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Crayford to St Neots using 60+ Oyster

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Geoff_K

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Hi,

I'm planning to travel from Crayford to St Neots on Friday 9th July, returning on Sunday 11th July.

On the Friday, the plan is to get the 9.31 or 9.42 from Crayford to London Bridge, and then get the 10.31 from there to St Neots. I won't know until the Sunday what train I'm getting from St Neots back to London, but it will be around 6 or 7pm.

As I have a 60+ Oyster Card, I'm thinking I can use this for the part of the outward and return journeys within the Oyster Card area. The question is do I use it from Crayford to Finsbury Park (and vice-versa on Sunday) and a paper return ticket from Finsbury Park to St Neots or get a return ticket from Boundary Zone 6 to St Neots? Which of these would be the better option, and is there much difference in price?

I am aware of the Senior Railcard, but I'm not sure I will be making enough journeys to show a saving, taking into account the cost of the railcard.

This will be my first journey combining the 60+ Oyster and a paper ticket, so any advice would be most welcome.
 
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hkstudent

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Hi,

I'm planning to travel from Crayford to St Neots on Friday 9th July, returning on Sunday 11th July.

On the Friday, the plan is to get the 9.31 or 9.42 from Crayford to London Bridge, and then get the 10.31 from there to St Neots. I won't know until the Sunday what train I'm getting from St Neots back to London, but it will be around 6 or 7pm.

As I have a 60+ Oyster Card, I'm thinking I can use this for the part of the outward and return journeys within the Oyster Card area. The question is do I use it from Crayford to Finsbury Park (and vice-versa on Sunday) and a paper return ticket from Finsbury Park to St Neots or get a return ticket from Boundary Zone 6 to St Neots? Which of these would be the better option, and is there much difference in price?

I am aware of the Senior Railcard, but I'm not sure I will be making enough journeys to show a saving, taking into account the cost of the railcard.

This will be my first journey combining the 60+ Oyster and a paper ticket, so any advice would be most welcome.
60+ Oyster card is considered a zonal product, with coverage in London Travelcard Zone 1-6 for most NR services and some Zone 6-9 NR stations (including Dartford). Of course, it also covers all TfL services in any zones (except TfL Rail services beyond West Drayton).
You can use a boundary zone 6 ticket to St Neots.

There was a discussion about this last year:
 

Hadders

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Welcome to the forum!

An Off Peak Return from Boundary Zone 6 to St Neots costs £30.50

You can make a 30p saving by buying:

Boundary Zone 6 to St Neots Anytime Day Single £17.10 for the outward journey on the Friday
St Neots to Boundary Zone 6 Super Off Peak Day Single £13.10 for the return journey on the Sunday
Total £30.20
 

Geoff_K

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Crayford
Many thanks for the replies.

So, just to confirm, I can get an off peak return from Boundary Zone 6 to St Neots, outward journey on Friday 9th July and returning on Sunday 11th July, for £30.50?

If possible, I would like to get the 9.31 from Crayford to London Bridge, just to give me little more leeway in case of delays. I gather that off peak actually begins a few minutes before 9.30am, so I'm thinking I could wait on the platform until the 9.31 pulls in and then tap in on a platform reader. But then I wondering if I need to tap in at all? Would it cause any problems?
 

Hadders

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Yes you van purchase the Off Peak Return from Boundary Zone 6 to St Neots for £30.50. Note it cannot be purchased online, so you will need to buy it from the ticket office (some ticket machines (but not all of them) also sell them). It is the same price whether you purchase on the day of travel or beforehand. The ticket is valid on weekdays after 09:29 not a problem given your proposed travel times and the fact that you won't pass the Boundary Zone until well after 10:00 anyway.

As for tapping in with your 60+ Oyster card I'm not familiar with Crayford station @MikeWh is far better placed than me to advise.
 

CyrusWuff

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If you want to buy the ticket online, you could purchase a Hadley Wood (the last station in Zone 6 on the ECML) to St Neots ticket for the same price as the Boundary Zone 6 one. As with a Freedom Pass, the 60+ Oyster is treated as a season ticket so the train isn't required to stop at Hadley Wood for the combination to be valid.
 

