ITSO Issues at London St. Pancras Thameslink

[KingJ]

I've recently started commuting between Tonbridge and London St. Pancras, changing at London Bridge on to a Thameslink service. I use Southeastern's ITSO smartcard loaded with a walk-up railcard-discounted daily fare from a TVM.

Whilst this worked well previously with a commute in to London Bridge/Z-16, since switching to St. Pancras i've experienced a significant number of gateline rejections entering St. Pancras in the evening. Typically, the rejection code is 57 (PPT INVLD: Location not covered by PPT, barcode: NLC not valid), but sometimes I am also receiving 12 (TIME O DAY: Not valid at this time). Rarely, I have also received rejections when exiting in the morning.

I am somewhat puzzled as to why this is happening. Rejections seem to be more common if I use an Off-Peak ticket, but I do also sometimes receive it with an Anytime ticket. The error 12 rejection is especially puzzling - I was definitely using an Off-Peak Day Return ticket at that time, but the TON to STP Off-Peak Day Return ticket carries a restriction of BC - which only applies restrictions prior to 09:06. It feels that the barriers may be processing the validity incorrectly but I have no way of checking this beyond observing whatever codes they throw up. If anyone could shed some light on this i'd greatly appreciate the insight!

Luckily, gateline staff have waved me through each time this has happened so far. However, i'm concerned that my luck will eventually run out and that I will be denied entry despite holding a valid fare.

 

[alistairlees]

Are you buying a ticket to London Terminals or to London St Pancras?

 

[KingJ]

Are you buying a ticket to London Terminals or to London St Pancras?

I'm explicitly selecting London St. Pancras on the TVM, and the quoted fare matches the London St. Pancras fare rather than the slightly cheaper London Terminals fare. Scanning the ITSO card with the Smart Ticket Checker app on my phone also confirms that the ticket loaded is to '1555' - which seems to match the NLC of St. Pancras Domestic?

 

[alistairlees]

I'm explicitly selecting London St. Pancras on the TVM, and the quoted fare matches the London St. Pancras fare rather than the slightly cheaper London Terminals fare. Scanning the ITSO card with the Smart Ticket Checker app on my phone also confirms that the ticket loaded is to '1555' - which seems to match the NLC of St. Pancras Domestic?

Ok that’s correct then. I thought with the NLC error maybe you didn’t have this. Sounds like the barriers need a bit more programming.

 

[Mdog2018]

It would be easier to get your ticket to London Thameslink. Instead off just at pancras. It covers you for a few stations. There has been issues with ITSO cards working on zone stations. But try next time London Thameslink instead.

 

[Haywain]

There are not usually fares set to London Thameslink from the south.

 

[paul1609]

I'm explicitly selecting London St. Pancras on the TVM, and the quoted fare matches the London St. Pancras fare rather than the slightly cheaper London Terminals fare. Scanning the ITSO card with the Smart Ticket Checker app on my phone also confirms that the ticket loaded is to '1555' - which seems to match the NLC of St. Pancras Domestic?

Id imagine the ticket options at st Pancras probably stretch the programming capacity of the barriers, for instance on a Tonbridge (most of Kent and some of East Sussex) to London Terminals plus High Speed its a valid route to travel via St Pancras then via Thameslink to London Bridge. Not sure why anyone would want to but its valid.

 

[KingJ]

It would be easier to get your ticket to London Thameslink. Instead off just at pancras. It covers you for a few stations. There has been issues with ITSO cards working on zone stations. But try next time London Thameslink instead.

There are not usually fares set to London Thameslink from the south.

Based on the validity map, I think the only extra i'd gain from a London Thameslink ticket would be Elephant & Castle, as I can already 'break my journey' at London Bridge, Blackfriars, City Thameslink and Farringdon with a London St. Pancras fare.

There does appear to be one daily (i.e. non-season/non-Z1-6 travelcard) Tonbridge to London Thameslink flow, but only on the 'via Redhill' routing rather than 'Not Valid on HS1' routing.

Id imagine the ticket options at st Pancras probably stretch the programming capacity of the barriers, for instance on a Tonbridge (most of Kent and some of East Sussex) to London Terminals plus High Speed its a valid route to travel via St Pancras then via Thameslink to London Bridge. Not sure why anyone would want to but its valid.

An odd one for sure, I can see how it makes sense for some stations in close proximity to Maidstone West, but not quite Tonbridge!

It sounds like my best course of action may be to try and take this up with Thameslink customer service? I've already tried going through Southeastern's stakeholder engagement manager (as the retailer and fare setter) but to no avail.