Maximum Journey – Oyster Fares Central

Updated Journey Times & OSIs

26/08/202108/09/2013 by Mike

I’ve recently received responses to two FOI requests which have provided useful information. The method of calculation of maximum journey times is now known where part of the journey is outside the zones numbered 1-9. The OSI list has also been updated with the only change being an increase to 30 minutes when walking from … Read more

New Page – An Oyster Rail Journey

26/08/202118/07/2013 by Mike

A new page has been added to the site today describing in detail what happens as you make a rail journey using Oyster. It’s very much a first draft based on my extensive experiences of using the system, but if anyone in the know spots an error or misunderstanding then I’ll happily update it.

2 for 1 errors checked

26/08/202117/12/2012 by Mike

On Saturday I went out with one of my kids to try and check out the maximum journey time bug on Whitechapel to Balham NR. While trying to avoid both cards getting two incomplete journeys I actually managed to replicate the touch out followed by touch in at an OSI gateline continues the journey problem. Oh dear!

Same station re-entry problems

26/08/202127/03/2012 by Mike

Several visitors have reported problems when touching out and back in again at the same station. The system tries to combine the two journeys into one, often resulting in a pair of incomplete journeys when you get back to your starting station. But if your journey included an OSI en-route then you may well end up out of the system altogether and be given a penalty fare!

Next Generation Oyster Cards?

26/08/202111/07/2011 by Mike

Tom Edwards has reported on his BBC blog that there are some changes in the pipeline to combat maximum fare overcharging. I have to start though by saying that the article title is possibly a bit misleading. I don’t think they are actually planning to replace all the Oyster cards in circulation.

The main thought seems to be that where people make a regular journey using PAYG and occasionally fail to touch out

A Visit To Finsbury Park

26/08/202116/03/2011 by Mike

Other travel during the day had almost applied an off-peak cap to my card so I took the opportunity to investigate reports of problems, both current and future, at Finsbury Park. Before I outline the full story though, the important message here is that at the moment you do NOT need to touch out or in if interchanging between Underground and National Rail. In fact, if you try to touch out you will hit serious problems.

As usual I started my journey at Crayford.

Changes for 2011

02/10/202108/12/2010 by Mike

Over the last few weeks details of several changes to the Oyster charging structure have been announced. The biggest changes are obviously the actual fares and you can now see what effect the review will have on your fare on the single fare finder on the TfL website. Some of the other changes are summarised below:

Maximum Journey Loophole

26/08/202103/07/2010 by Mike

I picked up this little gem on another website this week. If you have over run the maximum journey time by just a few minutes and you are at an out of station interchange then there might be a way out of the incomplete journey penalty. Thanks to Phil for allowing me to share his story: