Nick wrote:

wrote in message
ups.com...
I loved my Oyster card, until today, where I found out that I pay
£145.20 for 5-zone my month card, where I can get the exact same card
(though a paper card with magnetic strip) from national Rail for
£137.95.

What kind of crap is that ?

Yeah, the old 5% discount if you buy from your rail station? I've told
friends of mine who started buying their travelcards online from oyster.com
that they're losing their 5% discount so they've gone back to paper tickets
and now save money. I see increasing numbers of people using Oysters at my
station as well (Bexley) who must also be losing their discount.

The discount is part of the Passengers Charter - it occurs *if* and
only if the Train Operating Company (TOC) you buy your ticket from
fails to perform well enough over the past quarter (I think). I believe
a discount of 10% is applied if they're really poor.

The Passengers Charter is implemented differently on London Underground
- you have to apply for a per-delay compensation. They don't offer
discounts on season tickets as teh TOCs do. Also, 'one railway' has
changed how they recompense passengers - if you're delayed on their
trains you must apply for a per-delay compensation, and there's no
discount on season tickets if there's been poor performance.

So it's not crap - it's just a result of the fact that (most) National
Rail stations don't issue Travelcards on Oyster. This will change in a
few years time.


Note the TfL adverts never mention "rail" (always Bus, Tuber, DLR, tram
etc), but of course most people will assume Oyster's cheaper for rail as
well when it's not...

Side note: I guess when NR stations in the travelcard zones get Oyster
machines we may finally get discounted season tickets on Oyster? Oh yeah,
but that will probably be coupled with us losing our rail-only season ticket
options because it's "too complicated" to have these different ticket types
(and having passengers not contribute to TfL)... hmmm.

As yet there's no public information on how Oyster will be integrated
into the National Rail fares scheme in London, but it does appear that
TfL will have a far larger say in how fares are set - it seems likely
that rail fares will become zonal.

However I can forsee a big stink should TfL try and remove rail-only
season tickets, not least because the 'equivalent' zonal Travelcard
would cost significantly more. I reckon that rail-only seasons might
well survive.


Second side note: Lewisham station (one of very few Southeastern stations)
claims to issue Oysters. Does that mean people in Lewisham can buy Zonal
travelcards with a 5% performance discount on Oyster?

Lewisham station has a credit/debit card only Queuebuster touchscreen
ticket machine for topping-up Oyster, or loading Travelcards to go on
an Oyster card. I don't believe it applies the Passenger Charter
discount to Travelcards. The Southeastern ticket office at Lewisham
doesn't deal with Oyster at all.

New Cross is I believe the only Southeastern station to issue Oyster
cards. Likewise New Cross Gate, a Southern station, issues them, as
does Surbiton, a South West Trains station.

Basically if commuters want the Passengers Charter discount they should
buy paper Travelcards from National Rail stations.

One thing to bear in mind is that if passengers are travelling out of
their zones on the Underground - say to Heathrow - then an Oyster
loaded with a Travelcard will automatically deduct the correct excess
fare (or ticket extension, depending upon your preferred terminology).
For most people this will probably not be an issue, but some may prefer
to have this facility and lose out on the 5% discount.