I’ve also heard that Kennington will be dual zoned, but as I said the problem is the Kennington to Elephant stretch. It’s the first time a journey will be possible along a boundary where the fares are different in each zone.

Hi Chris,

I’m not aware of any potential OSIs with Nine Elms. Battersea and Battersea Park is likely.

As for zone 1, it’s a nightmare. The developers who are part funding the extension demanded that it be in zone 1, but I’m fully expecting a new dual zoned sausage like the Stratford arrangement. Kennington to Elephant & Castle has to remain in zone 2. The problem of course is that 2 or 3 is the same fare in the Stratford area, whilst 1 or 2 is most definitely not.

Arrival at Wimbledom 62 minutes after touching in for a tram will trigger an incomplete rail journey. As no end to end tram journey takes more than an hour, I believe that this is effectively a maximum journey time for trams. I’m not aware that it’s publicised anywhere, but if you’re still on a tram after that much time then it would be difficult to claim that you were acting legally unless there had been serious disruption.

As for buses, I didn’t think there was a maximum journey time. When the RPI boards the bus they log in to the bus reader and download the cards that have touched in during that journey. Only those cards will pass the inspection. This may explain why the driver didn’t say anything. It does appear that there may be a maximum to cover the eventuality that the bus doesn’t properly clear it’s database at the end of the journey. I’ll have to make some enquiries about this. Certainly 2.5 hours would seem to be enough for an end to end journey in all but the most extreme cases.

I’m not the voice of TfL, but you won’t have a problem at Reading. Your Veterans Oyster Card is your ticket and if you show it to gateline staff they will let you out/in.

Hi Laurence,

Yes, that is correct. My understanding is that the veterans scheme is treated like the disabled freedom pass which is still valid at any time on TfL services. Between West Drayton and Reading you will have to use the TfL Rail services, so no hopping on a fast Great Western express.

I’ll try and answer as best I can. Information on the various types of travelcard is one thing I must add at some point, and odd-period versions is high on the list.

In terms of the cost you can make a rough calculation as follows: Divide the monthly price by 30 to get the daily add-on and then multiply that by the number of odd days beyond whole months. Add on the monthly rate for each whole month and that is roughly the price of the ticket. The whole months run from the date it starts to the day before the monthly anniversary (eg 15th-14th). This does mean that the price for a 44 day season will vary depending on how many days are in the month that it starts in. A zone 2-4 monthly travelcard is £117.90 and the rough daily add-on is £3.93. If you start on July 15th then the month takes you to August 14th (31 days) and you need 13 extra days so that is £51.09. Add on the monthly and you get £168.99. The official calculation is a little more complex using multiples of 5 extra days plus odd days above that, and the result is rounded to a multiple of 10p, but £169.00 is likely to be close.

The situation regarding where to purchase is sadly becoming quite restricted. The ticket system required to add travelcards to an Oyster card is gradually being phased out at National Rail stations. I’m trying to get a grasp of the current situation at the moment. Ticket machines will only sell fixed period tickets, so there are only two reliable sources left: Heathrow, King’s Cross, Liverpool Street, Piccadilly Circus and Victoria Visitor Centres; and online.

Online has been known to be problematic for overseas residents in the past, but I’ve just checked again and the address entry does now allow you to select a country. If you can set up an online account and add your Oyster card to it then you can order odd-period travelcards which will be downloaded to your card when you use it within 3 days of ordering.

Hi zero,

Don’t panic. Take a look at https://oysterfares.com/refunds-of-5-oyster-card-fee/ which is under Latest News. You’ve got six months to collect the refund automatically. Note though that a single bus journey will not actually work, you’ll need to make a second one a while later to actually pick up the refund. Half an hour should be enough.

The helpdesk may be able to tell you when the other card was purchased, depending on whether it was registered by your friend or not.

Hope this helps.

You can only begin to think about adding PAYG credit to either a 60+ Oyster or Freedom Pass when the times of operation are co-ordinated. Even with the am-peak restrictions because of the pandemic it is still 0900 for TfL services and 0930 for most NR services.

I’m not sure if it’s the way I’m reading it or not, but that doesn’t quite read right.

In the morning you’ll need to use either a normal blue Oyster card or a contactless payment card/device*. If it’s an Oyster card then you can top up via the app. Don’t touch in using the 60+ Oyster card in the morning.

* Unless you have a disabled railcard which discounts peak fares you’ll be paying full price adult fares, so using contactless will charge the same fares.

Thanks for letting us know.

Argh! Don’t mention the OEP!

Seriously, fare dodging cannot be condoned and as Matthew says, you would be caught by a revenue block or an on train inspection before Greenwich or Lewisham. If you can tell us where you are going on the tube then there might be an alternative to consider.

1) They can travel via Stratford.
2) Same with Epsom and Epsom Downs.
3) Watford Junction has loads of fast services to Euston, while High Street is a faster journey than from Watford Met.

I’m not particularly knowledgeable about Google Pay as I don’t use it. I’m surprised that it needs signal to record a touch though. I might have to sign up to try it out when we’re allowed out again.