hi there, I’m struggling to find the best and cheapest way for my student daughter aged 16 to get to college and back everyday. We live in Horsham, she needs to travel to Turnham Green tube station peak times. It looks like she needs to go to Clapham Junction and the. Take overland to Richmond, but we aren’t in zones 1-9 so at what point can she tap in on Oyster during her journey and which component part of her journey should we get on season ticket? Do we get Horsham to Clapham Jnct and then tap in, or Horsham to Richmond and then only use Oyster for the tube. She also travels to Clapham Jnct on Saturdays, so it is six days a week during term times. A full travel card for her journey looks to be in excess of £5k per annum as she isn’t eligible for a child fare....totally stuck. I’ve applied for the zip Oyster card, but no idea what to do next! Help appreciated!
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Totally confused - Zip 16+ oyster or travel card help
- Thread starter NJD
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Welcome to the forum.
How much will she use the trains outside the college term times? You might be better getting season tickets for X months and Y days to cover terms and using return tickets and PAYG for Saturdays in the holidays.
That said, taking annual prices you need a Horsham to East Croydon season (£2712) and a zones 2-5 travelcard (£680) on the zip Oyster. So a total of £3392. There is a potential saving to be made if she doesn't mind getting off at Gatwick Airport to touch in. The Horsham to Gatwick season is £1336 and the 16+ peak single from Gatwick to East Croydon is £2.65 (£1.55 off-peak). She can make 519 single journeys at the peak rate before it would cost more than £3392 overall. There is no need to touch out at East Croydon as the fare will be calculated as an extension to the zones 2-5 travelcard.
If using daily tickets the cheapest way will be Horsham to Gatwick, touch in at Gatwick, out and back in again at East Croydon and out at Clapham Junction. This is because the East Croydon to Gatwick fare is bonkers cheap compared to through fares from anywhere north of East Croydon.
Finally, for Turnham Green you might consider using London Overground to West Brompton, District line to Earls Court and then District again to Turnham Green. Earls Court is dual zoned (1/2) and you wouldn't be charged for zone 1 as long as you touch the pink reader while changing at West Brompton. You should also touch the pink reader at Richmond if going that way.
Hope that helps.
How much will she use the trains outside the college term times? You might be better getting season tickets for X months and Y days to cover terms and using return tickets and PAYG for Saturdays in the holidays.
That said, taking annual prices you need a Horsham to East Croydon season (£2712) and a zones 2-5 travelcard (£680) on the zip Oyster. So a total of £3392. There is a potential saving to be made if she doesn't mind getting off at Gatwick Airport to touch in. The Horsham to Gatwick season is £1336 and the 16+ peak single from Gatwick to East Croydon is £2.65 (£1.55 off-peak). She can make 519 single journeys at the peak rate before it would cost more than £3392 overall. There is no need to touch out at East Croydon as the fare will be calculated as an extension to the zones 2-5 travelcard.
If using daily tickets the cheapest way will be Horsham to Gatwick, touch in at Gatwick, out and back in again at East Croydon and out at Clapham Junction. This is because the East Croydon to Gatwick fare is bonkers cheap compared to through fares from anywhere north of East Croydon.
Finally, for Turnham Green you might consider using London Overground to West Brompton, District line to Earls Court and then District again to Turnham Green. Earls Court is dual zoned (1/2) and you wouldn't be charged for zone 1 as long as you touch the pink reader while changing at West Brompton. You should also touch the pink reader at Richmond if going that way.
Hope that helps.
Wow, thank you so much that’s so helpful. I hadn’t considered the West Brompton route either. So, at Gatwick she would need to get off, Tap in and then get back on the next train? Assume there’s little time to hop of and then back on the same train. I’ve never used Oyster myself. Didn’t know pick readers existed! Thanks again, so helpful
Depending on exactly where your daughter needs to get to, don’t overlook the possibility of using the bus for the last stage. E.g., from Clapham Junction:-
- By Overground to Shepherd’s Bush, then bus 94 or 237 (different routes to near TG).
- By SWR train to Chiswick, then bus E3 or 272 (different routes to near TG).
