Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

Sorry if this has been covered before but I searched & could not find it.

I have an Oyster PAYG and have friends staying with me for the weekend.
They live way out of London and so it does not make sense for them to get
Oyster cards. When we travel on the bus together can I use my Oyster card
to pay for them as well?

On the TFL site it says that you can share an Oyster card if it has pay as
you go with Auto top-up, however I don't have Auto top-up and that answer
does not make it clear that multiple people can share teh card at the same
time.

Also on the TFL site it says that you can lend your Oyster card for visitors
to anyone when you are not using. That implies that two people cannot use
it at the same time but does not make it clear if the restriction only
applies to Oyster card for visitors or to all Oyster cards.


Many thanks

Stephen

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On 30 Oct, 15:02, "Stephen Osborn"
wrote:
I have an Oyster PAYG and have friends staying with me for the weekend.
They live way out of London and so it does not make sense for them to get
Oyster cards. *When we travel on the bus together can I use my Oyster card
to pay for them as well?

No.

"6.7.2. How to pay as you go – General. Only one person at a time can
travel using the credit on an
Oyster card to pay as they go.

Unless it has a valid season ticket on it, you can transfer your
Oyster card to another person for them
to pay as they go. If you have a season ticket on your Oyster card,
you cannot transfer it to anyone
else to pay as they go. If the Oyster card is registered, it will
remain in your name and you will still be
responsible for the Oyster card and any use made of it. We will not
accept responsibility for any
losses arising out of the transfer and use of the Oyster card.

If you have an Oyster photocard or Oyster card with a valid discount
concession on it, you cannot
transfer it to anyone else to pay as they go. "

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...ember-2008.pdf

U

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:02:39 -0000,
Stephen Osborn stephen.osborn wrote:
Sorry if this has been covered before but I searched & could not find it.

I have an Oyster PAYG and have friends staying with me for the weekend.
They live way out of London and so it does not make sense for them to get
Oyster cards. When we travel on the bus together can I use my Oyster card
to pay for them as well?

On the TFL site it says that you can share an Oyster card if it has pay as
you go with Auto top-up, however I don't have Auto top-up and that answer
does not make it clear that multiple people can share teh card at the same
time.

Also on the TFL site it says that you can lend your Oyster card for visitors
to anyone when you are not using. That implies that two people cannot use
it at the same time but does not make it clear if the restriction only
applies to Oyster card for visitors or to all Oyster cards.



No, only one person can use a PAYG card at a time.

But get an oyster card for each of your friends and then return it to
get the 3GBP deposit back when they leave. (Make sure they don't have
any unresolved journeys)

N.B. Only top up the oyster cards with cash. Once you've used a credit
card to top it up, getting the remaining balance back becomes more
complicated.

Tim.

--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://www.woodall.me.uk/

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On 30 Oct, 15:02, "Stephen Osborn"
wrote:
Sorry if this has been covered before but I searched & could not find it.

I have an Oyster PAYG and have friends staying with me for the weekend.
They live way out of London and so it does not make sense for them to get
Oyster cards. *When we travel on the bus together can I use my Oyster card
to pay for them as well?


A definite No - an Oyster card can only ever be used by one person at
a time.


On the TFL site it says that you can share an Oyster card if it has pay as
you go with Auto top-up, however I don't have Auto top-up and that answer
does not make it clear that multiple people can share teh card at the same
time.


If the card is just being used in 'PAYG mode' then it is transferable
regardless of whether or not it has Auto top-up enabled. If a
Travelcard or Bus Pass is loaded on the Oyster card then technically
speaking it is not transferable, though this rule is virtually
unenforceable (though I suppose TfL and ATOC might possibly be
interested in an annual Travelcard that was being systematically
shared by a number of people).

There are some ambiguities here - is it legit to lend your Oyster card
that's loaded with a zones 1&2 Travelcard to a friend so they could
use it to pay for a Tube journey in zone 6 (they'd only be using it
for PAYG after all)? I would strongly suspect that's verboten. What
about lending your friend an Oyster card loaded with a Bus Pass so
they could use it on the Tube (and only on the Tube)? I also suspect
that would technically foul the rules.


Also on the TFL site it says that you can lend your Oyster card for visitors
to anyone when you are not using. *That implies that two people cannot use
it at the same time but does not make it clear if the restriction only
applies to Oyster card for visitors or to all Oyster cards.


