Reply To: Engineering work closing West Croydon the coming Sunday – fare advice needed

I have just contacted my MP about the issue of TfL inflation-busting fare increase and engineering work fares.

In the meantime, I have also received communication from Southeastern about the planned engineering works closing their London terminals, and they have mentioned that the will offer refund if I have to use Oyster / contactless to complete my journey which will result in being charged.

London Underground
You can travel on any reasonable route on the London Underground between London Bridge, Waterloo, Victoria, Blackfriars, Cannon Street, Elephant and Castle and Embankment.

Most paper tickets will be accepted at TfL ticket gates. However, eTickets, sTickets and Smartcards will not be recognised. To help with this, we’ll have additional staff at London Underground station entrances to manually check and validate tickets where needed. If you’re charged, you can claim a refund.

Unfortunately, it isn’t practical to have Southeastern staff at every London Underground station to check tickets. If your ticket isn’t accepted and you’re charged, you can claim a refund.

If your journey via a reasonable route isn’t covered by the ticket acceptance we have in place or you use Contactless or Oyster and you’ve been charged, you can claim a refund. See refund policy below.

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Refund
Refunds for all ticket types and for travel via reasonable alternative routes can be claimed using our dedicated form, which has been designed to make the process as straightforward as possible. The claim form will be available from Sunday 26 July.

Please be aware that proof of travel will be needed, and you must show receipts.

If using Contactless or Oyster you need to register your card on the TfL Go app to receive receipts.

What I understand on the above text is that, if I use Oyster / contactless to travel to Charing Cross, I will have to switch to the Underground and I will be charged the corresponding fare as a result; however, a claim form will be available so that I can submit my receipt showing my Oyster journey to Charing Cross to receive a refund.