As anyone who reads this site regularly already knows, the Oyster fares system is ridiculously complicated. There are odd scenarios, particularly in the afternoon peak, where it can be cheaper to finish a journey in zone 1 than at the zone 2 station beforehand. However, this evening I’ve found a case where the cheapest route varies depending on the time of day you travel.
General News
Stratford moves to zone 2/3
Today’s announcement on 2016 fares has also confirmed the news that Stratford will move to the zone 2/3 boundary from Jan 2nd 2016. In fact, the whole of the DLR/Jubilee line between Stratford International and Canning Town will move so that all direct journeys from Central London to Stratford can be made without using zone … Read more
Oyster to Hertford East
Another extension of the Oyster system has come onstream today with the stations between Broxbourne and Hertford East added into the same zone as Broxbourne. This time the fares have been added to the single fare finder and the National Rail fares pages on the TfL site, although at the time of writing the adult fares page seems to have been replaced by the railcard fares version.
Dartford finally appears on the SFF.
It’s only taken 23 days, but finally you can look up Oyster fares from Dartford on the single fare finder. The zonal map will sadly not be changed until later in the year.
Geographical Rail Map
A new geographical map of London’s railways has been released by TfL in response to a freedom of information request. The request strangely appears to be from last September, hence the map is a little out of date in terms of who runs what. It does include future plans, some of which are yet to materialise, so it’s still useful. The map is a large PDF file
Dartford in zone 8 from Sunday
TfL have now confirmed that Dartford will be in zone 8 from Sunday 6th September. The previously predicted fares have been confirmed apart from the through fare to Underground in zone 1 (the zone 2 fare was wrong but has been corrected). The PAYG fares offer considerable savings over paper tickets for a single fare … Read more
Oyster at Dartford
The Southeastern website confirms that Oyster will be accepted at Dartford from Sunday September 6th. It doesn’t list any fares, and customer services can’t confirm them either, but a little digging through the new fares database reveals that these are likely to be the adult fares:
Oyster at Stratford International
Oyster and Contactless PAYG are now accepted for travel on Southeastern High Speed services between St Pancras and Stratford International stations. The fare charged is a special fare, like those for the Emirates cable car and the Thames Clipper riverboats and it does not count towards any daily caps. It will also split any longer … Read more
New Hackney Interchange
Thanks in part to Noel and PC for spotting this. I visited the stations at Hackney Central and Downs last night and spoke with staff. The new link is due to open in the summer and will provide a direct walkway from Platform 1 at Hackney Downs to Platform 2 at Hackney Central. There will … Read more
New fares for Greater Anglia services
Details have been announced about the new Oyster fares from Liverpool Street starting on May 31st. TfL zonal fares will apply to all services between Liverpool Street and Cheshunt, Chingford or Harold Wood except where the TfL rate is higher than the old NR rate. Some fares, particularly off-peak outside zone 1, will be higher … Read more