Alan OBrien wrote:
"Mizter T" wrote in message
ups.com...
Richard M Willis wrote:
"Helen Deborah Vecht" wrote in message

Yebbut if you get caught not touching in, you may end up with a £20
Penalty Fare. That might not be 'best'...

Do you have to touch in if you are using a travelcard, rather than
PrePay ? I thought it was only PP users who had to touch all over the
place ?

You need not touch in or out if you have a Travelcard loaded on your
Oyster that is valid for the entire journey.

The Conditions of Carriage state that "When you use London Underground and
National Rail services, you must touch your Oyster card on the reader at
both the start and the end of your journey. Where the ticket gates at
stations are open you must continue to touch your Oyster card on the
reader."



That is all Oyster cards.

The NCoC is wrong here, both in terms of how the system works and in
terms of the physical reality. It is well intentioned though.

In terms of the system, if I hold a season Travelcard loaded onto my
Oyster and walk through the gates at a Tube or NR station, as long as I
stay within the zones I have then that is fine - I hold a valid ticket.
I do this, I get checked by inspectors, their handheld scanners show I
have a valid ticket and that is that.

In terms of the physical reality, there are *no* Oyster readers at the
majority of NR stations in Greater London. It is therefore impossible
to touch-in or out at these stations, full stop.

On the few NR routes where Oyster Pre-Pay is accepted, e.g. Elephant &
Castle to Kentish Town on the Thameslink route, then the NCoC is right
- you must touch-in and out to travel legitimately.

It would be difficult to word the NCoC to unambiguously to reflect the
reality of the situation. I'm sure the reason why the NCoC uses the
language it does is to ensure fare evaders can't hide behind it. And
perhaps the authors don't entirely understand how the system works.