I’ve come across a special promotion on the National Rail Enquiries website where adult Oystercard holders (and Freedom Pass holders) can escape from London for very low fares. £5 will get you a day return to many places just outside London while £20 will get you a saver return to places like Cardiff, Liverpool and Great Yarmouth. First Class fares are also available.
Travel one more stop and pay less!
It’s official, travelling a stop further on than you need to can actually reduce the fare you are charged! Following on from the recent story about the missing route validator at Surrey Quays, this morning I went from Crayford to Honor Oak Park via New Cross and Canada Water.
London Bridge OSI fixed
The possibility of proving two points in one trip proved too hard to resist today, so once again I ventured out on the trains. On the way back I exited via the Southern gateline at London Bridge and re-entered via the Southeastern gateline. This time the system correctly charged me just one journey, so it … Read more
An Unusual Refund
A couple of weeks ago I had a surprising email from Transport for London. It told me that I was due a refund of £4 because of an ‘operational issue’. It said that the refund was ready to be picked up from London Bridge Underground station. This was just the start of a whole new discovery.
TfL forget ELL route validator
The East London Line has re-opened and from this Sunday (23rd May) will provide direct services from Dalston Junction to West Croydon and Crystal Palace. That’s great, but there’s a vital piece of equipment missing at Surrey Quays if you change there when travelling between New Cross and New Cross Gate.
Don’t use the bus (part 2)
I’ve had a reply to my letter about breaking an OSI by using a bus. The person answering the letter has not understood what I was trying to say, so I’ve sent back an email reply explaining it in a different way. At least this letter has been answered, unlike the earlier ones concerning the … Read more
Don’t Use The Bus!
I’ve managed to break the oyster system again! I’ll admit that this time it was a deliberate attempt to try something out-of-the-ordinary, but not impossible. I was returning from Balham to Crayford and I changed at New Cross Gate to avoid using zone 1. It was raining, so rather than walk
The Double Journey (Part 4)
To complete the picture I tried one more time to use the concourse at London Bridge while exiting from Southeastern (P1-6) and entering to Southern (P8-16). Again I was charged for two journeys. Whilst I await a response from either ATOC or the Oyster Helpline I have flagged these two OSIs as not working on … Read more
The Double Journey (Part 3)
Well, the explanation from ATOC seemed to make sense, but in fact it was incorrect. Yesterday I made another journey from Crayford to Norwood Junction. Just for variety I tried travelling via Victoria on the outward journey because engineering works meant that the trains from Dartford were diverted via Sidcup. It all worked correctly this time, until I came to go home.
The Double Journey (Part 2)
There have been some more developments with the double journey I made at the beginning of the month. I wrote to the fares correspondant at Rail Magazine, Barry Doe, and he managed to get a reply from a contact at the association of train operating companies. To cut a long and complicated story short, I made the mistake of following out-dated signage at London Bridge and confused the system.