It applies to all Oyster cards.

Day Travelcards are probably what you're after. Or you could obtain a
few extra Oyster cards and hold on to them so future visitors could
make use of them,

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

"Tim Woodall" wrote in message
e.uk...

No, only one person can use a PAYG card at a time.

Thanks all for the clarification

But get an oyster card for each of your friends and then return it to
get the 3GBP deposit back when they leave. (Make sure they don't have
any unresolved journeys)

Nice idea but unfortunately impractical. The problem is that Oyster PAYG is
essentially a Tube system and I live in SE London and I almost exclusively
use trains & buses.

To get a refund the TFL website says to go to a Tube station but my nearest
one is c. 6 miles by crows flight.

I would like to have Auto top-up but to convert my card to that I have to
designate a Tube (or Tram/DLR) station and the next time I make a journey
through that station using my Oyster it will happen. However to get to a
Tube station I have to get a train first and so when I go into central
London I buy a paper one day Travelcard and don't use my Oyster.

N.B. Only top up the oyster cards with cash. Once you've used a credit
card to top it up, getting the remaining balance back becomes more
complicated.

Thanks for that tip.


Stephen

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

In article ,
(Stephen Osborn) wrote:

But get an oyster card for each of your friends and then return it to
get the 3GBP deposit back when they leave. (Make sure they don't have
any unresolved journeys)

Nice idea but unfortunately impractical. The problem is that
Oyster PAYG is essentially a Tube system and I live in SE London
and I almost exclusively use trains & buses.

To get a refund the TFL website says to go to a Tube station but my
nearest one is c. 6 miles by crows flight.

That is why the present cash fares premium is such a pain for some users.

I have to keep a minimum zone 1 tube fare as permanent minimum credit on
mine because I live in Cambridge and arrive in London at King's Cross
where there are often horrendous queues even at ticket machines.

At least with £1.50 credit I can top up at the end of my first journey for
now, but when they close more ticket offices and I need a receipt for the
actual amount spent that day it will become a problem again.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:54:33 -0000, "Stephen Osborn"
wrote:

Nice idea but unfortunately impractical. The problem is that Oyster PAYG is
essentially a Tube system and I live in SE London and I almost exclusively
use trains & buses.

Why not keep hold of it until it extends to the mainline railway, as
it will soon enough?

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:40:40 -0700 (PDT), Mizter T
wrote:

There are some ambiguities here - is it legit to lend your Oyster card
that's loaded with a zones 1&2 Travelcard to a friend so they could
use it to pay for a Tube journey in zone 6 (they'd only be using it
for PAYG after all)? I would strongly suspect that's verboten. What
about lending your friend an Oyster card loaded with a Bus Pass so
they could use it on the Tube (and only on the Tube)? I also suspect
that would technically foul the rules.

Only because TfL are being unnecessarily fussy about a tiny amount of
transfer that would actually happen. Our local bus company MK Metro
has recently done away with the pointless contact-type smartcards for
weekly season tickets, and has stated that as a result the new paper
weekly season tickets are explicitly transferrable - indeed I'm sure I
recall they suggested handing them around the family at different
times.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On 30 Oct, 15:40, Mizter T wrote:
If the card is just being used in 'PAYG mode' then it is transferable
regardless of whether or not it has Auto top-up enabled.

Interesting thought, PAYG has a price cap. You could travel for 3 off-
peak journeys in the morning, give your oyster to someone else, who
would travel for free in the evening, and be perfectly legit (unlike
with a travelcard)

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:37:16 -0700 (PDT), Paul Weaver
wrote:

Interesting thought, PAYG has a price cap. You could travel for 3 off-
peak journeys in the morning, give your oyster to someone else, who
would travel for free in the evening, and be perfectly legit (unlike
with a travelcard)

Though it does reflect the de-facto usage of one-day Travelcards, as
it is almost impossible to enforce their non-transfer.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Oct 30, 10:13 pm, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
Though it does reflect the de-facto usage of one-day Travelcards, as
it is almost impossible to enforce their non-transfer.

I always used to use my other halfs season ticket oyster if she didn't
need it that day. Why shouldn't they be transfered? The money has been
paid for a service for X days, end of story. If you hire out a video
you don't expect Blockbuster or whoever to try and enforce a rule
whereby only the person who rented it can watch it so I see no reason
why season tickets should be any different. Luckily LU have all but
dispensed with photocards which makes the process a lot easier.

