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Hi
I want to travel from Woolwich to Slough on the Elizabeth Line. I have a 60+ Oyster Card. Do I need to leave the train at West Drayton to buy a paper ticket for the remainder of the journey from there, or is there the facility to pay for this stretch at Slough (and is this within the rules)?
Thank you
IanHi Ian,
You need a paper ticket (or equivalent) before you join the train at Woolwich. The 60+ Oyster is treated as a season ticket so the train doesn’t need to stop, nor are you penalised for not touching out. If there are no ticket facilities at Woolwich you could try Woolwich Arsenal, or purchase an e-ticket on your phone.
Hi Mike
There are ticket machines at Woolwich, but I doubt they’ll be able to sell me a ticket from West Drayton to Slough. In any case, I have seen how to buy a ticket on the GWR app.
Regards
IanYes, GWR app will do nicely. Just make sure you have it purchased before the train gets to West Drayton.
Hi Mike
Thanks, will do. I meant to say many thanks for your prompt initial response, by the way.
Regards
IanAs the owner of a 60+ Oyster card, you can go to any manned ticket office, where they should be able to sell you a ‘zone boundary to Slough ticket’. This is effectively a ticket from the Zone 6 boundary to Slough. This can then be used in conjunction with your 60+ Oyster, and if you run into a ticket check on the train they will accept this as a valid journey.
Hi meglos
Thanks. I’ve done exactly that when starting my journey from a National Rail station. The problem here is that Woolwich is Elizabeth Line / TfL only, so it doesn’t have a manned ticket office. As Mike suggests, I could try at the nearby Woolwich Arsenal station, but the tcket office there isn’t always open. I’ve decided to buy an e-ticket using GWR’s app, as this is the most convenient option.
Regards
IanSomthing I’ve noticed is that many of the local ticket machines (this in Croydon) provide for (Travelcard, &c, extension tickets) from Boundary Zone n to Wherever – indeed the (TfL) machines at West Croydon invite you to touch Travelcard (or Freedom pass in my case) against reader to deternine ‘n’ (6 for Freedom pass – I assume 60+ is the same). I would expect (or at least hope) that Woolwich ticket machines would do the same.
Two thoughts based based on @etr221’s comment
1/ I recall there being an ongoing pair of group action lawsuits aimed at train operators and other ticket sellers not making Boundary fares explicitly available through all sales channels (I think GTR was one of the operators being sued).
And websites don’t always allow boundary tickets to be bought, and certainly don’t do it in a consistent way. A spot check of a few: Nationalrail, thetrainline, Thameslink: NO. GWR: yes, search for zone/underground, Greateranglia yes zone/travelcard.
Note none of these prompt with anything useful if you put “boundary” as the search. Not at all satisfactory.
2/ @Mike seems like a lot of the questions on oysterfares forums recently are dealing with extension fares/edge cases for season travelcards/60+/zip/gold, etc. I wonder if the fare finder could start highlighting what is needed and where to buy for the more common examples e.g. the ends of the Elizabeth line and other special fare zones (contactless not oyster, Gatwick/Luton/Southend airports) , and maybe a “flowchart”/”Wizzard” type experience for boundary fares on national rail more generally.
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