Oyster card / Travelcard question

Scam · 25 Nov 2009 at 13:32

I used to use PAYG on my Oyster to travel between z1-3 but I have since started getting a Travelcard. A quick question really; what happens if I dont touch out at the end of a journey? I don't get charged do I, as technically it's a valid ticket, like a season ticket?

Reason being; I am going on a national rail service from Paddington to Reading and would like to buy my national rail ticket for Ealing Broadway (zone 3) to Reading. So my Oyster would cover me for Paddington - EB, and my train ticket would cover me from EB - Reading. The problem being that I'm not going to hop off the train at EB to touch out my Oyster. Will I get charged a full cash fare for not touching out? :confused:

Also, does anyone know if by doing this I could get on a non-stop service to Reading? I've called the train operator and they seemed to think not (but I dont generally believe anything they say). They told me I'd have to get on a train that stopped at EB.

Thanks!

Vonhelmet · 25 Nov 2009 at 13:41

They'll think you're still down there and will send out a search party at night.

Tunney · 25 Nov 2009 at 13:41

If you've got a travelcard, you don't need to touch out. I've got a zones 1-3 season ticket and I'm only ever charged more if I touch in/out in zones > 3.

csmager · 25 Nov 2009 at 13:42

Touch in/out is only important for pay as you go. I've had a Z12 travelcard for the last two years, and I never tap out whenever the barriers are already open on the way in or out. And i've never been charged.

Fairly sure you'd get away with doing as you suggest - I'm sure a friend of mine has done something similar a few times.

Indy500 · 25 Nov 2009 at 13:47

Why don't you just touch out at West Drayton, and buy the ticket for that segment? Or is it more expensive? (I haven't checked)

I know that the inner London mainline stations (such as Richmond) have internal oyster readers on the platform for people changing between PAYG and national rail, don't remember if Ealing Broadway has them as I don't get off there myself.

uvarvu · 25 Nov 2009 at 14:22

Things will get more complicated from January, especially around the area of oyster extension permits.

You might want to read this.

krooton · 25 Nov 2009 at 14:27

Buy your ticket to Reading at Paddington and tell them you have a Zone 3 travel card, and the ticket cost will be reduced accordingly.

I know this as I frequently travelled to Woking from Waterloo with a 1-2 Monthly oyster.

Rich_L · 25 Nov 2009 at 14:28

krooton said:
Buy your ticket to Reading at Paddington and tell them you have a Zone 3 travel card, and the ticket cost will be reduced accordingly.

I know this as I frequently travelled to Woking from Waterloo with a 1-2 Monthly oyster.

This

You will be given a ticket from 'Zone 3 to Reading'

Scam · 25 Nov 2009 at 15:21

sr4470 said:
I know that the inner London mainline stations (such as Richmond) have internal oyster readers on the platform for people changing between PAYG and national rail, don't remember if Ealing Broadway has them as I don't get off there myself.

It does but I'm not risking jumping off the train, touching out and running back on before it leaves! By the replies here it sounds like I dont need to touch out though, so that's all good.

uvarvu said:
Things will get more complicated from January, especially around the area of oyster extension permits.

You might want to read this.

I'm going to have to read that a good few times before I understand even half of it. That's so complicated!

krooton said:
Buy your ticket to Reading at Paddington and tell them you have a Zone 3 travel card, and the ticket cost will be reduced accordingly.

Ah, so there's no need to tell them EB to Reading? I wonder which works out cheaper though. If I do this can I get on a non-stop train or do you always need to be on one that stops in zone 3 / EB? :confused:

EDIT: krooton are you sure that works for zone 3? nationalrail.co.uk and thetrainline.com come up with zones 1 and 2 in the station list but not zone 3 :confused:

krooton · 25 Nov 2009 at 15:44

Scam said:
EDIT: krooton are you sure that works for zone 3? nationalrail.co.uk and thetrainline.com come up with zones 1 and 2 in the station list but not zone 3

Yes.

You have to buy your ticket at a cashier, tell them you have a monthly oyster, they should scan it to verify, and discount the ticket accordingly.

