On May 12, 10:28*am, "David A Stocks" wrote:

"David A Stocks" wrote:

"Ian F." wrote:

I have a PAYG Oyster card. Today I have to get from Balham to Turnham
Green and was intending to take a Southern East CroydonMilton Keynes
train that goes direct from Balham...

Urgh - apologies. I meant, of course, to say direct from Balham to West
Brompton where I then get a tube to TG.

I think your options a

1. Buy a *paper* one-day travelcard that covers the zones required for the
journey, and keep the Oyster card in your pocket - this assumes you will
want to do the return journey on the same day.

2. Buy a paper ticket to cover Balham to Clapham Jct, and nip off the
train during the stop at Clapham Jct to touch in your Oyster card on the
standalone pad on platform 16. There is one close to the stairway at the
country end of platform 16, and there may be one near the subway as well.

3. as (2), but catch the previous train to Clapham Jct to make sure you
find the Oyster pad in good time.

I would probably go for (1), but let us know what you did. I did a similar
journey a week or two back - the major difference being I *had* to change
at CLJ - so Oyster PAYG was a sensible option. However, the resulting
charge and journey history on Oyster was a bit weird - see the "Oyster on
National Rail - Variable Minimum Journey Times" thread.

Actually, looking at your original post and Avantix I see that the single
fare to WB is the same as that to CLJ, so your own suggestion is probably
even simpler.


Good point. Rail fares in London are priced on a zonal basis, albeit
issued on a point-to-point basis, which is certainly worth bearing in
mind in such a situation (i.e. how far can I go for my £2.20!).