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Oyster to Welwyn Garden City..

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jon0844

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Apparently there's an announcement tomorrow that Oyster will extend to Welwyn Garden City soon. I assume that means Contactless cards too, and maybe also to Hertford North?

Anyone know anything about this?
 
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JonathanH

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Welwyn seems a bit far out for this - something analogous to the treatment of Redhill line stations would seem appropriate - given Grays and Watford Junction are in the same 'zone' for Oyster purposes - would it technically be feasible for Redhill and Welwyn to be in the same 'zone' or would that not work?
 

jon0844

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Welwyn seems a bit far out for this - something analogous to the treatment of Redhill line stations would seem appropriate - given Grays and Watford Junction are in the same 'zone' for Oyster purposes - would it technically be feasible for Redhill and Welwyn to be in the same 'zone' or would that not work?

My MP has written this as 'breaking news' (as clearly he'll want to take the credit), so I am fairly certain it will be going out as far as Welwyn Garden City. I am sure it is part of a plan for TfL to take over, as is widely predicted. It's not so much a case of if now, but when. I think it will be the next franchise unless things go horribly wrong in December and GTR is stripped of the contract.

One thing with extending the zones out to WGC (rather than the bodges of letters, such as to Broxbourne) would be the desire to get Oyster accepted on local buses. I can't see HCC assisting in making that happen, so it would be a rather awkward situation where Oyster can be used by rail, but not bus. Whereas currently at Potters Bar, you have the opposite today where (some) buses take Oyster, but you can't use it on the trains.

If you're going to do zones, then it becomes messy. I wait to see how they're going to do this extension.
 

Hadders

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Lets hope that this doesn't result in the weekend super off peak travelcards being withdrawn. I fear a large increase in weekend fares.....
 

swt_passenger

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Or more likely, evening peak being introduced by the backdoor.
Through the front door to be fair. It’s how the single only fares on Oyster PAYG work, and Oyster is allegedly what people are crying out for. A case of “be careful what you wish for”?
 

higthomas

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I imagine those normal fares will still be available. Those 'in the know' will continue to buy them, being subsidised by those who don't.
 

mongoose

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My MP has written this as 'breaking news' (as clearly he'll want to take the credit), so I am fairly certain it will be going out as far as Welwyn Garden City. I am sure it is part of a plan for TfL to take over, as is widely predicted. It's not so much a case of if now, but when. I think it will be the next franchise unless things go horribly wrong in December and GTR is stripped of the contract.

One thing with extending the zones out to WGC (rather than the bodges of letters, such as to Broxbourne) would be the desire to get Oyster accepted on local buses. I can't see HCC assisting in making that happen, so it would be a rather awkward situation where Oyster can be used by rail, but not bus. Whereas currently at Potters Bar, you have the opposite today where (some) buses take Oyster, but you can't use it on the trains.

If you're going to do zones, then it becomes messy. I wait to see how they're going to do this extension.
UNO buses already accept contactless payment, so it may be a small step for them to accept Oyster. Not sure about Arriva's plans though.
 

jon0844

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UNO buses already accept contactless payment, so it may be a small step for them to accept Oyster. Not sure about Arriva's plans though.

I think it would probably be quite a big step actually. It's more than just having installed new machines that accept CPCs. There's every likelihood that TfL would require its own ticket machines, which IME wouldn't then be able to sell normal tickets. Whenever Uno ran its London bus on another service, it let people travel for free. Admittedly, I've not been on this bus since the other buses got the new machines, so possibly it has the new machine and it takes Oyster but my guess is it doesn't.
 

AY1975

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Apparently there's an announcement tomorrow that Oyster will extend to Welwyn Garden City soon. I assume that means Contactless cards too, and maybe also to Hertford North?

AIUI, at present you can use Oyster to Hertford East but not to Hertford North.

However, when making any journeys beyond the London Travelcard zones for which Oyster is valid, it is worth checking both TfL's single fare finder at https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/single-fare-finder and the journey planner on the National Rail site at www.nationalrail.co.uk to see whether Oyster or paper tickets will be cheaper. This depends what time of day you will be travelling, and whether you have a railcard (some but not all railcards can be added to Oyster cards).

