Oyster Simplified

One of the most confusing aspects of Oyster usage on National Rail is coming to an end. As of 22 May, the Oyster Extension Permit (OEP) will no longer be required for travel on the trains.

As explained in our earlier article an OEP was required if you had a Travelcard loaded on your Oyster and travelled from a station covered by your Travelcard to a Network Rail station outside your zones. For example, if you had a zone 1-3 Travelcard and travelled to Croydon from Forest Hill, then you needed an OEP if travelling to East Croydon (operated by Network Rail), but not West Croydon (operated by TfL).

This simplification will be welcomed by all Oyster Travelcard holders who will now simply tap in and out on their PAYG journeys.

Fuller Oyster Facilities available at local stations

After a year of lobbying, we have just been informed by TfL that passengers can now purchase a Monthly ticket on Oyster directly from the ticket office or Ticket Vending Machines at the London Overground stations on the Sydenham line. No longer will you have to go to London Bridge or a station north of New Cross Gate.

If a passenger requires an Annual season ticket on Oyster however, they can request it from the station but it would have to be collected the following day (or later). TfL apologised if staff have been advising passengers to travel to another station as this is not the case and LOROL has confirmed that the staff have been re-briefed them so this should not happen again.

While not ideal, this is at least progress.

Oyster PAYG Explained

Oyster is now valid on the trains as well as the tube, buses and trams, which is great news. Indeed an additional 500,000 journeys have been made using Oyster Pay as You Go every week on the National Rail network since 2 January. However, there have been a few teething problems, with a lack of Oyster readers at the local stations and some people have been over charged for their train journeys due to problems touching in and out.

At the moment you cannot buy an Oyster card at the station. LOROL (the people who operate Forest Hill station for TfL) are supposed to be upgrading the ticket counter machines by April so that they will be able to sell PAYG Oyster cards and weekly Travelcards on Oyster, but the machines will not be able to register new Oyster cards so you will not be able to buy Monthly or Annual season Travelcards on a new Oyster card. It is unclear whether you will be able to buy a Monthly or Annual Travelcard on a previously registered Oyster Card

In a series of posts, we will explain how things should work (below), how they may go wrong, how to get the cheapest fare and how daily price capping works.

So how should it work?

An Oyster card can hold a maximum of three Travelcards and £90 pay as you go credit on it. You can also add your Disabled Persons, HM Forces, Senior or 16-25 Railcard if you are eligible.

Bus and tram journeys are charged at £1.20 for adults or 60p if you are entitled to the 16+, New Deal or Bus & Tram Discount fare. You are charged when you touch-in on the Oyster reader. The amount deducted and the remaining balance are displayed on the reader when you touch in. There is no need to touch out when using buses or trams. The Bus & Tram Discount scheme is available to help Londoners on Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance and those who have been receiving Jobseeker's Allowance for a minimum of 13 weeks.

When travelling by tube, train or DLR using Oyster PAYG, you need to touch in at the start AND end of your journey. When you touch in, an entry charge is deducted from your Oyster card. This is known as the “maximum fare” which is currently £6 (peak) and £4.30 (off peak) within Zones 1-6. When you touch out at the end of your journey, the correct fare for your journey is calculated
and your PAYG balance is adjusted as appropriate.

You only need sufficient credit on your Oyster card to pay the minimum fare when touching in. In other words, your Oyster PAYG can go overdrawn but it will disable any Travelcard you may have on it until the PAYG balance is back in credit.

If you have a Travelcard on your Oyster, you will want to know how to combine your Oyster with PAYG

Oyster PAYG - What is the cheapest fare?

The Off Peak Day Return which used to be available on the trains has been discontinued with the introduction of Oyster PAYG. You can still buy a paper ticket, and we have tried to work out the various costs for you. There is still some confusion as to what fares will be charged for the East London Line, but at the moment, it looks as though we will be charged TfL rates for stations served by the ELL.

TfL have taken advantage of the flexibility of Oyster to introduce an evening peak period. As a result, the Peak Fare now applies Monday-Friday 0630-0930 and 1600-1900. Off-Peak fares are charged at all other times and on Public Holidays. The fare will be determined by the time the Oyster card is touched in, rather than the time of departure of the train, so be careful when travelling around 0930, 1600 or 1900.

As can be seen from the table below, the cheapest fare currently available is with a Gold Card discount followed by Oyster, with cash fares (Paper tickets) being the most expensive single fare.

