So, picture this:
You're travelling from London to Sydenham, fairly late at night.
The station is closed, but the side gate next to it is open.
If you're travelling on Oyster PAYG, do you have to cross to the London-bound platform to touch out, because you cannot physically access the Oyster readers on the Croydon-bound platform? Or do you not have to touch out in such circumstances?
Late night Oyster
I had to do this last night to avoid paying the penalty of maximum fare for not touching out. Stupid state of affairs. Next time, I shan't bother to touch in at London Bridge; the gates are often open late at night.
The rollout of Oyster PAYG at Sydenham has been totally bungled. You can't top up an Oyster at the station, but you can do so in the shop just over the bridge. The station staff are unable to diagnose the problem when your Oyster swipe results in a red light and a closed barrier. I would email TfL about their diabolical lack of planning, but given the lack of a response to my query about why the platform was still an ice rink last week, I don't think I'll waste my time.
TfL don't half take the p*ss out of their customers.
The rollout of Oyster PAYG at Sydenham has been totally bungled. You can't top up an Oyster at the station, but you can do so in the shop just over the bridge. The station staff are unable to diagnose the problem when your Oyster swipe results in a red light and a closed barrier. I would email TfL about their diabolical lack of planning, but given the lack of a response to my query about why the platform was still an ice rink last week, I don't think I'll waste my time.
TfL don't half take the p*ss out of their customers.
Re: Late night Oyster
You have to 'touch out' and end your journey, otherwise you will pay the 'daily cap'. The way in which Oyster charges for journeys is different from what you might expect.dickp wrote:If you're travelling on Oyster PAYG, do you have to cross to the London-bound platform to touch out, because you cannot physically access the Oyster readers on the Croydon-bound platform? Or do you not have to touch out in such circumstances?
When you started your journey by 'touching in' at London Bridge your Oyster had £6:30 deducted (This is the off-peak daily Oyster cap)
When you 'touch out' at Sydenham, your fare is calculated and a refund for the difference is put on your card.
There is a lot of confusion about how the automatic deduction of daily caps work when there are different peak and off-peak caps.
Have a look at the following discussion on the Virtual Norwood website
Last edited by jmc on 10 Jan 2010 23:45, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Late night Oyster
so what happens if you only have enough credit on the card for one single journey back to sydenham?jmc wrote: When you started your journey by 'touching in' at London Bridge your Oyster had £6:30 deducted (This is the off-peak daily Oyster cap)
When you 'touch out' at Sydenham, your fare is calculated and a refund for the difference is put on your card.
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biscuitman1978
- Posts: 1588
- Joined: 16 May 2006 20:14
- Location: Chislehurst; previously Sydenham
Welcome to the forum, AD. When you say the 'gates were open', do you mean on the London-bound platform or the Croydon-bound platform?AD wrote:Hello all, I am a new member. I emailed TFL re the fact you cannot tap your Oyster out late at night, and also rang the Oyster helpline. On Wednesday evening returning to Sydenham at approx 11pm the gates were open, although unmanned but you can still tap out! Good news, lets hope they remain open
I ask because dickp's concern is, I think, that you can't touch out on the Croydon-bound platform after the ticket office building has closed. Instead, you have to cross the footbridge and touch out on the gates on the London-bound platform, which for people living east of the station is inconvenient. Or is the ticket office buiding now open until the last train has departed?
Re: Late night Oyster
You're telling me - it's something of a nightmare so far. I've already been clobbered once for, late at night, forgetting (it was the first time I'd used it, only a few days into January) that I needed to touch out too at my local station, where the validators aren't even in your direct line of sight between the train door and the exit. TFL must be going to make a fortune out of this - think of all those drunk people coming back from London on Friday and Saturday nights - do you think many of them are going to remember about touching out? Add to that the fact that TFL couldn't even get their act together sufficiently to produce suitable leaflets to introduce all us newbies to the complexities of the card in time ...jmc wrote:When you started your journey by 'touching in' at London Bridge your Oyster had £6:30 deducted (This is the off-peak daily Oyster cap)
When you 'touch out' at Sydenham, your fare is calculated and a refund for the difference is put on your card.
There is a lot of confusion about how the automatic deduction of daily caps work when there are different peak and off-peak caps.
I'm seriously considering abandoning my Oyster for the return journey and buying a paper ticket - I don't know what the price difference is, but it might be worth it to make sure I don't get overcharged on the way home.
It appears that the ticket office at Sydenham and FH stations is to be left open until the last train, so that Oyster PAYG passengers can "touch out" at the ticket barriers. According to the guy in charge at Sydenham, it was because "someone had written to TfL."
Probably more than one 'someone' but some of them were clearly the Sydenham Society and Forest Hill Societies.
http://www.southlondonpress.co.uk/tn/Ne ... =Commuters
Probably more than one 'someone' but some of them were clearly the Sydenham Society and Forest Hill Societies.
http://www.southlondonpress.co.uk/tn/Ne ... =Commuters
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biscuitman1978
- Posts: 1588
- Joined: 16 May 2006 20:14
- Location: Chislehurst; previously Sydenham
Re: Late night Oyster
alywin wrote:think of all those drunk people coming back from London on Friday and Saturday nights - do you think many of them are going to remember about touching out?
Well they shouldn't be using the railway when drunk anyway should they?!
Railway Bylaw 4.(1)
No person in a state of intoxication shall enter or remain on the railway.
Bensonby: Does this bylaw apply to all railways (London Overground, Underground, Tramlink and trams and other non-National Rail operations?)
BTW had a delightful ride on the Dartford SouthEastern line last Sunday. Accompanied by two lager swilling gentlemen discussing the appropriate punishment for someone who had grassed one up with juicy anecdotes. I particulary remember the enforcer who "never uses his hands, always a weapon". Shotguns were the preferred option but a wrap across the knuckles with a bicycle chain was used to attract attention.
Someone I know who uses that line regulary wears a kevlar stab vest. Available on fleabay apparently. Makes our Southern service/oyster issues seem quite genteel ...
Stuart
BTW had a delightful ride on the Dartford SouthEastern line last Sunday. Accompanied by two lager swilling gentlemen discussing the appropriate punishment for someone who had grassed one up with juicy anecdotes. I particulary remember the enforcer who "never uses his hands, always a weapon". Shotguns were the preferred option but a wrap across the knuckles with a bicycle chain was used to attract attention.
Someone I know who uses that line regulary wears a kevlar stab vest. Available on fleabay apparently. Makes our Southern service/oyster issues seem quite genteel ...
Stuart
Thomas wrote:Oh dear, looks like I've been breaking the law all these years! I would be interested in seeing how this gets enforced at about 11:30pm on a Friday night.
Thank you as ever Bensonby for your detailed knowledge of all those obscure bits of law.
not obscure at all.....indeed, it's a bit of a duplication of a law as it is, after all, illegal to be drunk in any public place courtesy of s.9 of the licensing act 1872.
I believe operating companies have the right to set bylaws. However, as far as I am aware they all basically follow the same set of bylaws. Some just choose to exercise different powers etc. (such as banning alcohol on the tube)stuart wrote:Bensonby: Does this bylaw apply to all railways (London Overground, Underground, Tramlink and trams and other non-National Rail operations?)
So the simple answer is 'yes'...