On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 18:41:46 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:

but I'm not referring to season tickets. I'm talking about single and
return fares and unless I've missed something recently TOC fares have
always been higher than the equivalent LUL fare.

Off peak return fares on National Rail are usually cheaper than tube
fares because tube returns are still twice the single, whereas TOC off
peak day returns are usually almost not much more than a peak single.

Examples:

East Croydon to London Terminals
3.60 Standard Day Single
4.70 Cheap Day Return
6.00 Standard Day Return

Zone 5 to Zone 1 tube fa
3.50 Single
7.00 Return
(5.40 Off Peak Day Travelcard)

East Croydon to Clapham Junction
3.10 Standard Day Single
3.60 Cheap Day Return
5.00 Standard Day Return

Zone 5 to Zone 2 tube fa
2.20 Single
4.40 Return
(3.80 Off Peak Day Travelcard)