On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 12:33:10 +0100, asdf
wrote:

On Tue, 04 Apr 2006 10:54:35 +0100, Dave Arquati
wrote:

That's a bit of a dilemma. I think the initial advice was a bit off the
mark - I'm not surprised the staff at Cockfosters were reluctant about it.

Yep - sounds like dodgy advice to me.

It most certainly is.

Failing that, the only alternatives are either to stump up for the cash
extensions, or to break your journey in order to touch in. Some places
may be easier to do this than others - it's worth remembering that at
least in the evenings and weekends, any non-Z1 fare is £1, so you could
touch in somewhere easy like Highbury & Islington (which has platform
validators next to the Victoria line platforms).

I think this is the real answer. You'll need to leave the train at any
station in Z4 (Mon-Fri 0700-1900) or any station in Z2-4 (all other
times), leave through the ticket barriers (if necessary) with your
Travelcard, and touch in with your Oyster card.

The problem with this is that the OP will be charged for travel in Zone
4 as well as 5 unless the station is right on the boundary and thus in
both zones. While it may make no financial difference under the current
fares structure it could do at some future point. In addition he needs
to break his journey in both directions (assuming a return trip) is
being made which is a complete pain in the posterior.

Elsewhere, you wouldn't have to necessarily leave the gateline, but
could touch your Oyster in on the side gate validator (probably getting
a strange look from the gate staff in the process).

I've done this a few times before. It seems that if the gate is open,
the validator works for entry or exit (as you might expect), but if
the gate is closed, it works for exit only (so if you're actually
'starting' the journey, you'll get an unresolved journey straight
away).

You do need to be careful here. Interchange validators "apply some
intelligence" to determine if you are entering or exiting. As you say
the validator by a manual gate is (I believe) tied into the operational
status of the gate.

If the OP is able to swap from magnetic to Oyster ticketing then this is
by far the easiest option as the extension ticket process then becomes
seamless providing entry and exit validation is undertaken correctly.

I think I'm going to write the Oyster User Handbook to explain all this
stuff!

--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!