MarlowDonkey
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London buses gave up taking cash some while ago. So a travelcard on a season ticket or otherwise, Oyster or a contactless debit or credit card are the only options.
No one from tfl can tell me whether we need to tap in at East Croydon, my daughter won’t need to break her journey and will have tickets that overlap (almost) from Horsham to E Croydon on a season ticket and a zip oyster 2-5 travel card. Apparently the season ticket can’t be added to the zip photocard and should probably be a paper ticket, but no one could confirm either way after 2 hours on the phone. Does that mean two photocards? Does she tap in at Clapham junction and the pink reader at Richmond, or only Richmond? Then she tubes from Richmond to Turnham Green - any help appreciated for the tapping in and out. So confused!
OK, there is no penalty for not touching in or out with a travelcard as long as all travel is covered by the travelcard. It is in your case because the extra from Horsham is on the paper season. There is no need to touch at either Clapham Junction or Richmond because it's all one journey. Just touch out at Turnham Green.
Thanks Mike, do we need to prove she didn’t go into zone one by using the pink reader at Richmond? Someone from tfl seemed to think so, but I’m not sure it makes sense to just tap there and at Turnham Green. My daughter seems to think that oysters are checked to see that you have tapped in/out for your journey, but it is a travelcard so does it matter? She’s worried she’ll be stopped on route to school .
If she only touches out at Turnham Green then there is no need to touch pink at Richmond. If she is checked within zones 2-5 then she will be fine. In the unlikely event that she's asked where she got on she should say Horsham and show the paper ticket.
Joe Paxton
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No. The Underground platforms at Richmond are part of the same station (i.e. within the same barriers) as the National Rail platforms, so when changing trains there are no barriers to pass through.
andrewkeith5
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This is all made possible because the Oyster card has a Travelcard on it.
Were the Oyster card pay as you go, or if there were a section of travel where the passenger intended to use the Oyster card but outside of the zones covered by the travelcard, then they would indeed need to tap in so that the Oyster system can calculate the correct fare. In this case, using the pink readers is also necessary, as these tell the pay as you go calculation that the passenger did not pass through Zone 1.
In this case, as the portion of the journey to be completed using an Oyster ticket is covered by the zones loaded into the Oyster Travelcard, then as long as the passenger does not leave the zones covered by their Travelcard they are not penalised for not tapping. The Horsham to East Croydon portion of the journey is covered by a separate paper ticket, and so is not part of the portion of the journey to be completed using the Oyster card. Therefore, the only time the Oyster card needs to be tapped is when a gateline needs to be passed, or if the passenger leaves the zones covered by their Travelcard (except in this case the bit covered by the National Rail season ticket) so that an additional fare can be charged.
At least that's how I understand it works!
Joe Paxton
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Correct.
Just a minor correction to this one, so there are no surprises.
At Richmond, on the way to Turnham Green, your daughter’s train from Clapham Junction will arrive on Platform 1. This platform is protected by a separate gate-line to the one that protects all the other platforms. Therefore for the purely practical need to operate the gates, she will need to tap out from platform 1 and tap in again at the gate-line for the Underground to Turnham Green.
In the reverse direction, she will move directly from the Underground platform to platform 2 for Clapham Junction, without passing through any gate-line. So coming home no tapping in/out at Richmond will be necessary.
A map of the station is shown at this link: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/RMD/details.html.
But I hope you now appreciate and are relaxed that your daughter will - without further charge - be free to move around at will within the relevant travelcard zones, and that tapping in and out will just be a routine thing, mainly for operating the gates.
James Wake
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There's no need to do that at all, there's stairs down from the bridge just before the gateline onto platform 2, then she can walk across to the Underground platforms without needing to go through the gates at all.
I would use the advice and route listed above, via Clapham Junction and Richmond as the default route as long as there are no disruptions. If there's a delay on that route, she can get a SWR train to Chiswick then an E3 to Turnham Green Station as has been suggested before or better still a London Overground or Southern service from Clapham Junction (platform 2 or 16) to Shepherd's Bush, then a 94 towards Acton Green which goes along Bath Road past the college.
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