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Local bus routes/companies excluded from TFL Travelcard?

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MKB

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I plan to travel from Kingston to Harlington Corner this Saturday using bus 285, 111 or X26. I'll have a Zone 1-6 Travelcard.

Are all of these routes covered by the Travelcard?

Is there a link somewhere on TFL's website that lists which routes and/or local bus companies do not participate in the Travelcard scheme, or do they all participate? I can't find anything there.

I'd also been keen to know how you work out which bus routes within the Heathrow Freeflow Zone do not participate in that, as I have had some drivers insist I paid when travelling between the two Sheraton hotels on Bath Road / Colnbrook Bypass in the past.
 
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Ivo

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Very easy way to find - follow this link, and check the area maps at the bottom (not the night bus one; the other five). If a route is not covered by the Travelcard it is shown in green, presumably because this was the traditional colour of London Country services.

The X26, 111 and 285 are of course all covered.

As for Heathrow, I am not sure. There are boundaries to consider, but otherwise I would have thought that any TfL route at least would participate.
 

transmanche

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I plan to travel from Kingston to Harlington Corner this Saturday using bus 285, 111 or X26. I'll have a Zone 1-6 Travelcard.

Are all of these routes covered by the Travelcard?

Is there a link somewhere on TFL's website that lists which routes and/or local bus companies do not participate in the Travelcard scheme, or do they all participate? I can't find anything there.
In London, bus services are operated under contract to TfL; so no matter which bus company operates the route, TfL fares are charged. There are exceptions; such as coaches, tourist routes and other commercial services operating across the Greater London boundary.

In Kingston the TfL and non-TfL routes are shown on this map.

Some commercial routes which cross the Greater London boundary accept TfL tickets within Greater London. This is usually indicated on the timetable. TfL used to publish a list on their website, I don't know if they still do so.

I'd also been keen to know how you work out which bus routes within the Heathrow Freeflow Zone do not participate in that, as I have had some drivers insist I paid when travelling between the two Sheraton hotels on Bath Road / Colnbrook Bypass in the past.
See here for a list of 'spider maps'; including four in the Heathrow area, which show which routes are in the Freeflow Zone.
 

MKB

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Thanks for the replies. It's good to know that I can take any of the three buses on Saturday. However, I'm still not sure how I would work this out next time I have a similar question.

The Kingston map http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/kingston-10350.pdf doesn't seem to differentiate between TFL and non-TFL services, so how do I know which are the non-TFL ones? Also, the comment about crossing Greater London boundary begs the question of how do I see the boundary on the map. Google maps don't seem to help with this either, plus that's getting far too complicated.

The very detailed maps referenced by Ivo seem to provide an answer if you can find and follow the route numbers you're looking for, which is no easy task, especially if you don't know the geography of Greater London! (Incidentally, this wasn't "easy" to find. Various searches involving the terms "travelcard" and "bus" and other words didn't find these maps for me.)

Since the TFL journey planner doesn't provide any link to bus fare information for a selected journey, what I suppose is needed is a simple list of London bus route numbers that are non-TFL? Surely, that must exist somewhere?

Separate Question:
There's another bus problem I often find when I'm in London which I haven't solved. If I need to get from A to B, the journey planner might tell me that there's a choice of a number of routes, but quite often, they start from different physical bus stops in the locality. How do you know which stop to go to?

An example of this is when I travel from the Sheraton on Colnbrook Bypass to Heathrow Terminal 5. When I go to the stop on Colnbrook Bypass, about 80% of the time I'll see the bus that goes pass the Thistle Hotel going first, even though the timetable says that my bus should be first.

I guess what I'm after is an app that replicates the information on the electronic screens that some stops have, and, more importantly, is accurate, and lets me see this for any bus stops close to where I am currently located. Does that exist?
 

Deerfold

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I guess what I'm after is an app that replicates the information on the electronic screens that some stops have, and, more importantly, is accurate, and lets me see this for any bus stops close to where I am currently located. Does that exist?

Like this?

http://countdown.tfl.gov.uk/

If you use it on a suitable mobile device it can try and work out your nearest stops too, usually accurately.
 

transmanche

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The Kingston map http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/kingston-10350.pdf doesn't seem to differentiate between TFL and non-TFL services, so how do I know which are the non-TFL ones?
The non-TfL bus routes are the ones listed as 'Other buses' on the 'spider map'.

Since the TFL journey planner doesn't provide any link to bus fare information for a selected journey, what I suppose is needed is a simple list of London bus route numbers that are non-TFL? Surely, that must exist somewhere?
TfL's Journey Planner only offers routes using TfL bus services (or non-TfL bus services which accept TfL tickets in Greater London). So you know that if the journey is listed by the planner, TfL tickets are valid.

The London Bus Routes website is a useful resource.

If I need to get from A to B, the journey planner might tell me that there's a choice of a number of routes, but quite often, they start from different physical bus stops in the locality. How do you know which stop to go to?
TfL's Journey Planner will tell you which stop number your bus stops at. As do the 'spider maps' (previously linked).

I guess what I'm after is an app that replicates the information on the electronic screens that some stops have, and, more importantly, is accurate, and lets me see this for any bus stops close to where I am currently located. Does that exist?
In addition to the Deerfold's link, I find NextBus very good.
 
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Deerfold

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TfL's Journey Planner only offers routes using TfL services (or non-TfL bus services which accept TfL tickets in Greater London). So you know that if the journey is listed by the planner, TfL tickets are valid.

Although I recommend unticking the "coach" option at the bottom as the journey planned won't realise you can't use TfL tickets on these and doesn't always desribe them as coaches in the description (sometimes it will say "Express Bus service")
 

causton

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Although I recommend unticking the "coach" option at the bottom as the journey planned won't realise you can't use TfL tickets on these and doesn't always desribe them as coaches in the description (sometimes it will say "Express Bus service")

Indeed, for example the Greenline service 724 Heathrow - Watford - Harlow is shown on TfL journey planning but contains a fares notice whenever it appears stating that Oyster/Travelcards are not valid :)
 

MKB

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Sounds like some very useful tips and links. Will check them out later. Cheers.
 

Mutant Lemming

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There are also the Hertfordshire/Barnet cross border anomalies concerning the 107, 142, 292 (TfL services operating in to Hertfordshire) and 84, 610, 614, 615, 644 (commercial and Hertfordshire sponsored services opertaing in to Greater London).
 

Deerfold

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There are also the Hertfordshire/Barnet cross border anomalies concerning the 107, 142, 292 (TfL services operating in to Hertfordshire) and 84, 610, 614, 615, 644 (commercial and Hertfordshire sponsored services opertaing in to Greater London).

To clarify, the TfL ones all accept TfL products whichever county they're in whilst the other all accept the Intalink Explorer including within London (whereas the 84 used to be odd in accepting the Explorer on its Northern parts but TfL products in the South with a small overlap).
 

Mutant Lemming

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(whereas the 84 used to be odd in accepting the Explorer on its Northern parts but TfL products in the South with a small overlap).

The staff pass 'anomaly' on the 84 in the past was down to Metroline staff having a TfL pass and the difficulty in discerning Metroline pass holders from other TfL staff (particularly with Oyster). It became a kind of unwritten rule that all TfL passes were accepted on the entire route. The recent changes seem to have put paid to that.
 
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