Journey	Oyster Peak	Oyster Off-Peak	Paper Single	Gold Card Single	Paper Return	Gold Card Return
Forest Hill – Underground 1-3	£3.70	£3.10	£5.10	£3.50	£8.60	£5.70
Forest Hill – London Bridge	£2.60	£2.00	£3.10	£2.05	£5.30	£3.50
Forest Hill – Victoria	£2.60	£2.00	£3.10	£2.05	£5.30	£3.50
Forest Hill – New Cross Gate	£1.80	£1.50	£2.10	£1.15	£3.70	£1.90
Forest Hill – Honor Oak Park	£1.40	£1.30	£1.70	£1.15	£2.90	£2.90
Forest Hill – Norwood Junction	£1.80	£1.50	£2.10	£1.40	£3.70	£2.45
Forest Hill – West Croydon	£2.20	£1.70	£2.60	£1.70	£4.50	£2.95

If the fares switch to TfL's Zonal system when the East London Line starts operation, then these fares could be reduced by up to £1 (However, fares to Victoria and London Bridge might increase by 10p or 40p, but this is unclear at the moment).

Does Oyster have a One Day Travelcard?

Oyster cards work slightly differently from paper tickets. Instead of buying a One Day Travelcard in advance, with Oyster you simply touch in and out on all your journeys but the amount you are charged each day is capped to the equivalent Travelcard. However, be warned that if you fail to touch out then you will be charged the maximum fare for that journey and it will not count towards your daily cap.

If you only travel on buses and trams between 0430 one day and 0429 the next, then your charges will be capped at £3.90 for adults or £1.95 if you are entitled to the 16+, New Deal or Bus & Tram Discount fare.

When you travel on the tube, trains or DLR, then the daily price cap is the same price as an equivalent One Day Travelcard for adults and 16+. The child fare is capped at half the Adult fare for peak and £1 for off-peak. The current Adult caps are

Zones Covered	Peak	Off Peak
Travelcard 1-3, 1-4	£8.60	£6.30
Travelcard 2-6	£9.00	£5.10
Travelcard 1-6	£14.80	£7.50

Once you reach a cap, you must continue to touch your Oyster card on the card reader on every journey, to ensure you pay the correct fare for the zones you travel through. If you do not, you could be charged a maximum cash fare, a Penalty Fare or you may be prosecuted

However, the cheapest way to travel at the weekend or on Public Holidays is with a Network Railcard. This allows you to buy a Zone 1-6 Travelcard for only £5.00. The railcard itself costs £25 unless you are lucky enough to know someone with an Annual Gold card, in which case it will only cost £1.

Oyster PAYG - When do things go wrong?

There are a number of circumstances when you might not be charged the amount you expected or are used to paying with your old, trusty paper ticket.

• If you don't touch in and out correctly, then you will be charged the "maximum fare" as the initial charge is not adjusted. Since the system only registered one touch, it cannot adjust your fare and you may pay more than you should. Your journey will not count towards your daily price cap as you have broken the rules.

• If your journey takes longer than the maximum time allowed, then you will be charged two "maximum fares"; one when you touch in and the other when you touch out. Your journey will not count towards your daily price cap as you have broken the rules. The maximum journey times are shown below

  
  

  Maximum Journey Time (minutes)	Mon-Fri 04:30-19:00	Mon-Fri from 19:00 and All day Sat	Sunday
  Within Zone 1 or 2	90	100	110
  Within zones 1 - 2 or 2 - 3	90	100	110
  Within 1 zones	70	80	85
  across 2 zones	80	90	100
  across 3 zones	90	100	110
  across 4 zones	100	110	120
  across 5 zones	110	125	135
  across 6 zones	120	132	144
  across 7 zones	130	145	160
  across 8 zones	140	155	170
  across 9 zones	150	165	180

• Some journeys involve you changing station (for example, London Bridge to London Underground or Charing Cross to Embankment). These are known as "Out of Station Interchanges", or OSI, and you are allowed a fixed amount of time to make the change. This can be as little as ten minutes, but is typically longer. For example, when changing between National Rail and the Underground at London Bridge or Charing Cross, you have 20 minutes when transferring from Rail to Underground and 40 minutes when coming home (as you may have to wait for your platform to be announced). A full list can be found on London Reconnections. If you take longer than this, your trip will count as two journeys and it will cost you more.
• If you decide not to travel having touched in, or your train is cancelled and you decide to take a bus instead, then you will be charged a 'Platform Fee' equivalent to the minimum fare (£1.40 at Forest Hill) provided it is between two and 30 minutes since you touched in. If you call the Oyster helpline, they will refund this at their discretion.
• For some journeys, there is more than one route option available. For example, if you're going across London you may have the option of avoiding Zone 1. Pink Oyster Validators (rather than the usual yellow readers) have been installed at 11 stations so that you pay the lower fare. Simply touch your Oyster card on the pink validator to prove you used the cheaper route. The 11 stations are

  Blackhorse road	Kensington (Olympia)	West Brompton
  Gospel Oak	Rayners Lane	Willesden Junction
  Gunnersbury	Richmond
  Highbury & Islington	Stratford	Wimbledon

If you feel that you have been unjustly overcharged, you should allow 48 hours before calling the Oyster helpline on 0845 330 9876 between 8am and 8pm. It is also possible to call TfL during office hours on 020 7222 5600 (ask for Oystercard Ticketing & Refunds)to avoid these charges if your calling plan includes geographic numbers.

