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The whole pink reader thing is so inconsistent. Take these examples:
Touch in East Finchley, travel via Northern Line and Jubilee line to Canada Water, touch pink reader at Canada Water, take Overground (Windrush) to Queens Road Peckham or Peckham Rye, touch out. Peak fare £3.70/off peak £3.
Touch in East Finchley, travel via Northern Line and Jubilee line to Canada Water, touch pink reader at Canada Water, take Overground (Windrush) to Denmark Hill, touch out. Peak fare £6.30/off peak £5.20.
If you use the same route East Finchley-Canada Water-Windrush to Forest Hill the default fares are £3.70/ £3 and you don’t even have to touch the pink reader at Canada Water.
Denmark Hill is the same zone as QRP, PMR, and Forest Hill so it makes absolutely no sense that the cheaper fares are available to stations either side of Denmark Hill (Forest Hill is further down the same line) but not Denmark Hill itself.
The thing is, even TFL don’t really know what’s what with the pink readers. When I asked Customer Services about the discrepancy with the Denmark Hill fare I just got a “the cheaper fares aren’t available to DH” response. When I asked why, given that the cheaper fare is available to stations either side of DH I got a “we don’t know”! BUT, when my wife queried it separately, she got a refund of the difference between the £3.70 and £6.30 fares and a £10 goodwill credit to her Oyster!
It’s really quite bizarre.
Hi Michael,
This is the secondary usage of pink readers, to say you’ve only used TfL services instead of you’ve avoided zone 1. As with all journeys, a decision has been made on the liklihood that people will take any specific route. In the case of Denmark Hill I agree with TfL that you’re far more likely to stay on the Northern line to Clapham North and then use the Windrush line from Clapham High Street as it’s a shorter route and only one change of trains. In the case of the Forest Hill line they clearly reckon that Underground/Underground/Windrush is the most likely route, and the alternative via London Bridge can be identified by the interchange there, so they don’t mandate the pink readers at Whitechapel etc.
You may find they add Denmark Hill as a result of your query, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they decide it’s not worthwhile.
Hi Mike. Right, I see (I think!) But surely, if touching a pink reader shows you’ve only used TFL services then touching one at CW and then touching out at DH proves that and the cheaper fare should apply. There are some journeys where the single fare finder gives you two or three different routes where touching the pink reader will get you the cheaper fare, so I don’t understand why there’s only one way of getting the cheaper fare to DH (via Clapham North and Clapham HS).
Hi Michael,
It’s because every route has to be set up in the system to be charged. They haven’t put via Canada Water etc in as a valid route between East Finchley and Denmark Hill, so the system charges the default fare.
I hope that makes sense.
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