There has been a problem with Oyster Capping dating back to January 2010 when PAYG was rolled out across all Greater London rail services and extended to cover the Grays area in Essex. This has finally been addressed (fixed would be doing a lot of heavy lifting) although the Grays area has not yet taken advantage.
Brief explanation of the problem
The Oyster system is designed to work in concentric zones, starting with 1 in the centre of London and allowing up to 15 zones in total. For each passenger type (adult, 11-15, railcard etc) there are three caps (weekly, anytime and off-peak) for each combination of zones. Anytime and off-peak caps are only set for zones 1-X with each additional zone’s caps being at least the same and usually more that the lower numbered zone. This works well for zones 1-9, but beyond that zones have been allocated for specific extensions. Sadly political expediency trumped over the design of the system.
So, Watford Junction became zone 10 (sometimes called W) when Overground took over the Silverlink sevices from Euston. Grays was added to zone 10 because the travelcards were similar to the Watford ones that already existed for that zone. Broxbourne to Hertford East was allocated zone 11 and the same zone was used for most stations to Hertford North, Potters Bar and Radlett when they joined. Zone 12 went to Shenfield in preparation for the Elizabeth line, 13 took in stations between Merstham and Horley with 14 for Gatwick Airport. The extension to Epsom (as well as Cuffley on the Hertford North line) was put in zone 9 but this was not heavily advertised. While the daily caps for zone 9 were a little less than the travelcard prices, the weekly caps were much more expensive.
What’s Changed?
First off, Epsom and Cuffley have been moved into zone 10. This means that Oyster cards will initially apply higher caps. They will eventually be reduced to the intended level relevant to the travelcard prices from the two stations.
You may recall that a few weeks ago I reported that all Oyster cards are now put through the back-office system, and if any overcharges have been made due to the different method of calculating caps on the fly then credits are queued to be refunded when the card is next used. See this article for more details about how it works. I should have guessed at the time that there was more to it than just a few adjustments. Now it’s clear what that was, it’s to adjust higher caps down to a level desired by the train company, without being tied to rigid zonal caps. It also applies to all Oyster cards now, from zip 5-10 upwards. These changes all came into effect in December 2025, but without any publicity.
So, let’s say that you live in Epsom and make a journey to Oxford Circus via Victoria after 09:30. You’ll be charged £8.30. After a day of shopping you return the same way between 1600-1900 and are charged £11.20. The total charge of £19.50 will be deducted from your PAYG balance, but overnight a £1.50 credit will be raised to take account of the £18.00 off-peak cap. This will be added to the card the next time you travel, either on touch in (if in the next 3 days) or touch out (if later). I have to say that the whole concept of overcharging and refunding is not ideal, especially as occasional users may not get their refund, or even realise that it’s due. This is why I called the issue “addressed” rather than “fixed”.
Full Details (for Adults)
The table below shows the adult caps for every station which accepts Oyster outside zone 9. The same relative differences apply to other discounted fare types (eg zip 11-15, railcard etc). There is one piece of good news for Epsom and Cuffley travellers which is that the very generous off-peak fares and caps for zip 5-10 and zip 11-15 cards have been retained from when they were in zone 9. Obviously, discounted fares and caps will not be charged on contactless cards and devices, but the overnight adjustments will still happen for zip and Oyster cards.
| Zone | Station | Oyster Anytime Cap | Contactless Anytime Cap | Anytime Day Travelcard | Oyster Off-peak Cap | Contactless Off-peak Cap | Off-peak Day Travelcard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Bayford | £32.30 | £29.70 | £30.60 | £24.50 | £23.50 | £24.20 |
| 11 | Broxbourne | £32.30 | £32.30 | £32.30 | £24.50 | £24.50 | £24.50 |
| 10 | Chafford Hundred | £32.30 | £32.30 | £27.00 | £24.10 | £24.10 | £23.00 |
| 10 | Cuffley | £32.30 | £26.20 | £27.00 | £24.10 | £19.30 | £19.90 |
| 13 | Earlswood | £40.00 | £36.00 | £37.10 | £26.80 | £20.00 | £20.60 |
| 10 | Epsom | £32.30 | £27.80 | £28.60 | £24.10 | £18.00 | £18.50 |
| 14 | Gatwick Airport | £40.80 | £40.80 | £42.00 | £26.80 | £24.10 | £23.20 |
| 10 | Grays | £32.30 | £32.30 | £27.00 | £24.10 | £24.10 | £23.00 |
| 11 | Hertford East | £32.30 | £32.30 | £32.30 | £24.50 | £24.50 | £24.50 |
| 11 | Hertford North | £32.30 | £31.00 | £31.90 | £24.50 | £23.90 | £24.40 |
| 13 | Horley | £40.00 | £36.00 | £37.10 | £26.80 | £20.00 | £20.60 |
| 13 | Merstham | £40.00 | £35.90 | £37.00 | £26.80 | £20.00 | £20.60 |
| 10 | Ockendon | £32.30 | £32.30 | £27.00 | £24.10 | £24.10 | £23.00 |
| 11 | Potters Bar | £32.30 | £30.80 | £31.60 | £24.50 | £19.40 | £19.90 |
| 10 | Purfleet | £32.30 | £32.30 | £27.00 | £24.10 | £24.10 | £23.00 |
| 11 | Radlett | £32.30 | £31.90 | £32.80 | £24.50 | £20.90 | £21.50 |
| 13 | Redhill | £40.00 | £36.00 | £37.10 | £26.80 | £20.00 | £20.60 |
| 11 | Rye House | £32.30 | £32.30 | £32.30 | £24.50 | £24.50 | £24.50 |
| 13 | Salfords | £40.00 | £36.00 | £37.10 | £26.80 | £20.00 | £20.60 |
| 12 | Shenfield | £40.00 | £40.00 | £40.00 | £26.80 | £26.80 | £26.80 |
| 11 | St Margarets | £32.30 | £32.30 | £32.30 | £24.50 | £24.50 | £24.50 |
| 11 | Ware | £32.30 | £32.30 | £32.30 | £24.50 | £24.50 | £24.50 |
| 10 | Watford Junction | £32.30 | £32.30 | £32.30 | £24.10 | £24.10 | £24.10 |
In summary, stations controlled by Greater Thameslink Railway all have caps below those charged on Oyster, and below the associated day travelcard, with the exception of Gatwick Airport where something appears to have gone wrong with the off-peak cap. Stations controlled by Greater Anglia and London Northwestern Railway all have identical caps and day travelcards. For the Grays area on c2c you are better off getting a day travelcard as it currently stands.
I hope that in time some of the other stations will get the benefit of this arrangement, especially the poor Grays area stations which have been waiting for over 16 years now.