London Banter - View Single Post - Is pay-per-use Oystercard cheaper than... an annual travelcard?

Colin Rosenstiel · January 3rd 06, 11:43 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article .com, (Richard Adamfi) wrote:

Is Oyster also not available on National Rail between West Brompton
and Earl's Court? What about a journey starting at Richmond and
ending at Stratford but via the North London Line? If none of these
are possible, then the whole thing is a massive con.

If you think it is a con, blame the TOCs for not accepting Oyster,
rather than Ken/TfL.

The TOCs were forced by the Government not to adopt Oyster because it was not Standards-compliant.

TfL advise in their publicity that a Day Travelcard may be better if
you use National Rail services.

And if going from Cambridge to London (without a Network Card) it is now the same price to use a day return to London and pre-pay capping, as long as you stay within Zones 1 to 4 (which I invariably do on such trips) or, if you stay within Zones 1 and 2, it is actually cheaper. For many trips the cap won't be reached of course.

This is because tube fares have gone up much more sharply than TOC fares this year as for several years. The all-zones premium for the tube over the cheap day return fare to London has gone from £1 in 2001 to £4.90 in 2006, a startling rate of inflation.

Maybe I'll get an Oyster after all. A bike is better though.

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Colin Rosenstiel