In message 6548854.958.1331590586661.JavaMail.geo-discussion-
forums@vbhy1 of Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:16:26 in uk.transport.london,
writes
A contact is going to be commuting between Walthamstow and Feltham in
preparation for a new job and asked me to enquire about fares. It is a
part time job and only temporary so a season ticket or annual
Travelcard is not economical - the most suitable are single fares and
my contact is prepared to avoid zone 1 to receive cheaper single fares.

It would be friendlier to cross post to utl and uk.railways, rather than
multi-post so all message are symmetrically available.
I have cross-posted but the horse has bolted.
It would also be nice for your lines to wrap after some reasonable
number of characters. 72 is often advised.

The Oyster Customer Service Centre helpline on 0845 330 9876 with
options 1 and 2 is a useful place to ask the question.
They say 6.90 peak and 4.60 off-peak and that no avoiding zone 1 fares
are available.

About 10k station pairs on the Single Fare Finder have "No fares were
found for that journey". [That is counting WMW-FEL and FEL-WMW as one
journey.] I don't suppose they will be able to give a coherent answer to
why. I must resist the temptation to make an FOI Act request for them to
list those fares. I don't currently care enough to see which of those
journeys is priced on the National Rail Enquiries site.


My contact's local station is Walthamstow Queens Road, I've been
searching for single fares on the Oyster system but apparently none
exist for a journey between Walthamstow Queens Road and Feltham. I
refuse to believe this.

You're right not to do so. Logically, Oyster must have a charge - even
if it is the sum of a touched in and not touched out journey and a not
touched in and touched out journey.


Screenshot:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/picture....pictureid=2222

Fares do exist and are available from *Walthamstow Central (London
Underground)* - Feltham, interchanging at Highbury & Islington
(Victoria Line - LOROL NLL) and Richmond (LOROL NLL - SWT) for £2.30
off peak.

Screenshot:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/picture....pictureid=2223

Why are fares not available from Walthamstow Queens Road - Feltham via
Gospel Oak (interchange LOROL GOBLIN - LOROL NLL) and Richmond
(interchange LOROL NLL - SWT)?

If no fares can be produced, my contact will have to walk an additional
10 mins to Walthamstow Central for a journey that should in reality be
available from Walthamstow Queens Road.

Absolute madness.

Just kafkaesque. Fares are available; they're not documented.
Until they're documented, customers can't be charged incorrectly.
--
Walter Briscoe