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Buying tickets from London zone boundaries online.

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ianfreeman

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I know there's been other discussions on this but I can't find anything recent. I was wondering if there was a way to buy rail tickets from a London Travelcard zone boundary online or whether they are still only available from ticket offices or machines. Many thanks in advance for any guidance.
 
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ForTheLoveOf

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I know there's been other discussions on this but I can't find anything recent. I was wondering if there was a way to buy rail tickets from a London Travelcard zone boundary online or whether they are still only available from ticket offices or machines. Many thanks in advance for any guidance.
Online sites don't offer Boundary Zone fares because they are itinerary-oriented - they can only sell tickets in conjunction with an accompanying itinerary. Since Boundary Zone X by definition isn't a station, that doesn't fit into the model of most online booking engines.

By contrast, with most ticket office software and ticket machines being fare-oriented, the fact that Boundary Zone X isn't a station doesn't matter. No itinerary is needed to sell the ticket.

Some sites do let you buy tickets without an itinerary, so as to enable the sale of rangers and rovers (GWR's site being the most prolific and helpful in this respect). But clearly the Boundary Zone X market is so small that no site has deemed it worth their while to implement that functionality given the low number of sales and the fact it's not mandated by any franchise agreement.
 

yorkie

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I know there's been other discussions on this but I can't find anything recent. I was wondering if there was a way to buy rail tickets from a London Travelcard zone boundary online or whether they are still only available from ticket offices or machines. Many thanks in advance for any guidance.
They are not available online because train companies have simply made the choice not to allow online retailers to sell them.

This might land train companies in hot water as there could be a legal case regarding this, but so far the possibility of legal action hasn't changed the fact you can't get them online.
 

cjohnson

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This might land train companies in hot water as there could be a legal case regarding this, but so far the possibility of legal action hasn't changed the fact you can't get them online.

Was there not already a legal case underway about this (against SWT/R and SE?)
 
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