GWR Oyster

[maxywacky]

I travel between Gatwick Airport and Redhill on Great Western Railway all the time. I always buy tickets which are double the cost of a contactless fare however I have always known GWR to be hit or miss with accepting them.

I saw a guard today charging full fares to those that have tapped between the two stations. Their website advertises both stations as Oyster, which they are and it makes no intermediate stops and the ones it passes through are all within the boundary.

I'm not too familiar, surely GWR should be obliged to accept an Oyster card considering they do on the other end of London with no clear advertisement otherwise? How can they justify charging people who have surely legitimately tapped?

 

[MrJeeves]

If the passengers are travelling between Gatwick and Redhill, they can use Oyster. Beyond Redhill (Reigate and beyond), Oyster is not valid.

Were the passengers intending to travel further than Redhill and were unaware Oyster wasn't accepted on the route towards Guildford and Reading, and hence were sold new tickets to cover their full journey?

 

[maxywacky]

If the passengers are travelling between Gatwick and Redhill, they can use Oyster. Beyond Redhill (Reigate and beyond), Oyster is not valid.

Were the passengers intending to travel further than Redhill and were unaware Oyster wasn't accepted on the route towards Guildford and Reading, and hence were sold new tickets to cover their full journey?

Nope. They stated they were going to Redhill and the guard said it is not accepted at all on the route. Many guards are apparently like this, and that was told to me by GTR at Gatwick. They always advise speaking to the guard beforehand but why should that be the case?

 

[MrJeeves]

Staff are completely in the wrong, and passengers should complain to GWR about being overcharged for their journey.

 

[hkstudent]

Route between Gatwick and Redhill also falls into jurisdiction of London Travel watch, so worth escalating to them if no fruitful result are returned.

 

[maxywacky]

Have got a response from GWR stating it can be used whilst their socials imply you can use contactless and not oyster and guards believe neither can be. The amount of miscommunication between people is unbelievable. Should be something so simple? The three images below show two of their social media team saying no Oyster Cards are accepted but Contactless is and the email directly from GWR on the third image displaying that it is valid.

 

[MrJeeves]

Have got a response from GWR stating it can be used whilst their socials imply you can use contactless and not oyster and guards believe neither can be. The amount of miscommunication between people is unbelievable. Should be something so simple?

Perfectly believable, and upsettingly not even one bit surprising to me... Some parts of the rail industry thrive on misunderstandings and lack of knowledge, unfortunately.

 

[yorkie]

I am not surprised to hear that GWR Guards are acting unlawfully, nor am I surprised that GWR social media staff are providing misinformation.

If only there was a knowledgeable, effective and proactive ombudsman, passenger watchdog or regulator who could do something about this nonsense...

 

[maxywacky]

Perfectly believable, and upsettingly not even one bit surprising to me... Some parts of the rail industry thrive on misunderstandings and lack of knowledge, unfortunately.

So rightfully with an email directly from GWR stating oyster can be accepted, they will not be able to force me into paying onboard (after showing an email which I shouldn't have to show) or could they still make me pay up and id have to claim costs back?

 

[yorkie]

So rightfully with an email directly from GWR stating oyster can be accepted, they will not be able to force me into paying onboard (after showing an email which I shouldn't have to show) or could they still make me pay up and id have to claim costs back?

If they attempt to charge a new fare for this reason, I'd pay it and complain because you have a much stronger argument if you've actually been charged.

You should be given a refund and compensation; the charging of any fare would be evidence of wrongdoing by the company. I would be interested to hear of any instances of this happening.

If GWR are doing this a lot, then we could potentially see a class action claim against them; the rail industry really needs to get its act together and realise that acting unlawfully isn't something the industry can be sure of getting away with these days (as GTR and a few other TOCs are now realising!)

 

[maxywacky]

They don't seem to issue penalty fares, just a new ticket (which is more costly vs using an oyster). Even still, not allowed. GTR promote contactless thus no issues, have had no issues with their revenue. Then again, the only reason I take GWR on the Redhill to Gatwick section is because GTR never have a train that turns up without skipping or cancelling

If they attempt to charge a PF for this reason, I'd pay it and complain because you have a much stronger argument if you've actually been charged.

You should be given a refund and compensation; the PF is also evidence of wrongdoing by the company, which I'd be interested to see and would be excellent evidence to use against GWR.

If GWR are doing this a lot, then we could potentially see a class action claim against them; the rail industry really needs to get its act together and realise that acting unlawfully isn't something the industry can be sure of getting away with these days (as GTR and a few other TOCs are now realising!)

 

[mangyiscute]

Have got a response from GWR stating it can be used whilst their socials imply you can use contactless and not oyster and guards believe neither can be. The amount of miscommunication between people is unbelievable. Should be something so simple? The three images below show two of their social media team saying no Oyster Cards are accepted but Contactless is and the email directly from GWR on the third image displaying that it is valid.

I think they've clearly been told in their training that they don't accept oyster cards but do accept contactless, because for the majority of their operations within the contactless card zone (Paddington - Slough/Maidenhead/Twyford/Reading plus the branch lines) that is the case.

However, they do run some services which oyster is valid on (Redhill to Gatwick, the late night/early morning trains which still stop at Ealing Broadway, Southall etc and of course the Greenford shuttle) so this training is clearly not adequate and GWR need to change this instruction to their staff.

 

[maxywacky]

Have received a response today via email which I have attached below which states all guards on the route will receive another brief. Hopefully that is true and this issue will no longer become an issue on the line