B2003

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On 31 Oct, 12:41, Boltar wrote:
Why shouldn't they be transfered? The money has been
paid for a service for X days, end of story.

But how much service have you paid for? TfL define it as "as much
usage as one person can make of the card in one month", and you're
defining it as "as much usage as whoever has the card can make in one
month". Given the latter is higher than the former, you clearly are
getting more service than you've paid for, at least according to the
terms.

(yes, this is a very ephemeral argument, but given the service they're
selling has a marginal cost per passenger of essentially zero, any
pricing scheme is going to be ephemeral and artificial)

U

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Oct 31, 1:05 pm, Mr Thant
wrote:
On 31 Oct, 12:41, Boltar wrote:

Why shouldn't they be transfered? The money has been
paid for a service for X days, end of story.

But how much service have you paid for? TfL define it as "as much
usage as one person can make of the card in one month", and you're
defining it as "as much usage as whoever has the card can make in one
month". Given the latter is higher than the former, you clearly are
getting more service than you've paid for, at least according to the
terms.

Given that AFAIK its not required to give your name and address if you
buy a weekly (not sure about a monthly) , then the implication is its
not tied to a single individual, you're simply buying a service that
can used by whoever has the card. It may well state in the smallprint
somewhere that only a single person can use it but if they can't
define that single person thats tough luck. After all, someone may go
out and buy a card for someone else in cash - so who is entitled to
use it - the person who bought it or the one it was bought for?

B2003

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On 31 Oct, 13:13, Boltar wrote:
On Oct 31, 1:05 pm, Mr Thant
wrote:

On 31 Oct, 12:41, Boltar wrote:

Why shouldn't they be transfered? The money has been
paid for a service for X days, end of story.

But how much service have you paid for? TfL define it as "as much
usage as one person can make of the card in one month", and you're
defining it as "as much usage as whoever has the card can make in one
month". Given the latter is higher than the former, you clearly are
getting more service than you've paid for, at least according to the
terms.

Given that AFAIK its not required to give your name and address if you
buy a weekly (not sure about a monthly) , then the implication is its
not tied to a single individual, you're simply buying a service that
can used by whoever has the card.

It may well state in the smallprint
somewhere that only a single person can use it but if they can't
define that single person thats tough luck. After all, someone may go
out and buy a card for someone else in cash - so who is entitled to
use it - the person who bought it or the one it was bought for?

It actually say it may be not be "transferred", which suggests the act
of passing it from one person to another is what's prohibited.

Though actually I note the rule doesn't actually prohibit what we're
discussing - "If you have a season ticket on your Oyster card,
you cannot transfer it to anyone else to pay as they go." I can't see
any wording that says you can't transfer it to someone else to use the
season part.

btw, Blockbuster say:
"You agree to [...] the prohibition on [...] renting or otherwise
supplying them to third parties"

http://www.blockbuster.co.uk/bbsitec...payperrent.htm

U

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On 31 Oct, 13:39, Mr Thant
wrote:
On 31 Oct, 13:13, Boltar wrote:





On Oct 31, 1:05 pm, Mr Thant
wrote:

On 31 Oct, 12:41, Boltar wrote:

Why shouldn't they be transfered? The money has been
paid for a service for X days, end of story.

But how much service have you paid for? TfL define it as "as much
usage as one person can make of the card in one month", and you're
defining it as "as much usage as whoever has the card can make in one
month". Given the latter is higher than the former, you clearly are
getting more service than you've paid for, at least according to the
terms.

Given that AFAIK its not required to give your name and address if you
buy a weekly (not sure about a monthly) , then the implication is its
not tied to a single individual, you're simply buying a service that
can used by whoever has the card.
It may well state in the smallprint
somewhere that only a single person can use it but if they can't
define that single person thats tough luck. After all, someone may go
out and buy a card for someone else in cash - so who is entitled to
use it - the person who bought it or the one it was bought for?

It actually say it may be not be "transferred", which suggests the act
of passing it from one person to another is what's prohibited.

