PTAC Oyster Advice

[Astro_Orbiter]

Hi all, I'll shortly be commuting from Chelmsford to Central London, with no special discount cards beyond a PTAC Oyster, and perhaps a Railcard (not Priv). What might the best way financially to do this? A regular season ticket is £4480 per year. Would it be possible to work the PTAC in there somehow to make it cheaper? Changing at Shenfield or at least tapping in there, or is the PTAC not valid at shenfield, and if so is it only valid on TFL Rail so I couldn't get on the fast GA service.
Any advice much appreciated, if I can avoid paying almost 5k I'd be super pleased.

 

[Watershed]

Hi all, I'll shortly be commuting from Chelmsford to Central London, with no special discount cards beyond a PTAC Oyster, and perhaps a Railcard (not Priv). What might the best way financially to do this? A regular season ticket is £4480 per year. Would it be possible to work the PTAC in there somehow to make it cheaper? Changing at Shenfield or at least tapping in there, or is the PTAC not valid at shenfield, and if so is it only valid on TFL Rail so I couldn't get on the fast GA service.
Any advice much appreciated, if I can avoid paying almost 5k I'd be super pleased.

How often will you be commuting, and what time will you need to arrive into London? Is it Liverpool Street you need to go to, or somewhere else?

What Railcard is it that you're eligible for? The conditions vary slightly between each type.

 

[Haywain]

Changing at Shenfield or at least tapping in there, or is the PTAC not valid at shenfield, and if so is it only valid on TFL Rail so I couldn't get on the fast GA service.

I believe the PTAC is only valid on TfL Rail - we saw a case on here of someone getting prosecuted for using one on GA services.

 

[Astro_Orbiter]

I believe the PTAC is only valid on TfL Rail - we saw a case on here of someone getting prosecuted for using one on GA services.

Yikes, thats what I thought might be the case.

How often will you be commuting, and what time will you need to arrive into London? Is it Liverpool Street you need to go to, or somewhere else?

What Railcard is it that you're eligible for? The conditions vary slightly between each type.

Commuting regularly, at least 4 or 5 times per week, arriving at all times of the day, peak and off peak. The ultimate destination will be Kings Cross/St Pancras. I'm eligible for the veterans railcard, network railcard or 26-30

 

[spellbound330]

Assuming it’s not a nominee PTAC (which is leisure only), you should definitely use it for TFL Rail and the tube section of your journeys as this will give you the greatest discount out of all the railcards.

If you are tapping in at Shenfield then you could link your 26-30 or veterans railcard to an Oyster card. You should be able to use that both during the peak and off peak, saving a third of the adult oyster fare for GA services.

The 26-30 or veterans railcard will allow you to travel between Chelmsford and Shenfield during peak time (with a £12 minimum fare), or off peak. I’d personally get the veterans railcard as it has more benefits than the 26-30.

In most cases using a railcard to buy your ticket each day, especially one that allows a discount during the peak (as in the case of the veterans and 26-30 railcard, obviously with the £12 minimum fare), will be cheaper than buying the season ticket equivalent.

 

[MotCO]

What is PTAC?

 

[reb0118]

What is PTAC?

Privilege Travel Authority Card?

This is the TfL equivalent of the Railway Staff Travel Card.

 

[Astro_Orbiter]

Assuming it’s not a nominee PTAC (which is leisure only), you should definitely use it for TFL Rail and the tube section of your journeys as this will give you the greatest discount out of all the railcards.

If you are tapping in at Shenfield then you could link your 26-30 or veterans railcard to an Oyster card. You should be able to use that both during the peak and off peak, saving a third of the adult oyster fare for GA services.

The 26-30 or veterans railcard will allow you to travel between Chelmsford and Shenfield during peak time (with a £12 minimum fare), or off peak. I’d personally get the veterans railcard as it has more benefits than the 26-30.

In most cases using a railcard to buy your ticket each day, especially one that allows a discount during the peak (as in the case of the veterans and 26-30 railcard, obviously with the £12 minimum fare), will be cheaper than buying the season ticket equivalent.

Thanks for this, so it seems my options are:
-Buy a ticket with a veterans Railcard each day for travel, for the complete Chelmsford to Liv st journey, and reap the benefits of no changes and faster journey time.
-Buy a Railcard ticket to Shenfield, change for TFL Rail using PTAC for the remainder of the journey.
I'm kind of averse to buying an annual season, mainly for the fact that due to shift work I would only travel usually 4 days out of 7.
Thanks for your advice

 

[AlbertBeale]

Hi all, I'll shortly be commuting from Chelmsford to Central London, with no special discount cards beyond a PTAC Oyster, and perhaps a Railcard (not Priv). What might the best way financially to do this? A regular season ticket is £4480 per year. Would it be possible to work the PTAC in there somehow to make it cheaper? Changing at Shenfield or at least tapping in there, or is the PTAC not valid at shenfield, and if so is it only valid on TFL Rail so I couldn't get on the fast GA service.
Any advice much appreciated, if I can avoid paying almost 5k I'd be super pleased.

[EDIT} Woops - my question was answered already.

 

[spellbound330]

One thing to note is it will be useless to use any railcards if you were buying a ticket between Chelmsford and Shenfield during the peak as both the single and return fares are below £13. The off-peak starts relatively early on this this section of the line at 0845, and super off peak at 1200 where you will benefit from the railcard discount.

Buying a return ticket for the complete Chelmsford to London Liverpool Street journey with the railcard is worth it as the fair always be above £13.


So as you mentioned above, you essentially have two options.

1) Buy a ticket between Chelmsford and Shenfield. Change at Shenfield for a TfL rail service with the benefit of having a cheaper PTAC fare between Shenfield and London Liverpool Street, at the cost of being on a slower train. This combination should be cheaper off-peak though I’m not sure if it will be cheaper during the peak you’ll have to double check. You can use the PTAC for tube journeys from Liverpool Street.

2) Or stay on the Greater Anglia service buying a ticket between Chelmsford and London Liverpool Street with the railcard. It’s a faster train but you’ll probably pay more depending on what time of day it is.

Things to consider are there are different fares, super off peak, off peak and anytime on this route. Numerous time restrictions. The veterans railcard has a minimum fare of £12 before 10am.


I hope this helps and glad you found some of it useful.

 

[Hadders]

A 26-30 or Veterans railcard linked to Oyster only gives a discount on Off Peak fares. A Disabled Persons railcard linked to an Oyster will give a discount on Peak fares as well.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Just to clarify matters a little:

A TfL Staff/Retired Pass is valid on Greater Anglia between Stratford and Liverpool Street, but only on TfL Rail between Shenfield and Stratford.

Unless endorsed TfL Rail only, the PTAC can be used to obtain discounted tickets throughout the National Rail network.

However, as with an RDG issued Staff Travel Card or Rail Staff Leisure Card, it's not allowed to be used for commuting. You're expected to apply for a discounted Season ticket through Staff Travel.

On the latter point, TOC employees can apply for a discounted Flexi-Season if that suits their working pattern, but I don't know if that's an option for LU staff.

 

[Haywain]

the PTAC can be used to obtain discounted tickets throughout the National Rail network.

Is a PTAC only issued to 'safeguarded' staff?

 

[CyrusWuff]

Is a PTAC only issued to 'safeguarded' staff?

Yes, though as with the TOCs there's still a (non-contractual) arrangement whereby 'non-safeguarded' staff can apply for a Priv season ticket.