National rail CoC condition 14.3

[ten7]

Am I interpreting condition 14.3 of the national rail coc correctly? I’ve been told a number of times (using zones 1-6 monthly or annual travelcard on oyster in combination with ticket from a zone 6 station to my final destination) that I can’t use oyster on long distance services (GWR I’ve had this problem the most) as they can’t scan Oyster on their services. But 14.3 clearly states that the train doesn’t need to call at the station where the season tickets ends and extension ticket starts. And I can’t find anything which says you can’t use it on intercity trains in that combination - e.g. GWR to Reading from Paddington using zone 1-6 season tfl travelcard to west Drayton then single or return from west Drayton to Reading.

 

[Hadders]

The medium on which the ticket is held is irrelevent.

If you have a Zones 1-6 Travelcard Season held on an Oyster card it is perfectly valid to combine it with a ticket from Boundary Zone 6 or one from West Drayton. There is no requirement for the train to call in this instance.

If staff cannot read your Oyster card that is not your problem, and you should not be inconvenienced because of it. In the real world we have had many examples of staff at Padington making up their own rules and denying passengers holding perfectly valid tickets from travelling.

Please do complain, although sadly I douby anything on the ground will actually complain.

 

[redreni]

I do it all the time, though usually on trains without a guard such as the semi-fast Paddington to Didcot train. If I am going to Reading or beyond then I use the former Intercity trains and the only problems I've ever had were at the gateline, though even that's stopped since the gates leading to the low-numberer platforms began to accept Travelcards a few years ago.

I am surprised and a bit worried that you were told that. If they don't have the right equipment to verify your Travelcard that's their problem not yours. Unless they have some sort of evidence or reason to suggest there isn't a Travelcard on the Oyster card that you have offered up for inspection (in which case they'd need to find a way of checking) they have no basis for challenging you. What equipment they have or haven't got has nothing to do with validity.

As you say, your combination is valid.

What was the outcome of these conversations? Was it a case of well, I'll let you off this time but don't do it again?

 

[Watershed]

NRCoT 14.3 does indeed allow non-stop splits when combining a Travelcard - or indeed any other kind of season ticket or zonal ticket - with another ticket. There is no exclusion for "fast" services and so anyone who suggests you can't use the above combination on a non-stop Paddington-Reading service doesn't understand the rules.

To travel to/from most stations around the southeast, you can buy an extension ticket from Boundary Zone 6 (or other Boundary Zone locations as appropriate to your Travelcard). This generally costs the same as a ticket from the last station in Zone 6, but it can give you additional flexibility as it may allow you to to travel via alternative routes. This can prove especially useful in the event of disruption.

 

[thedbdiboy]

Unfortunately 'Oyster' gets conflated with the products on it. Oyster Pay-As-You-Go cannot be used on part of a through journey without physically touching out at the boundary, but it's rather too easy for less well trained staff to assume that 'Oyster' is therefore invalid in every case.

 

[ten7]

I was told by the guard that I can’t use oyster on the GWR intercity services and that I should have used the Elizabeth line. I said I have a travelcard and then he said he can’t read Oyster cards on the intercity services. After much argument, he said he’ll go and find out and he never came back so I suspect he realised his mistake.

 

[Hadders]

I was told by the guard that I can’t use oyster on the GWR intercity services and that I should have used the Elizabeth line. I said I have a travelcard and then he said he can’t read Oyster cards on the intercity services. After much argument, he said he’ll go and find out and he never came back so I suspect he realised his mistake.

The guard is completely wrong.

Oyster PAYG cannot be used to Reading but you had a Travelcard season held on Oyster with an extension from Boundary Zone 6. This combination is valid.

 

[lnerazuma]

Is this explicitly for monthly / yearly travelcard? If I've already reach zone 1-9 daily cap am i entitled to do the same thing

 

[redreni]

Is this explicitly for monthly / yearly travelcard? If I've already reach zone 1-9 daily cap am i entitled to do the same thing

No that's one of the reasons I buy 7-day Travelcards for commuting rather than use PAYG.

A leading expert on PAYG in London was unable to tell me what the extension fare to Maidenhead would be if I touched out there having already reached the Z1-6 weekly cap, but whatever it is it wouldn't qualify for a Network Railcard discount.

But that's a minor problem compared with if you'd reached the weekly cap and wanted to extend to a destination outside the contactless area without changing trains. You wouldn't be able to touch out and so you'd be charged for an incomplete journey.

You can use any Travelcard held on any medium in combination with an extension ticket, including day Travelcards as well as 7-day, monthly or annual.

 

[Hadders]

Is this explicitly for monthly / yearly travelcard? If I've already reach zone 1-9 daily cap am i entitled to do the same thing

Oyster can hold Travelcard seasons - weekly, monthly and annual are all fine. Oyster cannot hold Day Travelcards. If you use Oyster PAYG then this can't be used in combination with Boundary Zone tickets - this is because although you might have reached the cap it is not a Travelcard.
A Day Travelcard cannot be held on Oyster but it can be held on a Train Operating Company Smartcard (or on paper). Both are fine in combination with Boundary Zone tickets.

 

[ten7]

it seems to be the intercity services (such as GWR, Avanti, LNER etc) which can’t seem to grasp this concept. On Southern I normally have no issues and the southern guards all hold oyster readers.

 

[CyrusWuff]

The only formal TOC briefing I've seen about Oyster was when Travelcard Seasons on Oyster were introduced back in 2003.

The tl;dr version of that included text along the lines of "If you don't have a MOViE (Oyster reader) you should take the passenger's word for it as to what's loaded onto the card."

That was mostly an issue for the long-distance operators, given their only calling point within the Travelcard Area was the London terminus. London & South East operators all had readers.

 

[Wallsendmag]

The only formal TOC briefing I've seen about Oyster was when Travelcard Seasons on Oyster were introduced back in 2003.

The tl;dr version of that included text along the lines of "If you don't have a MOViE (Oyster reader) you should take the passenger's word for it as to what's loaded onto the card."

That was mostly an issue for the long-distance operators, given their only calling point within the Travelcard Area was the London terminus. London & South East operators all had readers.

RID2s coming to all relevent TOCs with Oval