
PrePay should be GBP0.80 single. The only guess I can make is that this
is the single or two-zone Tube PrePay fare, but I touched out at
Wellesley Road which you can't get to with Tube PrePay, and it's 3 zones
between Wimbledon and there. All very strange!

I would say that when you entered the system at Wimbledon it assumed you
were going to make a tube journey and so you were charged the minimum
possible for that journey (£1.10). You never touched out of the system so
you effectively had an unresolved journey.

At some stage they are supposed to be switching to charging the maximum
possible fare when you enter the system so you get penalised for not
touching out at your destination. Could be that it is already happening and
this is an exception to the rule of course.

When you touched the reader at Wellesley Road you were actually touching in
to the system, not out, but you wouldn't have been charged for it because of
your bus pass.

"Rupert Candy" wrote in message
oups.com...

James Penton wrote:

What's also strange is the amount it deducted - GBP1.10. The Tramlink
PrePay should be GBP0.80 single. The only guess I can make is that
this
is the single or two-zone Tube PrePay fare, but I touched out at
Wellesley Road which you can't get to with Tube PrePay, and it's 3
zones
between Wimbledon and there. All very strange!

However, you're not
supposed to touch in and out on Tramlink - you touch in when boarding
(like when boarding a bus) and it deducts 80p. Presumably if you touch
on the reader when you get off the tram, you will get charged another
80p (and so on until you reach the appropriate cap).

A little-known concession allows a second free Tramlink touch-in within 70
minutes of the first one.
This was designed to cope with multi-tram journeys e.g Lloyd Park to
Addiscombe; but also allows half-price returns if you don't stay long at
your destination.

Chris Cook
Beckenham, Kent

Chris Cook wrote:
A little-known concession allows a second free Tramlink touch-in
within 70
minutes of the first one.
This was designed to cope with multi-tram journeys e.g Lloyd Park to
Addiscombe;

And to keep people happy who only read the 'headline' on all the
posters and Touch in and out?