Paul Corfield wrote:

OEPs is a separate issue and I think it's clear that this concept is
unpopular with people even though there is an evasion risk associated
with travelling beyond zonal season availability into PAYG territory.
What is not clear is whether the modified TOC vending machines will
retail PAYG *and* also set OEPs as part of their upgraded functionality.
If that is the case then it avoids people having to seek out TfL
ticketing facilities to set OEPs before they travel out of zone -
assuming a start in TOC territory and within the validity of a
Travelcard.


Here's hoping - off the top of my head a potential nightmare set of stations
are the Zone 6 ones in the Epsom & Ewell area - Ewell East, Ewell West,
Epsom Downs and Tattenham Corner. None are in the Greater London so I doubt
there are many shops in the area selling Oyster near any of these. And even
if there are, most of these stations have residential areas in the immediate
vicinity with shops some inconvenient walking distance away with no obvious
sign for the uninitiated of where to find Oyster. Plus this is an area where
evening and Sunday opening hours are tighter than in central London so there
will be periods when people simply cannot buy an OEP locally.

Of course being outside Greater London probably means nobody will easily be
able to kick up a fuss (unless local MP Chris Grayling goes back to the
Transport portfolio) but I wouldn't be surprised if people can find outer
suburb stations in similar circumstances - Belmont immediately springs to
mind as

If you really want to see the striking differences between north and
south of the Thames in terms of fares then a look at the 2010 maps for
child and 16+ PAYG charges throws the "split" into sharp focus. On
issues like this I can see why people may end up being very ****ed off
that their local TOC did not join the party earlier. Even the new bit of
C2C land in Essex offers free child travel for 5-10 year olds - that's
an interesting decision by C2C.

I note that this isn't entirely a north-south issue though with National
Express *not* having the cheaper fares east of Stratford - nice.