Cancelling a touch-in

[daniel78]

Suppose you arrive at a tube station and touch in, then quickly realise you won't be able to make the journey you hoped to, perhaps you've just missed the last train, or the line you wanted to catch is closed for engineering works. You'll need to ask a member of staff to sort out the touch-in. It seems sensible to me to allow the passenger to be able to do this themself. You could add a couple of restrictions, say only allow the option at the same station, and only within 15 minutes, to prevent any abuse over a short journey.

One example I can think of personally was at Highbury & Islington recently, I arrived late at night, most of the staff had gone home so the barriers were locked open, I touched in through the barrier, then realised I'd just missed the last Victoria line train. The info/tickets desk was closed, luckily a member of staff who was on his way out offered to help and sorted the problem for me and my friend. He accessed the machine with his staff card and entered a PIN number I think, then removed the touch-in. It was nice of him to do so when he'd clearly just finished his shift late at night, some people wouldn't have bothered.

Anyway, is there a good reason I can't think of why the passenger couldn't just be allowed to do this themself? A simple warning such as "your oyster card is no longer validated for immediate travel" would suffice.

 

[1E05]

You could just walk through, double back and touch out at the dame station and this will clear the touch in

 

[SS4]

You could just walk through, double back and touch out at the dame station and this will clear the touch in

That costs money though (how much depends on long it took you to re-exit).

http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/same-station-continuation-exits/

 

[1E05]

It's worked with me before and doesn't cost money. I think there is like a 5 minute limit but I don't know exactly. I think u can also touch the same 'touch in' pad and it cancels it.

 

[causton]

Instead of wild speculation forum member MikeWh has created a guide to what happens if you touch out at the same station:

http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/same-station-continuation-exits/

 

[daniel78]

You could just walk through, double back and touch out at the dame station and this will clear the touch in

Thanks, but the info on Mike's site suggests this only works if you re-enter the system elsewhere within a specific time. Not much use otherwise.

 

[tsr]

Wait 3 minutes and touch out. This will result in the minimum fare being charged for a journey from the station. Then contact TfL at the next opportunity and explain, should you want a refund. Once it is noted that disruption occurred, your touch-in was after the last train, or something like that, this evidence will back your statement up and you should be able to get a refund.

I have experienced issues when touching out and then in on the same reader in quick succession (this was for an enthusiasts' trip where one journey outbound needed to end and the return journey needed to begin immediately). Should you encounter an error when touching twice, try to find an alternative reader, especially if you can see one with a green light on a ticket barrier.