Highbury & Islington to Gunnersbury via Zone 1

[Squaddie]

Several times a week I travel between Highbury & Islington and Gunnersbury, to visit a client site. I normally catch the direct Overground service, which takes about 40 minutes and costs £1.60 using pay-as-you-go Oyster.

This morning, due to my train being cancelled, I travelled via the Victoria Line and District Line instead, changing at Victoria. When I got to Gunnersbury I was charged £1.60, as usual.

Which leads me to ask - is this a valid route, and did I do anything wrong in travelling through Zone 1? I didn't notice any route validators at Victoria (although I wasn't really looking out for one).

The TfL website doesn't give a specific fare for this route, but it does give a fare from Highbury & Islington to Earl's Court (which I passed through to get to Gunnersbury) of £2.80.

 

[yorkie]

Several times a week I travel between Highbury & Islington and Gunnersbury, to visit a client site. I normally catch the direct Overground service, which takes about 40 minutes and costs £1.60 using pay-as-you-go Oyster.

This morning, due to my train being cancelled, I travelled via the Victoria Line and District Line instead, changing at Victoria. When I got to Gunnersbury I was charged £1.60, as usual. Which leads me to ask - is this a valid route, and did I do anything wrong in travelling through Zone 1? I didn't notice any route validators at Victoria (although I wasn't really looking out for one).

Just about any route is "valid" - there is no concept of permitted routes as such.

There are no pink readers at Victoria because Victoria is in Zone 1.

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?p=1308084#post1308084

The default fare is charged if you do not pass through any gatelines at intermediate stations or touch any Route Validators (pink readers) en route, except where there are no routes that do not need intermediate touches. Touches at appropriate intermediate gatelines (for example when interchanging between National Rail and tube services) or when passing Route Validators will indicate to the system that you have taken an alternative route, and ensure that you are charged the relevant alternative fare. If in doubt, always touch a Route Validator if you pass one, as there are no adverse effects for touching one when not necessary.

Where there are no intermediate gatelines or Route Validators en route for two different-priced routes, you will usually be given the benefit of the doubt and the default fare will be the lower of the two routes.

Note that alternative fares are only provided for routes that TfL consider reasonable, so whilst it might be possible to take a long route with many changes avoiding certain zones between two stations, if it is too complex, there will be no alternative fare will be available, and you will be charged the default fare irrespective of route taken.

more information

The TfL website doesn't give a specific fare for this route

... because there is no intermediate gateline, it has to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you took the route which is possible by direct train.

but it does give a fare from Highbury & Islington to Earl's Court (which I passed through to get to Gunnersbury) of £2.80.

If you travel to Earl's Court, you'd have to change trains somewhere. Therefore, while changing trains, you would need to use the pink reader if you wanted the lower fare avoiding Zone 1.

 

[Squaddie]

Thanks, Yorkie.

So, effectively, the system assumes that I took the most direct route (i.e. Zones 2 and 3 only) and will charge me that fare even if I use the Underground via Zone 1. And I'm doing nothing wrong by travelling through Zone 1.

That's good to know, as I found the Underground to be quicker and a lot more pleasant than the Overground, and I think I might make it my usual route from now on.

 

[yorkie]

Thanks, Yorkie.

So, effectively, the system assumes that I took the most direct route (i.e. Zones 2 and 3 only) and will charge me that fare even if I use the Underground via Zone 1.

If you do not pass through any gatelines, or touch any readers, the 'default' fare is charged.

If you pass through a gateline or touch a pink reader, the system will know which way you are going (see alternative fares for the flow in question).

The default fare will generally be the fare for a direct train if there is one.

If there isn't a direct train, the default fare is likely to be via Zone 1, so you'd have to indicate to the system that you avoided Zone 1 to avoid incurring the default charge.

And I'm doing nothing wrong by travelling through Zone 1.

It's not a crime to travel through Zone 1, no!

(If you held a Travelcard excluding Zone 1, extra care must be taken. You'd need to ensure you had sufficient top-up available to cover a Zone 1 journey and be careful to touch in/out at the start of the journey. You'd not be charged but must be demonstrating a willingness to pay any charges)

That's good to know, as I found the Underground to be quicker and a lot more pleasant than the Overground, and I think I might make it my usual route from now on.

I wonder what the relevant pricing managers would think, if they're reading this! Probably trying to work out if there's any way they can change the pricing!

 

[button_boxer]

I wonder what the relevant pricing managers would think, if they're reading this! Probably trying to work out if there's any way they can change the pricing!

Short of putting pink validators on the trains themselves I don't see there's anything they can do that won't overcharge people who use the direct train.