Though actually I note the rule doesn't actually prohibit what we're
discussing - *"If you have a season ticket on your Oyster card,
you cannot transfer it to anyone else to pay as they go." I can't see
any wording that says you can't transfer it to someone else to use the
season part.

btw, Blockbuster say:
"You agree to [...] the prohibition on [...] renting or otherwise
supplying them to third parties"

http://www.blockbuster.co.uk/bbsitec...dconditions/pa...

U- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Isn't that Blockbuster protecting themselves though? If people could
legally hire a video from Blockbuster and then charge a roomful of
people to watch it, Blockbuster would do a lot more business, but they
themselves are presumably prohibited from renting out on that basis.

You can't easily charge a whole load of people for shared use of your
Oyster or travelcard.

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:41:46 -0700 (PDT), Boltar
wrote:

I always used to use my other halfs season ticket oyster if she didn't
need it that day. Why shouldn't they be transfered?

There is the other side of it, which is that if I forget my rail
season ticket, I can have the purchase of the necessary return ticket
refunded up to twice a year, and I can have it replaced for a nominal
fare if lost/stolen. This wouldn't be possible with a transferrable
season ticket, as someone could entirely validly be using it[1], and
so another could be effectively obtained fraudulently.

The answer is to do as the Germans do, and offer the choice of
non-transferrable with that option, and transferrable without it.
Perhaps a slightly higher price could be charged for transferrable
tickets.

For weekly bus tickets costing 11 quid, this isn't a big issue. For
an annual season costing thousands, it's a massive issue if you lost
the ability to have another issued for an admin fee if it was lost or
stolen.

[1] This could be where Oyster comes in, as the old one could be
blocked, so this might still be possible.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Nov 1, 10:25*am, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:41:46 -0700 (PDT), Boltar

wrote:
I always used to use my other halfs season ticket oyster if she didn't
need it that day. Why shouldn't they be transfered?

There is the other side of it, which is that if I forget my rail
season ticket, I can have the purchase of the necessary return ticket
refunded up to twice a year, and I can have it replaced for a nominal
fare if lost/stolen. *This wouldn't be possible with a transferrable
season ticket, as someone could entirely validly be using it[1], and
so another could be effectively obtained fraudulently.

The answer is to do as the Germans do, and offer the choice of
non-transferrable with that option, and transferrable without it.
Perhaps a slightly higher price could be charged for transferrable
tickets.

For weekly bus tickets costing 11 quid, this isn't a big issue. *For
an annual season costing thousands, it's a massive issue if you lost
the ability to have another issued for an admin fee if it was lost or
stolen.

[1] This could be where Oyster comes in, as the old one could be
blocked, so this might still be possible.

If it was a paper annual season, there would be a record of the ticket
number and it could be blocked.

When someone grabbed my annual season (possibly not deliberately) back
in the early 1990s I had a long discussion about it with BR where they
said that it was possible to look for a pattern of use (and hang out
ready to arrest someone?) and also possible to stop it from working
barriers.

I said why not do that then, but they said that they didn't do that in
case it caused a panic at the barrier. I thought that was completely
spurious, becuase as soon as it was known that stolen seasons don't
work the barriers people wouldn't bother stealing them.

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Sat, 1 Nov 2008 05:02:07 -0700 (PDT),
MIG wrote:

When someone grabbed my annual season (possibly not deliberately) back
in the early 1990s
Did you get it back nearly straight away?

My partner's father did exactly this to someone at Euston. He had a
single that got "eaten" by the barrier. He then waited because he was
expecting his ticket. The chap behind put in his gold card which Jen's
dad then took and walked off with it - leaving the gold card owner
stranded behind the barrier.

Fortunately, my girlfriend saw this happen and ran after her dad and got
the season ticket back.

My partner has had her single ticket "stolen" by someone at the Euston
barriers before as well. They've had an invalid ticket or someone else
wrong with it. She's put her ticket in immediately behind them and then
they've exited using her ticket leaving her with no ticket and no way
out.

Tim.


--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t,"
and there was light.

http://www.woodall.me.uk/

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Nov 1, 1:20*pm, Tim Woodall wrote:
On Sat, 1 Nov 2008 05:02:07 -0700 (PDT),
* * MIG wrote:

When someone grabbed my annual season (possibly not deliberately) back
in the early 1990s

Did you get it back nearly straight away?

My partner's father did exactly this to someone at Euston. *He had a
single that got "eaten" by the barrier. He then waited because he was
expecting his ticket. The chap behind put in his gold card which Jen's
dad then took and walked off with it - leaving the gold card owner
stranded behind the barrier.

