Oyster Pay As You Go Extensions

[MatthewRead]

Just like to know are there going to be anymore Oyster extensions to places such as Aylesbury, Luton and Welwyn Garden City etc.

 

[MikeWh]

Lots of places are talked about from time to time. Epsom was supposed to have been added a long time ago. I believe Welwyn Garden City and Hertford North are planned but I've no idea when. I've not heard anything about Aylesbury or Luton.

The one which will happen is Reading, but back office Oyster needs to be launched first.

 

[Feathers44]

Lots of places are talked about from time to time. Epsom was supposed to have been added a long time ago. I believe Welwyn Garden City and Hertford North are planned but I've no idea when. I've not heard anything about Aylesbury or Luton.

Epsom not being done still catches all sorts of people out. Even my wife was having to double back to Ewell West to tap out the other week just because she'd jumped on a train without thinking.

The Epsom extension idea seems to have died completely.

 

[PeterC]

Epsom not being done still catches all sorts of people out. Even my wife was having to double back to Ewell West to tap out the other week just because she'd jumped on a train without thinking.

The Epsom extension idea seems to have died completely.

It is very easy to forget that a rarely visited peripheral station is just outside rather than just inside the zones if you are in a hurry.

 

[matt_world2004]

Epsom not being done still catches all sorts of people out. Even my wife was having to double back to Ewell West to tap out the other week just because she'd jumped on a train without thinking.

The Epsom extension idea seems to have died completely.

Tfl are hardly going to cooperate with Grayling now on the natter are they?

 

[tsr]

I'd argue that all stations from Epsom to Dorking would be best added in one go to the Oyster network - in parallel with the Brighton Mainline and local bus services which do accept Oyster in the area. For the most part all stops have strong links to London and standard-class-only trains worked on a "Metro" basis - either for Southern or SWT. Indeed, I can foresee a time when, if Reading, Dorking and Redhill (and Gatwick) all accepted Oyster, it would also be sensible to include the North Downs Line throughout the entire length served by GWR.

As for Epsom itself, it was meant to have been added to the current first-generation Oyster PAYG scheme in the early days of the GTR franchise, but it's all gone very quiet. Some materials were prepared with this in mind and even saw the light of day - indeed, a couple of the posters at Epsom station itself, near the entrance, either show or used to show that the station was within the Oyster area, within a tiny list of station facilities.

 

[swt class 450]

I am pretty sure i have heard about plans to extend contactless and oyster to Heathrow Airport / Luton Airport / Stansted Airport similar to what they have done at Gatwick Airport recently.

 

[tsr]

I am pretty sure i have heard about plans to extend contactless and oyster to Heathrow Airport / Luton Airport / Stansted Airport similar to what they have done at Gatwick Airport recently.

Heathrow already has it for some modes, and I'd be very surprised if future methods of transport to and from both London and Reading didn't follow this example.

 

[TUC]

The Ashford/Staines area is one obvious gap, given their proximiity to Heathrow, which is within the Oyster area for tube purposes, and that, in terms of distance from London, they are nearer than some of the existing Southern extensions.

 

[JonathanH]

The problem with Oyster extensions is that TfL / DfT don't really have an agreement on what fares should be charged.

TfL already had a point to point fare structure on its services and within London, an acceptable compromise was reached on a simplified fare structure. However, once you get outside London and try to extend the London zonal structure beyond the zones it just gets complicated and risky for the operators and the DfT.

Reading (maybe just as far as Maidenhead?) and Heathrow will have to be added because of Crossrail. However, establishing the right level of fares is going to be really complicated.

Oyster to Gatwick is great for anything on the direct line of route from Gatwick and intermediate stations to Victoria and London Bridge but anything off those routes and the fares, especially the off-peak ones, are out of scale with paper tickets. I know that I use contactless when it will work out cheaper for me and a paper ticket in other circumstances. That is why Oyster / Contactless is seen as a revenue risk to the operators and the DfT doesn't want to end up paying compensation to them for revenue dropping.

Any further extension is waiting on Oyster processing moving to the back office anyway.

 

[Hadders]

I my view the best thing would be to roll out Oyster to the former Network South East area. I bet this is what would've happened anyway if NSE was still in existence.

It would need a move to single leg pricing and some thought would need to be given to how longer distance fares (eg Long Buckby - Exeter St Davids) were dealt with in respect of the minimum amount of credit required but I'm sure a solution could be found.

Instead we have individual operator specific systems that appear to be utterly useless.

 

[plcd1]

The Ashford/Staines area is one obvious gap, given their proximiity to Heathrow, which is within the Oyster area for tube purposes, and that, in terms of distance from London, they are nearer than some of the existing Southern extensions.

While I can see the merit in extending Oyster here the lack of any reference to Oyster in the SWT franchise announcement means any prospect is dead. The emphasis was all on a franchise specific initiative. Despite local and London Travelwatch support for Oyster being extended I can't see it happening. The Grayling DfT will not endorse anything that City Hall could claim any credit for.

 

[higthomas]

Also, the idea of extending Oyster across the NSE area is not going to happen unless the barrier all the stations. Otherwise if I get onto a train at Waterloo and "forget" to touch out at some remote station down Exeter way, will I be charged £8.00 or whatever the penalty is at the moment? Because if so, SWt etc. would lose a lot of revenue. Otherwise you end up with a massive penalty for forgetting to touch out, out of proportion to a short journey across suburban London.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Extending Oyster to Epsom also requires SWT to agree the fares (they have about half the trains there) not just TSGN....

 

[JaJaWa]

Luton Airport still believe that they are getting it "soon"

 

[MatthewRead]

Luton Airport still believe that they are getting it "soon"

By 2020

 

[MatthewRead]

Will it be possible to use oyster cards to Heathrow Airport on Crossrail despite the owners taking legal action on charging them for it?

 

[greatkingrat]

I think it is pretty much certain that Oyster will be accepted on Crossrail to Heathrow once it opens. The question is whether it will be the standard zone 6 fare or some sort of premium fare.