Sarah Brown wrote:

I got off the train, touched out, and wandered round the foyer area
looking for a ticket machine.

Problem one. Depending on how you look it at, Stratford either has a
concorse with a railway line in the middle or an interchange concourse that
you arrived in. The problem is no-one cares to make this clear to the
passenger who doesn't know the station or what to do.

I couldn't find one, so went to look for
details of when my train was. The information provided there needs a
bit of detective work to put together - one set of boards provides the
times, but not the ultimate destination, so you can't just find your
train from the departure screens if, like me, you have no idea where
it's terminating. A second poster, elsewhere in the station, provides
a list of platform numbers for various destinations.

Yes Stratford is dire for this sort of thing. A worse problem is that on
platform 8, the eastbound metro service, there are no indicators for a large
chunk at the east end of the platform, so you're reliant on either
announcements or walking down the platform to find it which stations peak
hour trains stop at (and that's when the platform is crowded beyond belief).
A favourite of the announcers is to override the destination announcement
with a generic "don't leave luggage" one because it's clearly not important
to tell people where the train is going.

I tell her I've already touched out, and she asks where I came from,
and I tell her. She then says I have to touch out again, "to end my
journey", and buy a ticket.

Another problem is that a lot of TfL staff don't seem to know how to
correctly use Oyster at complicated stations like Stratford. There are
similar problems with the DLR - I've never been sure if one has to touch in
twice if starting at Stratford, or how to correctly change from a ticketed
mainline service to the DLR on Oyster. "Always touch in, always touch out"
becomes a meaningless mantra if you don't know which is which.

In article ,
Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:

Another problem is that a lot of TfL staff don't seem to know how to
correctly use Oyster at complicated stations like Stratford. There are
similar problems with the DLR - I've never been sure if one has to touch in
twice if starting at Stratford, or how to correctly change from a ticketed
mainline service to the DLR on Oyster. "Always touch in, always touch out"
becomes a meaningless mantra if you don't know which is which.

Yeah! Just when I feel I've got the hang of using Oyster PAYG in
tricky situations, a trip to Stratford feels like a trick question on
the "Oyster users' test".

On Apr 2, 3:06*pm, Sarah Brown
wrote:
In article ,

Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:

Another problem is that a lot of TfL staff don't seem to know how to
correctly use Oyster at complicated stations like Stratford. There are
similar problems with the DLR - I've never been sure if one has to touch in
twice if starting at Stratford, or how to correctly change from a ticketed
mainline service to the DLR on Oyster. "Always touch in, always touch out"
becomes a meaningless mantra if you don't know which is which.

Yeah! Just when I feel I've got the hang of using Oyster PAYG in
tricky situations, a trip to Stratford feels like a trick question on
the "Oyster users' test".

When I've started or finished PAYG DLR journeys at Stratford, I've
only ever touched at the barrier with the outside world (by the NR
ticket window) and had no problems, although presumably if I'd touched
the readers on the platform as well (the old platform by the Central
and NR) it would have made no difference unless I hung around having a
cup of tea etc and I'd have two unresolved journeys.

MIG wrote:

When I've started or finished PAYG DLR journeys at Stratford, I've
only ever touched at the barrier with the outside world (by the NR
ticket window) and had no problems, although presumably if I'd touched
the readers on the platform as well (the old platform by the Central
and NR) it would have made no difference unless I hung around having a
cup of tea etc and I'd have two unresolved journeys.

I think a large part of the problem comes if you enter the station from one
of the lines. For example does someone changing between the Central and DLR
need to touch the readers on both platforms? What about someone who has to
come through the Jubilee barriers onto one of the other Oyster lines? What
about someone coming off the mainline from further east and starting to use
Oyster for the rest of their journey?

On Apr 2, 6:24*pm, "Tim Roll-Pickering" T.C.Roll-
wrote:
MIG wrote:
When I've started or finished PAYG DLR journeys at Stratford, I've
only ever touched at the barrier with the outside world (by the NR
ticket window) and had no problems, although presumably if I'd touched
the readers on the platform as well (the old platform by the Central
and NR) it would have made no difference unless I hung around having a
cup of tea etc and I'd have two unresolved journeys.