Fortunately, my girlfriend saw this happen and ran after her dad and got
the season ticket back.

My partner has had her single ticket "stolen" by someone at the Euston
barriers before as well. They've had an invalid ticket or someone else
wrong with it. She's put her ticket in immediately behind them and then
they've exited using her ticket leaving her with no ticket and no way
out.

As I remember the procedure used to be that you had to turn up in
person at Cannon Street to face a humiliating interview with a
horrible man who obviously thought he was a TV cop, without any
inkling as to whether it would be replaced.

Explaining that you'd have to walk across London in your lunch break
because you have no travelcard, and that you need some idea whether
you ought to give up your job rather than run up a credit card bill
for daily travel, would not result in any clue as to whether you had a
hope of getting a replacement or refund.

In the end, I did get a replacement and refund for all the daily
tickets I'd had to buy with a credit card. I just wish they'd saved
me some stress by letting me know what was likely to happen.

Sharing an Oyster PAYG
 

On Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:20:04 GMT, Tim Woodall
wrote:

My partner has had her single ticket "stolen" by someone at the Euston
barriers before as well. They've had an invalid ticket or someone else
wrong with it. She's put her ticket in immediately behind them and then
they've exited using her ticket leaving her with no ticket and no way
out.

The only time that sort of thing has happened to me has involved
Oyster users, in which case there has been no loss of my ticket, and
I've been walking quickly enough that I've actually managed to
tailgate the offender through the barrier.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Efficiencey of TfL (was Sharing an Oyster PAYG)
 

Having failed to find the answer to my question on the TfL website I posted
a question there and *then* noticed that they say it may take up to seven
days (seven working days maybe) to get an answer. That was on 30th October.

I then posted the same question here (below) and had three answers within
the hour.

I have just had a reply from TfL - a mere 18 days (13 working days) later.

There's nothing like a prompt & efficient servive, and this ...

Stephen


"Stephen Osborn" wrote in message
...
Sorry if this has been covered before but I searched & could not find it.

I have an Oyster PAYG and have friends staying with me for the weekend.
They live way out of London and so it does not make sense for them to get
Oyster cards. When we travel on the bus together can I use my Oyster card
to pay for them as well?

On the TFL site it says that you can share an Oyster card if it has pay as
you go with Auto top-up, however I don't have Auto top-up and that answer
does not make it clear that multiple people can share teh card at the same
time.

Also on the TFL site it says that you can lend your Oyster card for
visitors to anyone when you are not using. That implies that two people
cannot use it at the same time but does not make it clear if the
restriction only applies to Oyster card for visitors or to all Oyster
cards.


Many thanks

Stephen

Efficiencey of TfL (was Sharing an Oyster PAYG)
 

In article ,
(Stephen Osborn) wrote:

Having failed to find the answer to my question on the TfL website
I posted a question there and *then* noticed that they say it may
take up to seven days (seven working days maybe) to get an answer.
That was on 30th October.

I then posted the same question here (below) and had three answers
within the hour.

I have just had a reply from TfL - a mere 18 days (13 working days)
later.

There's nothing like a prompt & efficient servive, and this ...

and the answer was?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Efficiencey of TfL (was Sharing an Oyster PAYG)
 

wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Stephen Osborn) wrote:

Having failed to find the answer to my question on the TfL website
I posted a question there and *then* noticed that they say it may
take up to seven days (seven working days maybe) to get an answer.
That was on 30th October.

I then posted the same question here (below) and had three answers
within the hour.

I have just had a reply from TfL - a mere 18 days (13 working days)
later.

There's nothing like a prompt & efficient servive, and this ...

and the answer was?

Oh, sorry I thought that was obvious.

They said the same as I was told here, namely that a PAYG Oyster can be
shared but that multiple people cannot use it at *the same time*.

regards

Stephen

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Efficiencey of TfL (was Sharing an Oyster PAYG)
 

In article ,
(Stephen Osborn) wrote:

wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Stephen Osborn) wrote:

Having failed to find the answer to my question on the TfL website
I posted a question there and *then* noticed that they say it may
take up to seven days (seven working days maybe) to get an answer.
That was on 30th October.

I then posted the same question here (below) and had three answers
within the hour.