It's also worth checking the page on when not to use Oyster on the Oyster Rail site at https://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/when-not-to-use-oyster/
 

mongoose

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Would this also mean that they have to keep the barriers closed at WGC? It's a scrum in the evenings trying to get off the platform so they usually just open them up and my Key card doesn't register when they do this (not sure if it's because the barrier is open or if there are so many people piling through that the gates never 'clear'). It will be interesting to see how they deal with this.
 

jon0844

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Would this also mean that they have to keep the barriers closed at WGC? It's a scrum in the evenings trying to get off the platform so they usually just open them up and my Key card doesn't register when they do this (not sure if it's because the barrier is open or if there are so many people piling through that the gates never 'clear'). It will be interesting to see how they deal with this.

They wouldn't be able to keep the gates closed at peak times as there's a safety issue. Until the gates move upstairs (many years away) that will have to remain the case. But the gates should be able to accept smartcards when open. If not, this is something that would need to be looked at.
 

Saint66

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Oyster also being extended to St Albans and Luton Airport (according to our local MP Anne Main).
 

JonathanH

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Lets hope that this doesn't result in the weekend super off peak travelcards being withdrawn. I fear a large increase in weekend fares.....

I imagine those normal fares will still be available. Those 'in the know' will continue to buy them, being subsidised by those who don't.

That really depends on the outcome of the fares consultation. If the people who shout loudest are those who want an 'Oyster model' then maybe any non-standard paper tickets will be removed.
 

londonbridge

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Whereas currently at Potters Bar, you have the opposite today where (some) buses take Oyster, but you can't use it on the trains.

And Dorking. You can get there with Oyster on a 465 bus but you can't come back on a train......
 

jon0844

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And Dorking. You can get there with Oyster on a 465 bus but you can't come back on a train......

I can't see things being fixed given Uno doesn't take Oyster on the parts of their routes that are in London, so any contract from Hertfordshire County Council won't have a provision for it - even if Oyster is on the railway.

For those who just use PAYG via a contactless payment card, it will be fine though. Step off at WGC, tap out with your card/phone and step on a bus (well, Uno bus for the time being) and tap your card/phone there. Job done, even if it might not necessarily be the cheapest way to travel.
 

Surreytraveller

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And Dorking. You can get there with Oyster on a 465 bus but you can't come back on a train......
It'll be the same anywhere outside London where Oyster is accepted on the railway but has buses not operated by TfL (or even inside London - a PP mentions Uno, but there's the 409, 402, 420 various routes around Kingston, Heathrow and other places too)
 

JonathanH

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And Shenfield. More expensive than the Oyster fares. I save something like £20 per week using contactless.

Oyster at Shenfield is on a TfL scale that appears to undercut the price of paper tickets. That is not how pricing has been developed at some other outposts of the Oyster network where the DfT has more of an interest - a lot of off peak journeys from Redhill on Oyster off the direct routes to London Terminals are quite a lot more expensive than paper tickets when making a return journey.
 

PeterC

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And Shenfield. More expensive than the Oyster fares. I save something like £20 per week using contactless.
I thought that Oyster was only valid on the TfL Rail stopping service. Apart from being checked on the train I can't see how that could be enforced though, the barriers at Liverpool Street don't know which train you are about to board or just came in on.
 

Hadders

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Oyster/contactless is valid on any train between Sheffield and Liverpool Street.
 

PeterC

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Oyster/contactless is valid on any train between Sheffield and Liverpool Street.
Thanks, I am sure that I saw something saying that it was TfL Rail only. That may just have been somebody posting incorrectly here of course.

Greater Anglia website confirms validity.
 

mattdickinson

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Thanks, I am sure that I saw something saying that it was TfL Rail only. That may just have been somebody posting incorrectly here of course.

Greater Anglia website confirms validity.
The Freedom pass is only valid on TfL Rail to Shenfield.

I don't think Oyster will ever reach as far as Sheffield....
 
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