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Help - London Terminal Season additional travel with OysterCard

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Minstral25

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Hi

Wondering if anyone can help me. I have a London Terminals season ticket from Southern which enables me to get to my workplace at City Thameslink.

On occasion I am likely to transit at Farringdon from Circle Line services onto the Thameslink route. Obviously I have entered a Zone 1 station using my Oystercard for the service to Farringdon and then transited down Thameslink to City where my Season Ticket takes over.

Do I have to get off my train at City Thameslink, complete my Oyster journey by going through the barriers and then back in using my Season Ticket obviously then waiting 30 minutes for the next train on my route, or am I missing something?
 
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yorkie

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Are you using PAYG for this additional journey? Is your Season ticket on paper?

If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then yes you need to get off at City Thameslink and touch a reader (this could be done at another Zone 1 station appropriate to the journey, e.g. Blackfriars, London Bridge, etc)

If the only readers at the station you touch out at, are at barriers, then touching out will open the barriers, but there is nothing compelling you to walk through them! Simply turn around when the barriers open and go back the way you came (I realise this may be a little awkward at certain busy stations at certain times!) I did this at Finchley Road a couple of weeks ago.

Depending on the exact journey being made, and which trains you catch, we may be able to advise on a particular location to touch out at that would minimise hassle.
 

MikeWh

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Do I have to get off my train at City Thameslink, complete my Oyster journey by going through the barriers and then back in using my Season Ticket obviously then waiting 30 minutes for the next train on my route, or am I missing something?

Unfortunately you do have to get off your train at City Thameslink (or, as Yorkie points out, any other zone 1 station south of CT). If you can find a platform validator that might be easier than faffing about at a gate, or the wide gate on some gatelines has a validator alongside it.

What you are missing is that you don't have to get a train on your route (Sutton?) from Farringdon to City Thameslink. All trains call at all core stations between Blackfriars and St Pancras so just get the first one that comes. If that happens to be a direct train to your station then depending on what your station is, you might find an alternative would be changing at London Bridge or Herne Hill/Tulse Hill for a Southern train. You'll have to do some research around the times that you might normally travel.

Hope that helps.
 

Minstral25

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Yes the more I look the more it seems I have to get off which is stupid. Especially as it cam mean a 30 minute stay at City Thameslink if I get a Brighton train from Farringdon. Not helpful at all.

My season ticket is a Reigate to London Terminals as I work close to City Thameslink station. I can get an all zones season but this costs over £800 more (annual) and I only stray further a few times a month its not worth it. Guess I'll have to buy a zone 1 paper ticket every time I decide to go further round London.

The other option is to touch out but not go through the gate a Farringdon - guess that means I'll do a short illegal journey that actually I have paid for? Odd!
 

OwlMan

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Yes the more I look the more it seems I have to get off which is stupid. Especially as it cam mean a 30 minute stay at City Thameslink if I get a Brighton train from Farringdon. Not helpful at all.

My season ticket is a Reigate to London Terminals as I work close to City Thameslink station. I can get an all zones season but this costs over £800 more (annual) and I only stray further a few times a month its not worth it. Guess I'll have to buy a zone 1 paper ticket every time I decide to go further round London.

The other option is to touch out but not go through the gate a Farringdon - guess that means I'll do a short illegal journey that actually I have paid for? Odd!

A Reigate - Farringdon or a Reigate to St Pancras (not underground)season ticket is the same price as a London Terminals season ticket, either would suit your purpose and let you touch out at Farringdon
 
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yorkie

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Yes the more I look the more it seems I have to get off which is stupid. Especially as it cam mean a 30 minute stay at City Thameslink if I get a Brighton train from Farringdon. Not helpful at all.
The 30 minute wait is an extreme case and only occurs at one time per hour*, and could be resolved by taking the train just before it from Farringdon.

(* And even then it would make no sense to wait at City Thameslink, as common sense would say to take the first available train to East Croydon, and from there to Redhill - it's still possible you will make your train to Reigate from Redhill, though it's not an official connection)
My season ticket is a Reigate to London Terminals as I work close to City Thameslink station. I can get an all zones season but this costs over £800 more (annual) and I only stray further a few times a month its not worth it. Guess I'll have to buy a zone 1 paper ticket every time I decide to go further round London.
However, as collybs says, the season ticket price is the same to St Pancras as it is to London Terminals (although if you do get the St Pancras season, I do not think it's valid between Clapham Jn and Victoria, other than that it should have the same validity as a London Terminals season with the addition of being valid between City Thameslink & St Pancras).
The other option is to touch out but not go through the gate a Farringdon - guess that means I'll do a short illegal journey that actually I have paid for? Odd!
If you did that, and had a London Terminals ticket, then although the fare you paid would be the same, you would be invalid between Farringdon & City Thameslink and if asked to produce a ticket between those stations, you could be charged a Penalty Fare (which isn't a fine, and there would be no accusation of you trying to avoid payment of the correct fare, it's merely a charge that they are allowed to make for innocent passengers who make a mistake, or who have paid the correct fare but don't quite have the right ticket in your case. If you believe this is wrong, as I do, you may wish to contact your MP about Penalty Fares and how absurd they are, but that's really for a different topic!)
 

MikeWh

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Yes the more I look the more it seems I have to get off which is stupid. Especially as it cam mean a 30 minute stay at City Thameslink if I get a Brighton train from Farringdon. Not helpful at all.

Oyster PAYG is a product aimed at making complete journeys within the London area. To function properly it has to know the start and end point of the journey being made. One of it's features is that the definition of the journey can be made in real time, rather than having to queue up to pay at the beginning. It functions with a travelcard season loaded onto it because it then knows what to charge and what is paid for. It cannot work in the same way with a route specific season ticket not loaded onto it. If you want to make an extra zone 1 journey at the same time as your journey home then you have two choices: (a) touch in and out before joining a later train and pay just £1.90, or (b) buy a paper ticket and just travel but pay £4. I'm afraid you can't have it both ways.

During the evening rush hour there are trains through the core every 3-6 minutes. If you are unlucky enough to get on your Brighton train at Farringdon then you will have to get a later one, but as others have stated, you can change at Tulse Hill to get an alternative train to East Croydon and from there a train to Redhill/Reigate.

When you next renew your ticket, ask for one to Farringdon (or St Pancras) rather than London terminals. This is valid on all the same routes as your current one, except between Clapham Junction and Victoria, and costs the same as the London terminals ticket you already have. The advantage is that you can get your Circle line train to Farringdon and then touch out before joining the southbound FCC service.
 

Minstral25

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Thanks guys for the thoughts - it seems I am stuffed by the system

Don't really want a Farringdon ticket as I do occasionally use Vauxhall and Clapham Junction as well. Thought I had the ideal ticket but not quite as it seems. Will have to get a Boris Bike pass and get fitter at the same time :)

The other point about getting on at Farringdon is that you can get a seat there in the rush hour but at City it seems in my first week pretty optional depending if you get the line up of the doors right - you are also extremely unlikely to see a seat at East Croydon when changing onto a Redhill train. So I have to start planning my commute better as an hour standing is more than my legs find comfortable as I have had knee operations recently - back to a Boris Bike and getting fitter I think :)
 

MikeWh

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Don't really want a Farringdon ticket as I do occasionally use Vauxhall and Clapham Junction as well.

Both Clapham Junction and Vauxhall are on permitted routes between Reigate and Farringdon. The only terminals that you can't use are Victoria, Charing Cross and Cannon Street.
 
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