Oyster PAYG - Can I combine PAYG with a Travelcard on Oyster?

Yes. If you have a Bus & Tram Pass on Oyster you can use Oyster PAYG for rail journeys or if you have a Travelcard then you can use Oyster PAYG to travel outside the area covered by your Travelcard.

The process is very simple, unless you are travelling from the zones covered by your Travelcard to a National Rail station outside your zones. In this case, you will need to enable something called an Oyster Extension Permit (OEP) before you travel. You do not need an OEP when travelling to a TfL destination. Bizarrely, we believe that this will mean that someone with a Zone 1-4 Travelcard on their Oyster will need to obtain an OEP to travel from Forest Hill to East Croydon, but not for travel to West Croydon (as it is run by TfL). TfL do not like OEPs and have asked the Rail companies to justify the need for them.

Although OEPs are free, you must have at least £1.50 pay as you go balance on your Oyster card to set an OEP. If you travel beyond the zones covered by your Travelcard without an Oyster Extension Permit you may be liable to a penalty fare or prosecution.

In theory, you can get your OEP at any touch-screen ticket machine, Oyster Ticket Stop, Tube or London Overground station ticket office. However, until they sort out our local ticket counters, you will have to obtain your OEP from one of the local Oyster Ticket stops (newsagent) or the Ticket Machines outside the station. We have found that only one of the local Oyster vendors (Forest Hill Supermarket on Dartmouth Road) understands the process.

TfL recommend that you only obtain your OEP just before you need it as having an OEP enabled effectively turns your Oyster card into a PAYG card, but you can actually set an OEP at any time. However, once you have an OEP on your Oyster, you must touch in and out on every journey until you have touched out outside your Travelcard area in order to avoid paying the maximum fare.

If you fail to touch in and out on once you have set your OEP journey, then you will be charged the maximum fare. If this results in your PAYG balance being overdrawn (since it is possible for your Oyster card to go overdrawn when touching in), your Travelcard will be disabled until the PAYG balance is back in credit.

In summary:

• If you have an OEP set on your Oyster card, then you must touch in and out on every journey to avoid being charged the maximum fare. OEPs can be removed or disabled at the Ticket Vending machines.
• When travelling entirely within the area covered by your Travelcard, you do not normally need to touch in and out as you have already paid for your journey. The only exception to this is if you have set an OEP but have not travelled outside your area, in which case you must touch in and out on every journey
• When travelling entirely outside the area covered by your Travelcard you simply need to touch in and out and do not need an OEP. The system knows that this is a PAYG journey and so will deduct the maximum fare when you touch in and credit your balance when you touch out
• When travelling from within the area covered by your Travelcard to a TfL station outside your coverage you simply need to touch in and out and do not need an OEP. All TfL stations are gated and so you have to touch out to get through the gate
• When travelling from within the area covered by your Travelcard to a National Rail station, you must set an OEP on your card before travelling. You must also touch in and out

Oystergate continued - Letter to Southern Railway

Southern Railway once again have plans to close the Perry Vale exit after 8pm and to install ticket barriers close to the foot of the stairs at this exit. The Forest Hill Society has written to object to these plans, see below:


To: ian.rashbrook@southernrailway.com
Cc: Cllr John Russell, Cllr John Paschoud, Steve Bullock, Jim Dowd MP, Passenger Focus, London TravelWatch, Lewisham Head of Transport.

Dear Ian,

I was hoping that in the last two weeks you may have had an opportunity to respond to my previous email. As you will know the planning committee accepted the plans for the new ticket barriers at Forest Hill Station as they believed there were no planning grounds on which to object to this application.

However, the Forest Hill Society continue to have significant concerns about the plans for the new barriers at Perry Vale, specifically on the grounds of passenger safety and access to the station outside peak hours.

As I mentioned below the previous closure of this exit, the main exit during the evenings, prompted an outcry from local people, Jim Dowd raised the issue in Parliament, a council motion was raise by Councillor Russell which was passed, and a meeting at Forest Hill station with Mayor Sir Steve Bullock, Jim Dowd, representatives of the Forest Hill Society, London TravelWatch, Southern Railway, and London Rail.

