Last night, while trying to get from Gatwick Airport to E9, Google's journey planner came up the fastest route being via Clapham Junction and the Overground.

Gatwick to Whitechapel is £20.60 for an Anytime single; versus £11.20 for an Anytime single from Gatwick to Clapham Junction plus £1.50 off-peak Oyster single for the remainder of the journey. Obviously I went for the latter.

With only a couple of minutes to make the change, I couldn't see any obvious Oyster validators on platforms 1&2. A man in a high visibility tabard with a roundel on the back directed me down to the subway, where I was told that I should lean over the gateline and tap in on the entry reader.

Is this really how it's meant to be done? I was expecting a standalone reader on the platform - like on the Victoria Line at Finsbury Park.

- martin