In message
..com of Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:15:52 in uk.transport.london, Phil D
writes
Wonder if any of the resident Oyster gurus can assist me? I regularly

I don't know about being a guru, but have some experience and can access
sites.

make the journey from Honor Oak Park to Watford Junction and have
until recently not paid much attention to the fare (using unregistered
PAYG, so no journey history). Lately I've become curious as to the

The last 8 journeys are stored on the card and can be displayed on POMs
(Passenger Operated Machines) or printed by staff in ticket offices. You
may find that London Overground (LO) station printed statements show
station codes rather than station names - that certainly happens at
Shoreditch High Street and I believe it to be common to LO machines.

cheapest reasonable way of doing the journey. Reasonable meaning "so
that it doesn't take three hours". Used to take NR from Honor Oak to
London Bridge, then Northern to Euston and NR onwards to Watford. Am I

My reading is that that costs £7.70 peak and £5.00 off-peak.

correct in assuming this is an expensive way of doing it? Recent

Yes!

experiment has been Overground to Whitechapel, pink validator, H&C to
Euston Square and then Euston to Watford Jnct. NR, which off peak came
in at £2.50. I assume that's by virtue of the OSI between Euston Sq.

My information is that that should cost £4.00/£2.30.

and mainline? Probably not the most taxing topic ever posted, but
I don't think the OSI between Euston Square and Euston [National Rail]
is relevant.

The critical thing is that you are seen to touch out at London Bridge
[National Rail].

I looked at using 2 cards for Honor Oak Park to London Bridge [National
Rail] and London Bridge [London Underground] to Watford. The Single Fare
Finder (SFF) http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/tickets/fa...ckets/farefind
er/current/ prices the latter journey at £7.70/£5.00.

everywhere else I look seems to give different answers, and I'd just
like to know the logic behind the various fares.

I don't think there is logic.


P.

I have reformatted what the SFF says about Adult Fares between Honor Oak
Park and Watford Junction.

Oyster
£4.00 Monday to Friday from 0630 to 0930 and from 1600 to
1900.
£2.30 At all other times including public holidays.

Route 1: Via Zone 1 changing at West Hampstead Thameslink/West
Hampstead and Willesden Junction
Oyster
£6.90 Monday to Friday from 0630 to 0930 and from 1600 to
1900.
£4.10 At all other times including public holidays.
Route 2: Via Zone 1 changing between London Underground and National
Rail at Blackfriars, Cannon St, Charing Cross, Embankment,
London Bridge, Victoria or Waterloo
Oyster
£7.70 Monday to Friday from 0630 to 0930 and from 1600 to
1900.
£5.00 At all other times including public holidays.

I can make no sense of why one would take Route 1 or Route 2 given the
standard Oyster price.
Neither am I comfortable that no paper ticket price is quoted.

The time applicable to a journey is the time at which you touch in at
the first station - Honor Oak Park in this case.

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/use...language=en&se
ssionID=0&itdDate=20110901&type_origin=stop&name_o rigin=Honor%20Oak%20Pa
rk&type_destination=stop&name_destination=Watford% 20Junction&itdTime=916

suggests routes via London Bridge and Euston at £7.70/£5.00 or Canada
Water, Green Park and Euston at £4.00/£2.30 in between 61' and 71'.

I suspect, if you use that latter route, you will actually be charged
£7.70/£5.00. If so, I suggest you register the card and complain to the
Oyster Customer Service Centre for future journeys that you should be
charged £4.00/£2.30.

[Oyster CSC at 0845 330 9876 8-20 daily. (Quickest early at weekends;
otherwise expect to wait for 10+ minutes to speak to someone.) I have
not tried the next instructions: Open http://www.tfl.gov.uk/, click
"Help and Contact", "Make a Complaint", "Oyster", "Fares/Refunds" and
fill in the form. I can't remember experience at mailto://oysterenquiri
.]

Give it a week to see if they automatically give you a refund to be
picked up at your home station. I think your chance of making an
effective complaint at a ticket office is low.

PLEASE do the practical research and report your results in a follow up
on this thread.
--
Walter Briscoe