Heathrow fares query

[cactustwirly]

I can see in the TFL single fares finder Reading to Heathrow is £16.30 off peak.

Is the fare the same regardless of taking the Elizabeth line and changing at Hayes and taking the HEx changing at Paddington.
My understanding is the contactless fare has no routing.

 

[signed]

Is the fare the same regardless of taking the Elizabeth line and changing at Hayes and taking the HEx changing at Paddington.

No, it isn't valid on HEx.

My understanding is the contactless fare has no routing.

There is here, the HEx gateline at Paddington will deduct the full HEx fare unconditionally, and there is no way around this.

So you will end up with a Reading-Paddington and Paddington-Heathrow HEx fare, with the HEx fare not being part of the cap.

 

[redreni]

No, it isn't valid using HEx


There is here, the HEx gateline at Paddington will deduct the full HEx fare unconditionally, and there is no way around this.

So you will end up with a Reading-Paddington and Paddington-Heathrow HEx fare, with the HEx fare not being cap-able or part of the cap.

There's no route restriction; you could for example take a fast GWR to Paddington then an Elizabeth Line to Heathrow if you wanted to.

The single fare finder results page for this journey does say: "Fares shown do not include travel on Gatwick Express, Heathrow Express or Southeastern high speed services unless stated." So that's the restriction.

 

[drueberflug]

There's no route restriction; you could for example take a fast GWR to Paddington then an Elizabeth Line to Heathrow if you wanted to.

The single fare finder results page for this journey does say: "Fares shown do not include travel on Gatwick Express, Heathrow Express or Southeastern high speed services unless stated." So that's the restriction.

I think that the BR Fares chart contributes to further confusion...

CPAY OffPK INFO POC​	Route ✠ANY PERMITTED​	Validity NOT FOR TRAVEL (no break of journey) Restrictions PG PAYG OFF-PEAK INFO​	Adult £16.70​	​	​
PAYG OFF-PEAK-OYSTER OR CONTACTLESS CARD REQUIRED​ Fare Setter: GWR​
CPAY OffPK INFO POC​	Route ✠NOT HEATHROW EXP​	Validity NOT FOR TRAVEL (no break of journey) Restrictions PG PAYG OFF-PEAK INFO​	Adult £16.70​	​	◊​
PAYG OFF-PEAK-OYSTER OR CONTACTLESS CARD REQUIRED​ Fare Setter: GWR​

The thing is that one might need to tap out and back in at Paddington anyways, therefore, regular HEX fares would be charged for the last leg.

 

[Watershed]

I think that the BR Fares chart contributes to further confusion...

The thing is that one might need to tap out and back in at Paddington anyways, therefore, regular HEX fares would be charged for the last leg.

The PAYG "fares" (POC/PAC/POP/PAP) in the rail industry data, which BR Fares surfaces, are merely illustrative. They are often wrong or out of date since the fare-setting TOCs don't seem to take much effort to keep them up to date.

Essentially they were only created so that ticket offices or online retailers could give prospective passengers an indication of the cost of using PAYG instead of paper tickets.

The authoritative source of data for TfL PAYG fares is TfL's single fare finder and cap finder, though LT Fares (which uses a TfL API) is a much nicer way of accessing the same data.

 

[redreni]

I think that the BR Fares chart contributes to further confusion...

The thing is that one might need to tap out and back in at Paddington anyways, therefore, regular HEX fares would be charged for the last leg.

Heathrow Express has it's own gateline at Paddington and I wouldn't expect anybody who doesn't tap at that gateline, but instead taps at the Elizabeth Line gateline, to be charged the Heathrow Express fare plus a separate journey Paddington to Reading.

If anyone were to be charged that then TfL would surely have to refund them, because the single fare finder says what the fare is and there's nothing to say you can't go via Paddington.

The only restriction the passenger is told about by the single fare finder is that the fare shown is not valid on Heathrow Express, etc, so if you don't travel on Heathrow Express and you are charged anything more than what the single fare finder says, I would be claiming that back personally.

If anyone can attest to what actually happens if you go that way, I'd be interested to know!?

 

[Watershed]

Heathrow Express has it's own gateline at Paddington and I wouldn't expect anybody who doesn't tap at that gateline, but instead taps at the Elizabeth Line gateline, to be charged the Heathrow Express fare plus a separate journey Paddington to Reading.

If anyone were to be charged that then TfL would surely have to refund them, because the single fare finder says what the fare is and there's nothing to say you can't go via Paddington.

The only restriction the passenger is told about by the single fare finder is that the fare shown is not valid on Heathrow Express, etc, so if you don't travel on Heathrow Express and you are charged anything more than what the single fare finder says, I would be claiming that back personally.

If anyone can attest to what actually happens if you go that way, I'd be interested to know!?

If this were a journey made using an Oyster card that has a discount applied, there's a risk you wouldn't be refunded the additional amount you'd be "overcharged" at the point you exit at Paddington (since the fare to Paddington is higher than the fare to Heathrow).

However with contactless or an undiscounted Oyster card, the back office system will join the journey up and ensure that you aren't charged the correct amount at the end of the day for contactless, or that you are refunded the difference if using Oyster.

Of course with travel from Reading you only have the option of contactless, so it's a moot point.