It was confirmed by Southern Railway's representatives at the planning committee meeting that the gates will be shuttered and locked from around 8pm every evening causing major inconvenience to people living in Forest Hill. Already many less able-bodied people are unwilling to use Forest Hill station for their journeys from London Bridge, preferring to alight at Sydenham and get the bus back again (not a quick journey). For half of rail users who live on the east of the station they will be forced to go up a flight of steps, across the footbridge, down another flight of steps, out of the station and round WHSmith, down another flight of steps, though a badly lit underpass, and then up another small flights of steps, when they can currently use the single set of steps that you will be locking up in the evenings.

The planning officer responsible for the case has confirmed that a risk assessment has been undertaken, including a passenger count, but that details could not be provided to him "as it is an internal Network Rail document". I do not believe any such headcounts have been undertaken since the plans for barriers on platform 1, when headcounts and passenger flows were calculated by closing this exit. I believe that any modelling that was done based on this research cannot be used to apply to the Perry Vale exit, which gets more than 50% of the traffic from mid afternoon until after midnight. I would urge you to make any such documents available so that everybody can understand why you believe there is no safety risk - I am sure that there are ways to obtain these documents (at least by some of those copied on this email).

During rush hour the barriers present a danger to passengers due to the distance of the gates to the bottom of the steep stairs, going round a corner, and all in poor lighting conditions. In the event of one or two Oyster or paper tickets failing to function quickly this will lead to a rapid backlog of people round the corner and up the steps. In wet or icy conditions, passengers all have umbrellas open - blocking the dim light available, and restricting access to the furthest ticket barriers from the stairs. These conditions will inevitably lead to slips and injuries to rail passengers, something which should be a major concern when making such changes to access.

I have already noticed that there are rarely staff at the Perry Vale exit after 6pm during the height of rush hour services. Your argument that these plans are about revenue protect simply do not match with the service that you currently provide. The level of manning by revenue protection officers would suggest that when ticket barriers are installed we can expect closure of these gates during the main evening rush hour.

I believe it is in the interest of Southern Rail to resolve this situation by changing the plans for gates at the station. There is space for you to install ticket barriers further from the steps, there is another option of placing level access ticket barriers to provide a new exit at the Perry Vale car park, where there is plenty of space for such a structure.

Barriers that are installed must be open during all hours of operation until TfL take over the running of the station in September 09, when they will provide this level of service. If this cannot be achieved with the gates locked then they should be left open or a temporary alternative exit provided at this side of the station.

I would ask that a meeting take place at Forest Hill Station, after 5pm on a weekday in the next couple of months, so that you and John Oliver can understand the difficulties presented by the scheme that has been drawn up for one of the busiest stations on your network, and I would welcome your suggestion on another busy station that I can visit during rush hours to see how the positioning of gates at the base of steps will work in practise. As far as I can recall there are no such barriers anywhere in central London on the overground or underground systems, but I have not personally visited them all.

I hope you understand that the Forest Hill Society does welcome the introduction of ticket barriers for revenue protection and for the advantages of using pre-pay Oyster cards in the future. However, safety and accessibility are our primary concerns and we hope that you also take these concerns seriously.

I can only apologise to all those I have copied in that I have once again had to involve you in this issue when we thought that we had resolved the situation back in July. I hope that we can continue to count on your support to maintain the safety and limited accessibility that we do have for passengers at Forest Hill.

Good News ... BUT ...

We’ve recently learned from Southern Railways that when Oyster readers come into operation at Forest Hill Station in January 2009, the gate to Perry Vale will be kept shut throughout the day, only opening during evening peaks. From 3pm until the end of the peak, members of staff will be on hand to read everyone’s oyster card with handheld readers.

This system would inevitably create delays for passengers exiting at Perry Vale. We also question whether staff would be willing to stand in the rain, snow, or freezing/boiling temperatures for hours at a time with trains every five minutes. In reality, this system is likely to lead to the gates being closed all day.

The Forest Hill Society, along with Councillor John Paschoud, is putting pressure on Southern Railways and others involved in the Oyster implementation to avoid shutting the gate. There are two alternatives that we would prefer:

1. Oyster reader available at the Perry Vale exit for pre-pay customers to swipe in and out, similar to the system in place until recently at New Cross Gate. This would allow the exit to remain open as it does today.

2. A new exit onto Perry Vale car park providing staffed ticket barriers all day and an accessible entrance to the station on the Perry Vale side of the station.

Further problems will occur at Sydenham and Brockley where the exits on the northbound (Sydenham) and southbound (Brockley) platforms will be remotely operated for disabled passengers only. Of course, once these gates are opened there will be nobody to stop other passengers flooding through the gates. Honor Oak Park station should be fairly straightforward as a single set of barriers can be placed in the ticket hall.

Definitely one to watch.