I have just had a reply from TfL - a mere 18 days (13 working days)
later.

There's nothing like a prompt & efficient servive, and this ...

and the answer was?

Oh, sorry I thought that was obvious.

They said the same as I was told here, namely that a PAYG Oyster
can be shared but that multiple people cannot use it at *the same
time*.

Oh, OK, a statement of the bleeding obvious then.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Efficiencey of TfL (was Sharing an Oyster PAYG)
 

In message , at 16:19:30 on
Tue, 18 Nov 2008, Stephen Osborn
remarked:
I have just had a reply from TfL - a mere 18 days (13 working days) later.

There's nothing like a prompt & efficient servive, and this ...

Which reminds me, I haven't had a reply from them about my complaint
regarding the lack of Oyster facilities at LHR-123 station.
--
Roland Perry

Efficiencey of TfL (was Sharing an Oyster PAYG)
 

On 19 Nov, 13:01, Roland Perry wrote:
Which reminds me, I haven't had a reply from them about my complaint
regarding the lack of Oyster facilities at LHR-123 station.

I got mine today:

"I'm sorry to hear that you had a difficult experience and I can
appreciate how frustrating it must have been for you.

I have spoken with the senior station manager about this issue and he
has confirmed that the closures were in place in prepartion for the
planned escalator replacment work due to start early next year. The
trial was carried out to see how the station would cope with the loss
of one up and one down escalator and also to test the remaining
escalators operating in the wrong direction.

We were aware before the trial started that without the installation
of additional Oyster readers there may have been some issues with
customer being unable to touch in or touch out. However, there wasn't
really anyway around it. The trial had to take place and the
installation of new Oyster readers would have taken up to 10 weeks.
Therefore it was not possible to install them for the trial but they
will be in place when the actual works start next year.

I hope you find this information helpful and I'm sorry for the
problems you experienced"

U

Efficiencey of TfL (was Sharing an Oyster PAYG)
 

In message
, at
02:57:01 on Thu, 20 Nov 2008, Mr Thant
remarked:
On 19 Nov, 13:01, Roland Perry wrote:
Which reminds me, I haven't had a reply from them about my complaint
regarding the lack of Oyster facilities at LHR-123 station.

I got mine today:

So did I.

"I'm sorry to hear that you had a difficult experience and I can
appreciate how frustrating it must have been for you.

I have spoken with the senior station manager about this issue and he
has confirmed that the closures were in place in prepartion for the
planned escalator replacment work due to start early next year. The
trial was carried out to see how the station would cope with the loss
of one up and one down escalator

So they were experimenting upon the public, to see how we would cope.

and also to test the remaining
escalators operating in the wrong direction.

We were aware before the trial started that without the installation
of additional Oyster readers there may have been some issues with
customer being unable to touch in or touch out. However, there wasn't
really anyway around it.

Some signs, and helpful staff, would have mitigated the situation a
little. Or was lack of signage, and unhelpfulness, part of the
experiment?

The trial had to take place and the
installation of new Oyster readers would have taken up to 10 weeks.

And they want us to believe that the escalator replacement project was
initiated in the last 10 weeks, so there wasn't time to order a
replacement Oyster pad before starting the trial?

Therefore it was not possible to install them for the trial but they
will be in place when the actual works start next year.

I hope you find this information helpful and I'm sorry for the
problems you experienced"

U

--
Roland Perry

Efficiencey of TfL (was Sharing an Oyster PAYG)
 

In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

In message , at 16:19:30
on Tue, 18 Nov 2008, Stephen Osborn
remarked:
I have just had a reply from TfL - a mere 18 days (13 working days)
later.

There's nothing like a prompt & efficient servive, and this ...

Which reminds me, I haven't had a reply from them about my
complaint regarding the lack of Oyster facilities at LHR-123
station.

I had one yesterday which was much the same as Mr Thant's. I also wondered
why they couldn't put up a few signs.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Efficiencey of TfL (was Sharing an Oyster PAYG)
 

In message , at 16:38:29
on Thu, 20 Nov 2008, remarked:
Which reminds me, I haven't had a reply from them about my
complaint regarding the lack of Oyster facilities at LHR-123
station.

I had one yesterday which was much the same as Mr Thant's.

aol

I also wondered why they couldn't put up a few signs.

Maybe they are on 10 week lead time too :(
--
Roland Perry