Oyster validation question

[IceAgeComing]

Just a quick question about a journey that I might have to make in the next few weeks.

I live in Zone 4; South East London and might need to make a trip from my house to Southend and then from Southend into the centre of London at some point in the next few weeks. I have an Zone 1-4 travel card on my Oyster to cover my commute to work. The easiest way for me to get to Southend from my house would be to get the DLR to West Ham and pick C2C up there and logically buy a West Ham-Southend return. However that by itself wouldn't cover my trip into Fenchurch Street on the way into town. I was wondering whether per the rules I'd be able to use my Oyster to cover that section of the trip without leaving the train, validating it and then going back on the next train?

If it was a paper ticket then I know that I'd be fine and I'm sure that there'll be no checks on the train since there never usually are, but I want to try and prevent myself from any potential hassle in the unlikely event of a problem. My understanding is that I should be fine (valid ticket; and I'm sure that the staff at my local station have told me that I don't need to validate if I'm staying in Zones 1-4 since I have a travel card) but figured that its worth double-checking - the saving is only like 90p so not a significant amount but anything helps! Don't want to be thought of as someone who might be trying to pull one.

 

[swt_passenger]

Your oyster season travelcard is valid to Barking surely?

You don’t in practice need to leave the return service to touch in in order to re-start travelling on your Oyster’s validity.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Just a quick question about a journey that I might have to make in the next few weeks.

I live in Zone 4; South East London and might need to make a trip from my house to Southend and then from Southend into the centre of London at some point in the next few weeks. I have an Zone 1-4 travel card on my Oyster to cover my commute to work. The easiest way for me to get to Southend from my house would be to get the DLR to West Ham and pick C2C up there and logically buy a West Ham-Southend return. However that by itself wouldn't cover my trip into Fenchurch Street on the way into town. I was wondering whether per the rules I'd be able to use my Oyster to cover that section of the trip without leaving the train, validating it and then going back on the next train?

If it was a paper ticket then I know that I'd be fine and I'm sure that there'll be no checks on the train since there never usually are, but I want to try and prevent myself from any potential hassle in the unlikely event of a problem. My understanding is that I should be fine (valid ticket; and I'm sure that the staff at my local station have told me that I don't need to validate if I'm staying in Zones 1-4 since I have a travel card) but figured that its worth double-checking - the saving is only like 90p so not a significant amount but anything helps! Don't want to be thought of as someone who might be trying to pull one.

You can combine your tickets either at Barking or Boundary Zone 4. The fares are identical other than that there aren't any Super Off-Peak Day Returns from Boundary Zone 4 (in case if you're travelling on a weekend or bank holiday), and your train needn't stop at the boundary station for it to be a valid combination either. There is no need to detrain at Barking in either direction as you have a Travelcard (for obvious reasons, this does not work on PAYG!).

 

[Hadders]

I'd buy a Boundary Zone 4 - Southend Stations ticket as this gives flexibility on whether you use the c2c route to Southend Central or Greater Anglia to Southend Victoria. Remember that if your travelcard is an annual variant then you'll save 34% if you show your Gold Record Card.