View Single Post
  #1   Report Post  
Old January 20th 13, 04:35 PM posted to uk.transport.london
Theo Markettos Theo Markettos is offline
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Nov 2004
Posts: 236
Default Heathrow Connect and Oyster

Heathrow Connect doesn't accept Oyster cards (between Heathrow and
Hayes & Harlington). So what's the recommended method to make a journey
between Heathrow and somewhere in Oysterland, for example Stratford changing
to/from the Central at Ealing Broadway?

1. Buy paper ticket LHR to Ealing, touch in at Ealing, change to Central line
2. Paper LHR to H&H, jump off train, touch validator, dive back on again
3. Westbound only: Paper travelcard plus BZ6 to LHR (does that exist?).[1]
4. Westbound only: Paper travelcard (eg Z1-3) plus Ealing to LHR addon

Where are the 'touch in' points at H&H - is (2) likely to happen without
waiting half an hour for the next train? Similarly, is a 'touch in' at
Ealing easy without coming all the way out of the station and going back in
again?

To make life more confusing, the Network Railcard discount applies to H.Conn
tickets on weekends, but not to Oyster. Presumably there's no 'LHR to BZ6'
ticket either (no, can't find one).

[1] Hmm, BZ6 to LHR does exist:
http://www.brfares.com/#fares?orig=0...&rlc=%20%20%20
but it's more expensive (6.00) than H&H to LHR (5.20). OTOH BZ3 to LHR
http://www.brfares.com/#fares?orig=0...&rlc=%20%20%20
is cheaper (6.60 v 7.40) than Ealing to LHR.

And paper travelcards are quite expensive if you're only making one journey.
Would be cheaper to get a paper single, if you can get a Z1-3 single at LHR
(and the gates don't complain that it's never been previously seen)

Any better ideas?

Sigh. If only Heathrow Connect was 'zone 99' or something, would make life
a lot easier.

Theo