Thanks for the update, Vincent. I actually sent my own query to GA on the basis that I also have a 60+ Oyster card. The initial response claimed that customer relations didn’t have enough information because the 60+ isn’t a GA product. The advisor said they’d forwarded my query to a manager. Let’s hope I get the right response next time.

<Sigh>

If you were using the 60+ Oyster to travel to Shenfield on a Greater Anglia service and didn’t have any other ticket then they would be correct (unless the train called at Romford). But the 60+ Oyster, like the London Freedom Pass, is an off-peak zone 1-6 travelcard and the usual rules apply about combining with other tickets. As long as you have a ticket valid from the boundary of zone 6 then you are absolutely fine.

I suggest you write again stating that:

• You know that the 60+ Oyster cannot be used on its own to Shenfield
• You are sure that if a Greater Anglia train called at Romford that it would be valid to use all the way to Romford on a Greater Anglia service (cite the xx23 and xx53 departures from Liverpool Street on a Sunday).
• You are also certain that when combined with another ticket valid from the boundary of zone 6, the 60+ Oyster is as valid as a London Travelcard providing that travel is not before 0930 on weekdays.

Hi Vincent,

No it isn’t. Between Harold Wood and Shenfield the 60+ Oyster is only valid on Elizabeth line services.

Ok, I’ve recreated this tonight, so it’s definitely not something you’ve done wrong. I’ll also be chasing up a refund.

I’m not quite sure what happened to your other post either, but it isn’t showing as a duplicate.

I think that this will be down to what is actually stored as the extension fare from Windsor to boundary of zone 3. This is one aspect of the PAYG system that is sadly lacking, as it isn’t publicly available. The intention will be to charge a Windsor to zone 1-6 travelcard which is £22.30 off-peak. That will be GWR’s decision, which they will have programmed to override the normal TfL calculation. You’ll need to contact GWR, attach your journey history and explain how you think it should be calculated and ask them why it isn’t.

Hi Michael,

That’s a mystery. You’ll need to get onto the helpdesk for that, and push them to explain exactly what happened. The bit I really don’t get is the summary line “09:31-???? Willesden Green to [No touch-out]” when the only touch beneath that is the entry at Highbury.

Let me know what they say.

Hi Rob,

Although the off-peak cap for zones 1-9 is the same as for 1-6, the weekly caps are very different. I’d therefore expect you to be charged zone 7-9 extension fares relevant to the times of the journeys to/from Brentwood. However, they won’t account for £11.30 extra, unless you went there and back twice.

I’d be grateful if you could post your journey history for the week so I can try and work out what’s happened.

Hi kijeta,

Neither of those journeys have been charged correctly. The two max fares one is interesting because 70 minutes is the usual maximum allowed for a single zone, but in zone 1 that is extended to 90 minutes so there shouldn’t have been a problem. For the other one I wonder whether there was a timing issue and the validator recorded a time after that received from the gate.

I would contact the help desk and ask them to look into both journeys and explain why they have been mis-charged. At the very least they should convert both to a single zone 1 fare of £2.70/£2.80. If they do give you an explanation (and I hope they will), please do come back here and let us know what they say.

The timing issue is one that I have seen before, though it is very rare. In most cases it won’t have any effect, but where an interchange with a very short walk between readers is involved it could cause issues.

Hi Christine,

Both the 60+ Oyster card and the older person’s Freedom Pass are treated as off-peak travelcards so purchase of extension tickets is the same in both cases.

I’m a little confused about what you mean by changing at London Bridge in relation to Epsom, and specifically Ewell West. Are you arriving into London Bridge using Southeastern? If so, I’d recommend changing at Waterloo East instead and taking SWR direct to Ewell West from Waterloo. That way no extension is required.

Otherwise, you can purchase the ticket from Boundary Zone 6 to Epsom anywhere before you actually need to be using it. London Bridge would be fine. The return extension ticket is valid between either Ewell East or West and Epsom, so you could use it with your 60+ to get from East to West via Epsom. You’d need another return ticket to do the reverse journey later in the day because you use both outward and return on the one journey.

Hope that helps.

Hi Christine,

Buses are zoneless, so if a bus accepts Oyster then it is valid for the whole route. The 60+ Oyster is accepted on all TfL bus routes after 9am on weekdays.

It’s definitely valid on the 96/428/492 to Bluewater. If the other buses you mention are operated on behalf of TfL and accept Oyster for payment then it will be valid on them too.

Hope that helps.

Using current rates this is what would happen assuming all travel is after 0930 with a railcard discount.

Bus £1.75
Bus £1.75 total £3.50
Tube £2.10 zone 1-2 off-peak cap £5.60
Bus Free
Bus Free

Hope that helps.

Hi Matthieu,

Bus (and tram) journeys will always be limited by the bus cap in the first instance. The bus fares also count towards whatever rail cap might be triggered, but you’ll only ever pay up to the bus cap on buses/trams. The back office follows the same rules in relation to caps.

Neither photocards, nor blue Oyster cards with a discount attached, go through the back office calculation at the end of the day.

Hi Michael,

That’s not what I’d expect. Can you paste the relevant journey history in here with all touches expanded?