Earlier today I travelled to the Excell Centre via Woolwich Arsenal and was surprised to see a pink route validator has appeared on platform 2 (Southeastern towards Dartford) where the access to the DLR platforms is. I touched on it in both directions and it certainly seems to be working. It was surprising because I called the helpdesk yesterday to ask whether there was one there and they said that there wasn’t. The reason that it’s important is because the Oyster system makes a wrong assumption when travelling from Crayford or Bexley to somewhere like Custom House. Rather than using the rounder service direct to Woolwich via Slade Green it assumes that you travel to Lewisham and then on the DLR via Canary Wharf. The trouble is that that involves travel in zone 2 while Woolwich Arsenal to Canning Town and back to Custom House doesn’t get further in than zone 3. It’s not a lot of money, but the principle that counts.
So, Woolwich Arsenal was obviously one of the new locations that was hinted at in my recent email from TfL; I wonder where else we’ll see them pop up. If anyone sees any pink validators at stations not on the list on this site, please do add a comment so I can keep it up to date.