London Banter - View Single Post - being let through barriers with an Oyster, a couple of Qs

Matthew Dickinson · January 9th 04, 07:30 PM posted to uk.transport.london

wrote in message . ..
Hi Guys,

Was travelling with a 7 day Z12 Oyster travelcard today.

I had just entered Leicester Sq tube this evening when, because of
announced delays, I decided I'd change my mind and walk up to
Tottenham Court Road station and catch the Central line instead.

However, when I tried to leave Leicester Sq station,
the barrier refused my Oystercard (I didn't notice the code), and
when I approached the barrier supervisor he just waved me out through
his gate, leaving my card with no exit record.

This left me worrying all the way up Charing X Road, that my
Oystercard was now going to be all out of sync somehow, and that I
might not be allowed back into the system at TCR.

Luckily the barriers let me in as normal at TCR, but this left me with
a couple of questions, which I wondered if any of you wouldn't mind
answering?

Q1)
When travelling with an Oyster Travelcard, how does the system handle
a situation where you somehow exit a journey without exit-validating
your card?
Is there a danger that you could be charged a full 6 zone single
ticket from your pre-pay balance like would happen on a pure pre-pay
journey, or does the system assume you made a legal journey if your
next entry is 'within your zone'?

The system will charge you £5.10 for the unresolved journey, as it
doesn't check travelcard validity until after the journey is finished.