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I was just browsing the Single Fare Finder, when I noticed that for Ewell West <-> Ewell East, one of the alternative routes is “Via Zone 1 using National Rail services only” (zones 1-6 NR scale).
What exact taps will that be looking for? I can’t quite work out any sensible routes which go via z1 using NR only, which involves intermediate taps. The only one I can think of is
EWW
SWR -> WAT
osi to WAE
SE -> LBG
SN -> EWE, which involves an OSI at WAT->WAE.
I’d struggle to say this route is sensible and that anyone would use it?
Moreover, why is this an explicit alternative route? Even if it weren’t shown as an alternative route, I would assume the behaviour would still be the same if there was an osi at WAT->WAE, since the later taps in the same journey after an OSI/CE cannot retroactively “reduce” the fare.
Thanks 🙂
There is an OSI between Waterloo and Waterloo East, so that is pretty much the best example for that fare.
When the Oyster fares were originally set up for the 2010 expansion of PAYG there were a lot of redundant routes put in just in case. In those days pretty much all Oyster fares were solely within zones 1-9 (only Watford Junction and Grays existed beyond that). I agree that in this specific example routes going beyond Wimbledon are pretty pointless. If someone really did want to go from West to East they would probably buy a ticket via Epsom, or take the bus.
Thanks. Surely back then, Epsom was still in zone 9? That only got moved very very recently.
For Ewell West<->East. The cheapest paper ticket option is actually a split ticket (unsurprisingly splitting at Epsom). But PAYG is still marginally cheaper (15p difference for adult, and 5p difference for railcard). Since Epsom is within the Oyster zone, am I right in saying it’s perfectly legal to use Oyster for the sensible (via Epsom) route?
Epsom was only added to the Oyster system in the last 3-4 years. Before that it was completely outside. As I’ll be explaining properly soon, Epsom was never supposed to be officially in zone 9, but technically it was put there to enable capping of some sort when Oyster was rolled out there.
Yes indeed, you are always valid with an Oyster card within the Oyster area.
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