I think a large part of the problem comes if you enter the station from one
of the lines. For example does someone changing between the Central and DLR
need to touch the readers on both platforms? What about someone who has to
come through the Jubilee barriers onto one of the other Oyster lines? What
about someone coming off the mainline from further east and starting to use
Oyster for the rest of their journey?

Touching at the platform readers is only necessary when changing to or
from National Rail from or to either Central or DLR (and then only NR
east of Stratford?). But because that's deemed too complicated to
understand, one is encouraged to keep on and on touching at every
reader one passes, putting one at risk of potential unresolved
journeys.

MIG wrote:

Touching at the platform readers is only necessary when changing to or
from National Rail from or to either Central or DLR (and then only NR
east of Stratford?).

I was told one had to always specifically touch in and out for the DLR,
hence the tunnel readers at Bank.

National Rail services west of Stratford only go to Liverpool Street and
this section is covered by Oyster.

But because that's deemed too complicated to
understand, one is encouraged to keep on and on touching at every
reader one passes, putting one at risk of potential unresolved
journeys.

Indeed - hence the mass confusion.

On Apr 3, 1:12*am, "Tim Roll-Pickering" T.C.Roll-
wrote:
MIG wrote:
Touching at the platform readers is only necessary when changing to or
from National Rail from or to either Central or DLR (and then only NR
east of Stratford?).

I was told one had to always specifically touch in and out for the DLR,
hence the tunnel readers at Bank.

The explanation for those does seem to be the possibility of arriving
via the lift without passing a gate. I've never had a problem with
not touching there. A touch at the DLR one end and LU the other end,
with no touch while changing, has always resulted in me being charged
for one LU/DLR journey at the right price.


National Rail services west of Stratford only go to Liverpool Street and
this section is covered by Oyster.

But because that's deemed too complicated to
understand, one is encouraged to keep on and on touching at every
reader one passes, putting one at risk of potential unresolved
journeys.

Indeed - hence the mass confusion.

In article ,
Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:
MIG wrote:

Touching at the platform readers is only necessary when changing to or
from National Rail from or to either Central or DLR (and then only NR
east of Stratford?).

I was told one had to always specifically touch in and out for the DLR,
hence the tunnel readers at Bank.

I've not used those when transfering tube-DLR and not had an
unresolved journey on touching out of the DLR, so it seems to be OK.

On 2 Apr, 14:20, "Tim Roll-Pickering"
wrote:

Sarah Brown wrote:

(snip)

I tell her I've already touched out, and she asks where I came from,
and I tell her. She then says I have to touch out again, "to end my
journey", and buy a ticket.

Another problem is that a lot of TfL staff don't seem to know how to
correctly use Oyster at complicated stations like Stratford. There are
similar problems with the DLR - I've never been sure if one has to touch in
twice if starting at Stratford, or how to correctly change from a ticketed
mainline service to the DLR on Oyster. "Always touch in, always touch out"
becomes a meaningless mantra if you don't know which is which.

I don't think you should worry about it, I really don't. My impression
is that the system is designed to be tolerant of people touching-in or
out more than once at stations such as Stratford. I haven't tested
this thesis to destruction yet, but I certainly have tested it -
touching in or out twice at stations such as Highbury & Islington that
have gates and standalone Oyster readers within the gateline (aimed at
interchange passengers coming off/heading to National Rail services).

Some day I'll put my money where my mouth is and go to Stratford and
touch my Oyster everywhere to see just how tolerant the system really
is - but all most passengers are ever going to do is touch-in/out
twice, once at the gates and again on the DLR or Central line
platforms. I've done this to no ill effect, and if you stand close by
and watch the number of people who use these standalone readers for
just a short while it seems very clear (to me at least) that they
aren't all interchanging to/from National Rail services.