Watershed

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If you want to buy the ticket online, you could purchase a Hadley Wood (the last station in Zone 6 on the ECML) to St Neots ticket for the same price as the Boundary Zone 6 one. As with a Freedom Pass, the 60+ Oyster is treated as a season ticket so the train isn't required to stop at Hadley Wood for the combination to be valid.
Albeit it's worth pointing out that this limits you to travelling via Hadley Wood (i.e. via Welwyn). Should there be any disruption it could be useful to have the ability to travel via the Hertford loop.
 

Haywain

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I am aware of the Senior Railcard, but I'm not sure I will be making enough journeys to show a saving, taking into account the cost of the railcard.
On this trip alone the railcard would save £10, so you only need two more similar journeys in 12 months for the railcard to pay for itself.
 

MikeWh

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If possible, I would like to get the 9.31 from Crayford to London Bridge, just to give me little more leeway in case of delays. I gather that off peak actually begins a few minutes before 9.30am, so I'm thinking I could wait on the platform until the 9.31 pulls in and then tap in on a platform reader. But then I wondering if I need to tap in at all? Would it cause any problems?
The 0931 will normally pull in around 0926 as there's padding between Slade Green and Crayford. I'm not sure if the 60+ uses the same leeway as Oyster cards so you might not get through the gates on platform 1 until 0930. You might have more joy on platform 2 (no gates) but you'd need to cross the footbridge then. There is no penalty for not touching in with a 60+ Oyster as long as the train you are on is valid.
 

Geoff_K

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Crayford
Thanks Haywain, I'll give the Senior Railcard some more consideration.

Mike - I do use the entrance on P2 at Crayford, hence my idea to wait on P1 for the 9.31 to pull in, and then tap in on one of the readers normally used when the ticket office is shut. If it's okay for me to not tap in at all, then I might as well do that.

If I was asked by a ticket Inspector to show my ticket, they would see I hadn't tapped in, so might they be concerned that I 'd boarded the train before 9.30? i guess their reader would show my journey history and that almost all my journeys start or end at Crayford.

One other thing, I get the train home from work between Belvedere and Crayford. If I tap in on my normal Oyster before 6.30am I get an off-peak fare. I tried my 60+ Oyster before 6.30am but it wasn't accepted, so I'm assuming that I can't use it between the last train each night and 9.30am on National Rail.
 

MikeWh

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OK, try to touch in before getting on the train. If you get red it doesn't mean you can't travel, just that you were too early at touching in. Conversely, it does place you at Crayford where the train doesn't depart until 0931 so also clears you of being on it before Crayford.

And yes, the 60+ Oyster card is valid when the off-peak cap is valid, so not before 0930.
 

Geoff_K

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The 0931 will normally pull in around 0926 as there's padding between Slade Green and Crayford. I'm not sure if the 60+ uses the same leeway as Oyster cards so you might not get through the gates on platform 1 until 0930. You might have more joy on platform 2 (no gates) but you'd need to cross the footbridge then. There is no penalty for not touching in with a 60+ Oyster as long as the train you are on is valid.

Had the chance to do a dry run this morning on the way to my second vaccine jab.

Tapped in with the 60+ Oyster on the platform reader at 9.27 as the 9.31 came into view and got a red light and 'Seek assistance'.
 

Geoff_K

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In the event of disruption to the normal St Pancras to St Neots route, what are the usual alternatives, and would the BZ6 to St Neots be valid for these?
 

MikeWh

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Although there are very few such points that are relevant to St Neots.
Hadley Wood and Crews Hill are the obvious ones, but if a diversion was set up via Bedford and a bus for instance, it would still be 100% valid.
 

Haywain

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Hadley Wood and Crews Hill are the obvious ones, but if a diversion was set up via Bedford and a bus for instance, it would still be 100% valid.
But that would be based on ticket acceptance rather than an appropriate boundary station for the journey.
 
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