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On Saturday 18th I travelled Slough to Stratford and returned later that day. GWR to Paddington then Elizabeth Line to Stratford out; and Elizabeth Line all the way back.
My fare (and my wife’s) has been capped at £18.90 which I can’t understand – all I read suggests it should be £22.40.
Am I missing something?
(Actually currently TfL have charged me 37.80 by billing the card on both Sunday and Monday, but that’s a different matter.)
Hi Stephen,
You will have been charged a zone 1-2 cap and two extension fares between Slough and zone 3. Unfortunately neither TfL nor the train companies will publish what these extension fares are, so it’s all a bit of guesswork. The uncapped off-peak single fare is just £10, so you would not have been charged more than £20. However, it looks like the single from Slough to zone 3 is £5, with the zone 1-2 cap at £8.90. But that extension fare is expensive when you realise that Slough to Ealing Broadway off-peak is only £4.50.
I am slightly more interested in your throwaway comment about being charged twice. Have TfL admitted they claimed the fares twice, or have you queried it with your bank? I wonder how widespread it is.
Thanks – that makes sense but, as you say, rather difficult to know what the correct cap/fare should be.
My focus was really only drawn to the figures by the charging issue, and I was intrigued as the quoted cap seemed odd.
I used contactless via a debit card on my phone. Saturday’s travel was successfully debited on Sunday, but a second attempt to charge me on Sunday was rejected by my bank. On Monday a third attempt was made which showed as Pending for a while but has now been finalised, so two successful charges.
Now it’s been finalised I explored a challenge via the bank but they require an attempt at resolution with the merchant first.
My TfL contactless statement shows a warning that I’ve been charged for outstanding fares – it appears TfL’s system failed to record the successful Sunday morning payment, hence the 2nd and 3rd attempts.
I’ve contacted them and await a response within the 10-day promised timeframe.
My wife similarly had a second Pending payment on her credit card for a couple of days but hers has disappeared (for now) without finalisation.
Well, this is getting a little concerning. In addition to you, a member of another site that I belong to has reported issues with payments being blocked, cards being stopped and potential double charges. And now it appears that my wife has a pending transaction from Thursday that hasn’t yet been finalised. I’m making enquiries.
Is it possible for you to post your full journey history and full payment history for the day(s) in question? Obviously black out any identifying information. I’m trying to get people to look into these issues, but it appears that they are one-offs so the team need specific information to investigate.
No problem.
Saturday 18 July 2026
1135 touch in at Slough (debit card with Starling bank account, on Android phone)
change at Paddington – did not touch out of National Rail
1201 touch in at Paddington (Elizabeth Line)
1229 touch out at Stratford [all barriers were open]1625 touch in at Stratford [all barriers were open]
1737 touch out at SloughBank transactions:
Saturday 18/7 11:39 £0.10 “Pending Google Wallet”, still showing at this time
Sunday 19/7 03:46 £18.90 “TfL”
I received a notification on my phone on Sunday of my bank rejecting a second attempted transaction for £18.90
Monday 20/7 06:34 £18.90 “TfL”My TfL Contactless account statement shows a single payment, dated 20/7 for £18.90, labelled “Outstanding fares paid”. No other transaction showing for July.
As mentioned, I challenged TfL but they asked me to wait 10 working days. Having waited the requested 10 working days, I’ve put in a fresh request for a refund on the duplicated payment, and await a response.
As I mentioned on 24/7, my wife travelled with me and used a NatWest credit card on her Android phone. She was charged £18.90, and had a second £18.90 listed as pending for several days before it disappeared – TfL’s response to my initial query showed that this is what they expected to happen with my journey/charging, but not yet at any rate.
Let me know if there’s any further info that could be helpful.
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