March 2019 Oyster Extensions Confirmed

[transmanche]

Its not like getting on a bus in most places and asking for a child single to such and such.

Discounted child fares are not always available elsewhere.

For example, in Tyne & Wear you can only get the 60p child fare (or £1.10 all-day ticket) if you have an Under-16 Pop Card. (Metro ticket machines won't issue such tickets unless an Under-16 Pop Card is used.) And only children that are resident (or go to school) in the county can have one. Without one, you are relying on the operator having a commercial child fare. This applies to all children aged 5-15. And, as noted above, the commercial child fare may be more expensive than the £1.50 flat fare in London.

Similarly, in Manchester you need an igo card to get child fares for 11-15 year olds. And again, such cards are only available to children that are resident (or go to school) in Greater Manchester.

So (IMHO), the London system is superior as non-residents are allowed to apply for an 11-15 Zip Card and get free bus travel.

 

[Hadders]

Hadders said (#236):The issue is far more pronounced for users of Network Railcards, Two Together and Friends & Family Railcards. These can be used to obtain a discount on paper tickets but cannot be added to Oyster/Contactless.

I am a senior person so have a Senior Railcard with 33% discount on fares.Am I included in the above statement ? I do not live in London and on occasional visits to London I do get a discount on Oyster as I look up the fares on tfl website before hand.The Railcard has to be presented to a TFL person at place like Euston TFL before the underground where he/she will apply a discount on the Oyster card on proof that you hold a valid Railcard.
Not sure about Contactless cards though ; given that TFL can apply the discount on their Oyster cards but not possible to do on Bank cards?

Using his/her example of Hertford East to Oxford Circus off peak of £8.60 single brings my Senior fare down to £5.70 single off peak, £11.40 return

A Senior Railcard discount can be added to an Oyster card (but not contactless). You have to get the discount added at an Underground station. As far as I know this cannot be done at a National Rail station that accepts Oyster.

Further note that even with the Senior Railcard discount loaded weekend travel is more expensive (certainly from Hertford East and I suspect from many other stations as well) compared to buying railcard discounted paper tickets.

 

[Deerfold]

I'm not familiar with Yorkshire. Besides, this conversation is about London and the 2019 extensions to the Oystercard

You were saying how hard it was to get child fares in London. I simply pointed out it's no harder (and sometimes easier) than in many other places.

In any case, the ease or difficulty of getting child fares is not a technical one because of Oyster.

 

[drspa44]

In any event, I'm happy because I expect this extension will make occasional single off-peak journies cheaper. Some examples from Hertford North:

Gatwick is £11.40 instead of £15.60
Sutton is £5.90 instead of £10.70
Oxford Circus is £8.30 instead of £14.50
Heathrow T123 is £7.30 avoiding zone 1 instead of £14.40
Upminster is £5.60 instead of £13.90

The savings might be even greater if you are comparing the cost of a single on a weekday outside of TFL's peak hours, as you would often be limited to SDS.

For commuters or people who want to return on the same day, it will usually be more expensive I think. More choice is good, but hopefully they don't use the opportunity to phase out the paper tickets or align the prices so returns are 2x the cost of a single.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Not sure about Contactless cards though ; given that TFL can apply the discount on their Oyster cards but not possible to do on Bank cards?

I don't believe so.

There's not much in it, but I use a one day off peak Travelcard with Senior Discount, rather than discounted London Terminals plus Oyster. Off Peak travelcards apply in the evening peak when Oyster fares are higher.

 

[PeterC]

I don't believe so.

There's not much in it, but I use a one day off peak Travelcard with Senior Discount, rather than discounted London Terminals plus Oyster. Off Peak travelcards apply in the evening peak when Oyster fares are higher.

As long as the outbound journey is off peak then the off peak cap will apply on Oyster.

 

[A Challenge]

As long as the outbound journey is off peak then the off peak cap will apply on Oyster.

Off peak cap, but the journey will still be charged at Peak rates if you don't hit the cap.

 

[MikeWh]

As long as the outbound journey is off peak then the off peak cap will apply on Oyster.

Off peak cap, but the journey will still be charged at Peak rates if you don't hit the cap.

Sorry to be pedantic but it is important. Off-peak single fares apply between 0430 and 0630, but they DON'T count towards the off-peak cap. The off-peak cap only applies after 0930. Yes, between 1600-1900 peak single fares apply but they are limited by the off-peak cap.

Also, if discounted by a railcard the zone 1-2 off-peak cap is only £4.60. This compares quite favourably with many travelcard add-ons and is much cheaper than the £8.60 railcard discounted paper travelcard.

 

[matt_world2004]

Ive heard that slough is going to be in the same internal fare zone as watford junction. This will happen when GwR smart ticketing is rolled out to internediate stations between Reading and London Paddington. Oyster will be rolled out at the same time. Testing for this apparently caused london underground ticket machines to produce a watford junction paper ticket when someone requested Slough as a destination.