Today sees the start of through running from the wider National Rail network into the EL core section. In the vast majority of cases this means that you will no longer need to change at Paddington or Liverpool Street. Services from Reading and Heathrow Airport will run through to Abbey Wood, while services from Shenfield … Read more

In readiness for the opening of Bond Street Elizabeth Line station on Monday there is a new OSI linking it with Oxford Circus Underground station.  This will provide a link between the Elizabeth Line and the Victoria Line, and an alternative interchange to Paddington for the Bakerloo Line.  The time allowed is the usual 20 … Read more

Beyond zones 1-9 the daily and weekly caps for contactless PAYG are usually set at the same rates as the outboundary travelcards (Anytime, Off-peak and Weekly) to zones 1-6.  This is because using contactless is marketed as a convenience rather than value for money. Note that there are exceptions where Oyster is also available because … Read more

Not much usually changes in either the May or September fare revisions, at least as far as Oyster and contactless is concerned. This year has been very different. Some of the changes have been mentioned in earlier posts, but I’ll repeat them here along with other details which weren’t publicised in advance. Oyster card fee … Read more

In a bit of a sneaky underhand move, GTR have silently increased the price of using the Gatwick Express and doubling back to Horley, Salfords, Earlswood or Redhill. This will now cost the same as the full Gatwick Express single, £20.60.

Two significant changes are being made to PAYG fares and Oyster card fees from tomorrow, September 4th 2022. Fares to any Heathrow station, either Underground or Elizabeth line, will become peak all day if the journey starts in or travels through zone 1. There will be no change if the journey avoids zone 1; and … Read more

Significant changes have been made to the fare scales this year. Firstly, in March the special NR fares from Dartford and Swanley were abolished and incorporated into the standard NR fare scale for the late adopting operators. Secondly, the special fares for Anglia journeys ending at Liverpool Street NR became redundant at the same time. … Read more

Tomorrow (18th July) sees the opening of the new Barking Riverside station, at the end of the extension to the Gospel Oak to Barking line. While it’s tempting to go along and see what it’s like, I will be refraining from travel until later in the week in line with advice from both TfL and … Read more

A new entrance to Hackney Central has been opened on the Highbury bound platform from Graham Road. This means that many passengers joining or alighting from trains now no longer need to use the footbridge to enter or exit from the station. The new entrance is not step free (there wasn’t really any room), but … Read more

Rounding up some old news I can confirm that contactless PAYG went live at Bourne End, Cookham, Furze Platt and Marlow on Sunday 22nd May.  The news wasn’t particularly broadcast by GWR at the time, and TfL were concentrating on the opening of the Elizabeth line two days later. The fares to these stations are … Read more