It is with some dismay that I have to report that TfL do not appear to be coping well with preventing overcharging at stations where one-way systems are in operation. I’m aware of issues at both Woolwich Arsenal and Finsbury Park. The problem is mainly associated with Oyster or zip cards. As I understand it, an emergency setting has to be made each day to allow Oyster cards to keep a journey open when passengers have to leave the station and re-enter at a different entrance. For contactless the setting is permanent in the back office. The station setting seems to be a bit hit and miss. I’d urge anyone using the interchanges at either station to check journey history and complain to the helpdesk if they have been overcharged.
One way system updates
Finsbury Park: A semi permanent EOSI has been set up so that NR to LU journeys should now be joined together. I’m told that this arrangement is expected to last until October at the earliest. Woolwich Arsenal: Disappointingly I noticed that the connection between NR and DLR was closed again last night. I hope that … Read more
Child Fare Changes
Ever since the announcement that the bailout of TfL during lockdown came with conditions, including the end of free travel for under 18s, there has been an enormous amount of misinformation pedalled by media and politicians. The LibDems started a campaign to reverse the changes despite the fact that they still haven’t been actioned. The i-news explained how children up to 15 enjoyed free travel on the tube – oh no they don’t! My London also believed that the changes had already been made, and I’m sure many other news outlets fell for the same poor journalism.
The facts are that as usual with this incompetent government, an idea was put forward and agreed without any understanding of the complexity involved in implimenting it.
Broken Interchange at Finsbury Park
My attention has been drawn to the social distancing one-way system at Finsbury Park which has broken the out-of-station interchange in some cases when changing between National Rail and the Underground. Access to the National Rail platforms is currently only from the bus station entrance. Exit from the Underground is also to the bus station, … Read more
Overcharging at Woolwich Arsenal
It’s been brought to my attention that the connection between the NR station and DLR station at Woolwich Arsenal has been closed since June 16th. Passengers wishing to change between the two stations have to exit one and walk along the street to the other entrance. Of course touching out and back in again causes … Read more
Aldgate – Aldgate East OSI
After goodness knows how many suggestions TfL have finally given in and implemented a new OSI between Aldgate and Aldgate East Underground stations. There is a little confusion about the start date – it was either today (14th) or Tuesday (16th), so I’ll add it to the list on Tuesday to be safe. The allowance … Read more
Free child fares and freedom pass rules
There has understandably been a lot of media interest in the instruction from government telling TfL to abandon free bus travel for under 18s. Unfortunately some sections of the media seem to think that it’s happened already. It hasn’t. TfL are currently in discussions with the DfT about how it can be implimented and what … Read more
Blackfriars – An ‘unhelpful’ OSI
With thanks to Chris for spotting this, there is a problem using the OSI between platforms 2-4 and platform 1 at the north end of Blackfriars NR station. If the journey being made is entirely on National Rail the system will instead charge as if you’ve used the Underground as well. Fortunately there is a … Read more
Capping to Reading, Luton Airport etc
Last month (April 20th) TfL quietly switched on capping for contactless only stations. I say quietly because with only essential travel being undertaken at the moment it is unlikely that anyone is actually reaching the caps. They also confirmed that since January 2nd 2020 anyone who exceeded the relevant caps from those stations will have received an automatic refund.
Mayor seeks reversal of under 18 fares
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has written to the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, asking him to reconsider the instruction to remove free bus travel from under 18s. The letter has been made public and is reproduced here.