These changes are a complete disgrace when it comes to off peak travel.. why are travellers who are using services outside the peak penalised?
Outside of zone 1 and 2 (particularly at the ends of the lines), most Underground trains are carting fresh air around, at some fairly intensive frequencies. A notable exception is possibly the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line.I doubt they're being 'penalised' as such. It's probably more that off-peak services now so busy that the 'incentive' of a discounted fare is no longer required.
London will still have separate peak and off-peak fares for regular single Oyster fares.
I'm trying to think of a city outside the UK that has separate peak/off-peak fares for local city transport. I can think of day tickets covering a region or whole country that aren't valid in morning peak, but not for an individual city.
The quoted post referred to TVMs not selling Oyster cards, which is correct. The machines at London Underground stations which sell Oyster cards would be POMs.Yes they are. A significant number of Tube ticket machines have been modified to vend them - there is now at least one in every station, except for one station somewhere in East London for some reason (I forget which one).
Neil
No, it will be £7.90 (and not £8).So am I right in thinking the following?
- Zones 1-6 Travelcard and a Network Railcard this weekend it would be £5.90
- From next year it would be £11.70
Are you sure? Edit: nm found itDisabled railcards will receive the Oyster discount during the peaks.
As I understand it, an off-peak cap will still exist (valid 0930-0429 as before) for Railcard users at 34% less than the all-day cap.How does this impact those who have railcards that can be loaded into oyster. E.g Gold Card, JSA ( not sure if there are any others, armed forces?) Surely they are going to be heavily impacted?
London will still have separate peak and off-peak fares for regular single Oyster fares.
I'm trying to think of a city outside the UK that has separate peak/off-peak fares for local city transport. I can think of day tickets covering a region or whole country that aren't valid in morning peak, but not for an individual city.
Hamburg does, you have Tageskarten and 9-Uhr-Tageskarten valid, as the name suggests, after 9am (not for 9 hours like a load of British people think, that'd be 9-Stunden-Karte if anyone did that!)
They also have normal seasons and CC-Karten, the latter being valid after 9am only. A very unusual concept in the UK - only Merseytravel have an off-peak season product that I know of.
Neil
These changes are a complete disgrace when it comes to off peak travel.. why are travellers who are using services outside the peak penalised?
only Merseytravel have an off-peak season product that I know of.
The reason they want people using Oyster instead of buying a Off Peak 1-6 Travelcard (with a railcard as I do for £5.90) is that they charge the full peak fare on Oyster between 16:30 and 18:59, while the Off Peak Day Travelcard is valid throughout, therefore making a day out more expensive.
A different issue is that Railcards currently give 34% off Off Peak PAYG fares and Off Peak Price Caps. Given that the Off Peak Price Caps are to be scrapped, Railcard holders will lose out unless TfL change their policy so as to allow Railcard discounts to contribute to the Peak Price Cap.
National Railcard off-peak daily caps will continue to be charged at a discount of 34% off the adult rate
Disabled Railcard peak and off-peak daily caps will be charged at a discount of 34% off the adult rate
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/campaign/new-fares-for-2015?intcmp=23318#on-this-page-0
National Railcard off-peak daily caps will continue to be charged at a discount of 34% off the adult rate
Disabled Railcard peak and off-peak daily caps will be charged at a discount of 34% off the adult rate
The off-peak cap remains for zonal combinations extending beyond 16. So I suppose that a literal interpretation of the TfL website quote means that the cheapest railcard-discounted off-peak cap would be the 19 I hope that's not what they really mean!
If that is the case, would it be even more so in people's interest, come January, to buy a Litchfield Trent Valley to Litchfield City annual season ticket? After all that gives you gold card discounts on the tube off peak.I suspect what they are saying is for railcards you'll be charged the 66% of the new peak cap for travel during the off-peak plus the full amount of any travel made during the peak.
There is no need to touch the Pink reader at Willesden Jcn when doing a journey from West Brompton to Stratford. The default fare is for travel via zone 2-3 (i.e. £1.50 peak and £1.60 off-peak).
The Maximum journey time for a Zone 2-3 journey is 90 Min Mon-Fri daytimes and 110 Min evenings and weekends, so you must have been very close, given the journey time is a few Min shy of an hour, plus your 25 Min wait.
Why is it bad info? It has always been like that.
Or, if I must have zone 1 a bus to Leytonstone will see my fares cap at £7.50 (instead of using Gants Hill). In fact, if I simply do not want to travel both ways by bus then a £1.50 off-peak fare either to or from Leytonstone on a different Oystercard will still work out cheaper than the £9.20 fares cap. The 20p saving would not be much, but as the saying goes "every little helps", especially if done frequently.
Yes, the clue is in the name - the cap is the maximum you'll pay if you travel in the given zones, not the minimum!(even if that wasn't the case you'd pay a cap + a fare not the next cap up).
and how they could result in even more peak time overcrowding.
Yes, indeed - I can certainly say for myself that if the off peak day paper travelcard is axed leaving just the peak one from Epsom then I'm no longer going to bother to wait for the 09.34; I'll more likely head out at around 07.45 or 08.00 on my bashing days off from work... Might as well get my money's worth...
Given that the queue at the ticket office is often 20 - 30 deep with people waiting for the 09.34 Waterloo / 09.42 Victoria on a weekday, I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one who'd be thinking like that. That number of people is an extra half a carriage worth...
As most of my visits to London are with Virgin Saturday Super Off-peak Travelcards, I have never felt it necessary to buy an Oyster Card. With the abolition of Zone 1-2 Off-peak Travelcards (like I used on Easter Monday 2013) I considered getting an Oyster.
I have now read that a £5 bus and tram pass is being reintroduced. Next year I am planning to travel from Orpington to and around central London by bus, but avoid DLR, Underground or trains apart from one back from a non-zone 1 station like Herne Hill. So, if I use an Oyster card, will it charge me £5 (or less) for the buses and a seperate fare for the train, or charge me for effectively an Off-peak or even Peak Travelcard?
Rather ironically the 09.34 is usually rather more rammed than the three or four services preceeding it... Of course at 08.00 the picture will be somewhat different, I agree, but in the end the deciding factor is very likely going to be time.
It will charge a £4.40 cap for bus+tram use + individual fares for the train(s) unless that causes it to hit another cap.
Thank you for letting me know, and so quickly Deerfold. This is a fair and sensible arrangement. I gather that Oyster "calculates" the range of fares for our combination of journeys, and charges us the minimal total valid combination applicable.
Or, if I must have zone 1 a bus to Leytonstone will see my fares cap at £7.50 (instead of using Gants Hill). In fact, if I simply do not want to travel both ways by bus then a £1.50 off-peak fare either to or from Leytonstone on a different Oystercard will still work out cheaper than the £9.20 fares cap. The 20p saving would not be much, but as the saying goes "every little helps", especially if done frequently.