The current National Rail Conditions of Carriage are about to be replaced by a new document called the National Rail Conditions of Travel. The new rules take effect on Saturday 1st October 2016. Most of the changes are minor, or simply clarify existing wording. Several clauses have been re-numbered and/or re-ordered to group related rules together. There are some quite big changes, and one in particular affects multiple seasons in London. And best of all, it is very good news.
It used to be necessary for the train to call at the station where you switched from one season ticket to another, unless both seasons included some zones. This will no longer be the case from this Saturday.
So it will now be possible to use a Hertford North to Bowes Park season and a zone 1-3 travelcard on Oyster on trains that do not call at Bowes Park. Or a 17 year old travelling from Sevenoaks can now make use of a reduced zone 1-6 travelcard on Oyster with a Sevenoaks to Knockholt season. This is cheaper than a Sevenoaks to Orpington season and also opens up the trains that run fast from Sevenoaks to London.
I’ll be re-writing the page about mixing Oyster and paper tickets during the week to reflect the new rules.
Hi
I’ll need to travel to potters bar station (work) from Bromley south (my home) I wanted to buy a monthly season rail ticket but cannot seem to find one that would be valid for this journey. What would be the cheapest way to do this? I’ve seen that a monthly ticket from London kings cross to potters bar is £196. Would I think have to purchase on my oyster card another zone 1-5 monthly travelcard to cover the whole journey? Many thanks for your help in advance!
Hi Yvonne,
From this Saturday you can buy a Potters Bar to New Barnet season at £85.30/month and a zone 1-5 travelcard season at £212.00/month. This will be valid on fast trains that do not stop at New Barnet.
The potters bar zone 1-6 travel card for the month is £284.20 and would cover all routes
Thanks Shan,
Not sure how I missed that. It’s not always the case, especially when only zones 1-2 are needed.
Does this mean that the automated announcement on SWT fasts out of Waterloo (“Please note that Oyster and Contactless Payment Cards are not valid on this service”) is no longer strictly correct? Since you could have a (possibly reduced) 1-6 travelcard loaded on an Oyster, and a Surbiton-Woking paper season?
Hi Larry,
That announcement has never been correct unless they include PAYG after Oyster. A travelcard is a travelcard regardless of whether it is on paper or stored electronically, and is valid with extension tickets on non-stop trains. All that’s changed is that the extension tickets can now include another season ticket.
Hi
I need to travel from Barking to Bracknell for my office. What is the best combination of season ticket , oyester or paper ticket. I can change from waterloo or richmond as per my understanding.
Thanks
Hi Shruti,
If you want to travel via zone 1 then a Bracknell to zones 1-6 route via Staines ticket will cover the whole route. It doesn’t matter that you’re using the ticket in reverse. That’s £110.60/week. There don’t appear to be any sensible splits where Oyster could be useful. You’re best bet at saving money is to get a Bracknell to zones 2-6 route via Staines ticket for £96.40/week. There are a number of routes that this allows but I think the fastest is likely to be Barking to Limehouse on C2C, then Shadwell on DLR (one stop), London Overground to Clapham Junction and SWT to Bracknell. Other options include Barking – Whitechapel – Clapham Junction – Bracknell and Barking – West Ham – Stratford – Richmond – Bracknell.