Oyster Travelcard Touching In/Out Question

[wimbledonpete]

Hi

I have a z1-z4 annual travelcard loaded on to my Oyster plus a PAYG balance for out of zone journeys. I know that I don't HAVE to touch in or touch out within my zones but I'm intrigued by my journey history.

On Friday, for example, touched in at Piccadilly Circus and out at Waterloo then back in at Waterloo but at Motspur Park there's one Oyster reader with a big scrum of people round it so I didn't touch out. All fine, nothing charged, but the journey history says "Piccadilly Circus - [No touch out]".

Why does it ignore the touches at Waterloo? Is it just because they were in zone so by default aren't counted?

Thanks!

It's because it's just a transfer through the station within a set time limit, isn't it?

 

[Mojo]

If you view the full journey history you will see that the touch in/out at Waterloo *is* recorded.

The gatelines at Waterloo LU are linked to the NR gatelines to ensure that customers using Oyster Pay As You Go are only charged one fare for their journey (e.g. the through fare from Piccadilly Circus to Motspur Park), else it would not be fair that customers have to pay for separate journeys just because there happens to be a gateline in the way! This is an Out of Station Interchange (OSI).

 

[Nym]

I'm guessing it will have treated it as an 'out of station interchange'

 

[wimbledonpete]

Thanks Mojo - hadn't noticed that option - all clear now!

 

[lyesbkz]

I know that I don't HAVE to touch in or touch out within my zones. . .

I have always wondered about the necessity of touching in and out when using a travelcard.

6.6 Using a season ticket on your Oyster card
6.6.1 When you use Underground, London Overground and National Rail services, you must touch your Oyster card on the yellow card reader at both the start and the end of your journey. If the ticket gates at stations are open you must still touch your Oyster card on the yellow card reader.

 

[Deerfold]

I have always wondered about the necessity of touching in and out when using a travelcard.

Although there is that in the Ts&Cs there is no penalty for not touching in/out (assuming all your travel is within the zones).

 

[wimbledonpete]

I've always been under the impression that touching in/out wasn't necessary within the zones of the travelcard - after all if you have a paper ticket you don't need to run it through the gates if they're open. Given that full or part touching produce the same effect - ie zero fare journeys - and given the Condition quoted up thread, would an RPI be able to charge a Penalty fare for the lack of a touch?

 

[Deerfold]

I've always been under the impression that touching in/out wasn't necessary within the zones of the travelcard - after all if you have a paper ticket you don't need to run it through the gates if they're open. Given that full or part touching produce the same effect - ie zero fare journeys - and given the Condition quoted up thread, would an RPI be able to charge a Penalty fare for the lack of a touch?

If you took a route which went outside your zones, yes. If you do this with a travelcard and money on your card, no.

 

[maniacmartin]

Another thing with having to touch in and out on an Oyster Travelcard is that it'd make Boundary Zone tickets pretty pointless.

 

[bb21]

Another thing with having to touch in and out on an Oyster Travelcard is that it'd make Boundary Zone tickets pretty pointless.

Why?

Boundary Zone tickets are good for travelling out and back via different routes. A ticket from a nominated station might not.

 

[MikeWh]

Another thing with having to touch in and out on an Oyster Travelcard is that it'd make Boundary Zone tickets pretty pointless.

Why?

Boundary Zone tickets are good for travelling out and back via different routes. A ticket from a nominated station might not.

I think Martin is suggesting that were TfL to insist on touching at both ends of every journey with a travelcard that it would make the benefits of BZ tickets, which can be used on non-stop trains, considerably less.

 

[bb21]

I think Martin is suggesting that were TfL to insist on touching at both ends of every journey with a travelcard that it would make the benefits of BZ tickets, which can be used on non-stop trains, considerably less.

Yes, indeed it would.

But there are other benefits to Boundary Zone tickets in addition to being able to travel on a non-stop service.