Indy500 · 25 Nov 2009 at 16:17

Having read the discussion on that blog, it does seem easier and safer to buy a paper ticket

Rich_L · 25 Nov 2009 at 16:35

All the complication is about pay as you go, travelcards are very simple.

*edit*

Spoke too soon

Jeez those permits sound daft!

Indy500 · 25 Nov 2009 at 16:44

Rich_L said:
All the complication is about pay as you go, travelcards are very simple.

*edit*

Spoke too soon Jeez those permits sound daft!

The thing is, he can already use Oyster PAYG between Paddington and Ealing Broadway (all the way to West Drayton, which is the last station within a London zone on that route). However that's if he touches out within the zones.

Rich_L · 25 Nov 2009 at 16:45

sr4470 said:
If you pay the 50 pence more for a paper travelcard within the London zones (assuming a daily one) it would remove the issue entirely

Pth, and be stuck faffing around every day with the machines? Oyster ***! (at least until now..lol)

Indy500 · 25 Nov 2009 at 16:47

Rich_L said:
Pth, and be stuck faffing around every day with the machines? Oyster ***! (at least until now..lol)

Sorry I edited that post just now

realised straight after posting that a travelcard would be somewhat more just for that rail journey, due to Paddington being zone 1.

Don't understand why you're required to touch out when you've already paid for the Oyster-based travelcard upfront though..

Scam · 25 Nov 2009 at 17:01

sr4470 said:
Don't understand why you're required to touch out when you've already paid for the Oyster-based travelcard upfront though..

You're not, hence me being able to stay on the train when it pulls into EB.

Indy500 · 25 Nov 2009 at 17:23

Scam said:
You're not, hence me being able to stay on the train when it pulls into EB.

The talk of OEPs on that link suggest this won't be possible for much longer.

IIRC, doesn't the 'fast' train avoid all stations enroute to Reading entirely? You wouldn't be able to leave in the first place.

Scam · 25 Nov 2009 at 17:38

sr4470 said:
IIRC, doesn't the 'fast' train avoid all stations enroute to Reading entirely? You wouldn't be able to leave in the first place.

I don't think I would be able to get on a direct train when splitting the tickets. This is what I'm trying to find out! I'd obviously much rather get on a fast train.

Indy500 · 25 Nov 2009 at 17:49

Scam said:
I don't think I would be able to get on a direct train when splitting the tickets. This is what I'm trying to find out! I'd obviously much rather get on a fast train.

Well the next fastest still stops at Ealing, Hayes and West Drayton before leaving the zonal boundary. After that you'd have to change at Slough to avoid further stops before Reading.

Scam · 26 Nov 2009 at 22:14

Well that was fun. After myself and my girlfriend both ringing FGW, her the Ntl Rail Enquiries, me TfL.. we finally have an answer of how we're supposed to do this.

As posted here, I've got myself a Zone 3 to Reading ticket. My girlfriend has a Ntl Rail monthly ticket between EB and Paddington so she has bought a EB - Reading ticket. They were both the same price.

As for travelling on the peak trains; we can't. Because even though our season tickets would allow it, we'd be on a peak train within a portion of our journey that is covered by our purchased tickets (i.e. not our season tickets). So we have to get on an off peak train.

As for getting on a direct train; the guy at Paddington that sold us the tickets told us we would have to get on a train that stops at EB. This contradicted what my girlfriend had been told on the phone, so we asked when we got back to EB. Sure enough we can. The guy was actually very helpful and took out the National Rail Conditions of Carriage.

19. Using a combination of tickets

You may use two or more tickets for one journey as long as together they cover the entire journey and one of the following applies:
(a) they are both Zonal Tickets (unless special conditions prohibit their use);
(b) the train you are in calls at the station where you change from one ticket to
another; or
(c) one of the tickets is a Season Ticket (which for this purpose does not include Season
Tickets or travel passes issued on behalf of a passenger transport executive or
local authority) or a leisure travel pass, and the other ticket(s) is/are not.

I thought this might be interesting/useful for anyone that wanted to know for sure