London Banter

London Banter (https://www.londonbanter.co.uk/forum.php)
-   London Transport (https://www.londonbanter.co.uk/london-transport/)
-   -   Oyster at Finsbury Park (https://www.londonbanter.co.uk/london-transport/1211-oyster-finsbury-park.html)

Richard Adamfi December 31st 03 07:19 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
Posters have appeared at the entrances to Finsbury Park station
(famously without ticket gates) telling Pre-Pay Oyster users to touch
the validators entering and exiting the station.

That is fine - but this is followed by:

"Customers with Oyster Cards charged with Travelcard Season tickets
not valid at Finsbury Park (Zone 2) are also advised to touch their
cards on the validators"

Can someone explain what this is about?

Stuart January 1st 04 02:32 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
Richard Adamfi wrote:
Posters have appeared at the entrances to Finsbury Park station
(famously without ticket gates) telling Pre-Pay Oyster users to touch
the validators entering and exiting the station.

That is fine - but this is followed by:

"Customers with Oyster Cards charged with Travelcard Season tickets
not valid at Finsbury Park (Zone 2) are also advised to touch their
cards on the validators"

Can someone explain what this is about?


They have these machines on the platforms at Highbury & Islington too.
Don't understand why anyone would swipe an Oyster or give up a Carnet
when they aren't forced to.

BTW hos do Oysters work on National Rail services?


Horace January 1st 04 03:27 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
they also say you should swipe your oyster as you enter a station even if
the gates are open, or you might have a problem at your exit station.
my local station gates are always open and I never swipe it, and I have had
no problems on exit.
I think it is a case of 'Big Brother wants to know where you are and where
you are going'.

"Stuart" wrote in message
k...
Richard Adamfi wrote:
Posters have appeared at the entrances to Finsbury Park station
(famously without ticket gates) telling Pre-Pay Oyster users to touch
the validators entering and exiting the station.

That is fine - but this is followed by:

"Customers with Oyster Cards charged with Travelcard Season tickets
not valid at Finsbury Park (Zone 2) are also advised to touch their
cards on the validators"

Can someone explain what this is about?


They have these machines on the platforms at Highbury & Islington too.
Don't understand why anyone would swipe an Oyster or give up a Carnet
when they aren't forced to.

BTW hos do Oysters work on National Rail services?




Kat January 1st 04 09:11 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , Horace
writes

they also say you should swipe your oyster as you enter a station even if
the gates are open, or you might have a problem at your exit station.
my local station gates are always open and I never swipe it, and I have had
no problems on exit.
I think it is a case of 'Big Brother wants to know where you are and where
you are going'.


I think that comment shows perfectly that the message about Pre Pay
isn't getting across.
No, it doesn't matter so much if you've only a season ticket on your
oyster card but if you're using Pre Pay, you'll be charged a lot more
than necessary for the journey if you don't touch the reader on either
the way in or out...
--
Kat "A world without string is chaos"


Paul Corfield January 1st 04 09:16 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 20:19:56 +0000, Richard Adamfi
wrote:

Posters have appeared at the entrances to Finsbury Park station
(famously without ticket gates) telling Pre-Pay Oyster users to touch
the validators entering and exiting the station.

That is fine - but this is followed by:

"Customers with Oyster Cards charged with Travelcard Season tickets
not valid at Finsbury Park (Zone 2) are also advised to touch their
cards on the validators"

Can someone explain what this is about?


I think it is a badly worded attempt to explain that if you have a
Travelcard for say Zone 3 and arrive at Finsbury Park (Zone 2) *and*
have pre-pay value on your card that you must validate so that the
reader can make a pre-pay deduction for the out of zone travel. In other
words "please be honest and validate and pay for your travel, don't
dodge your fare".

With a validator equipped station Travelcard holders who are "in zone"
don't have to swipe their Oyster card but if you are out of zone you do
for the purposes of calculation of auto ticket extensions.

As to the Highbury validators that it is to deal with the issue of
someone opting to have a pre-pay card for LUL services but opting to
purchase a day return from Welwyn Garden City to Highbury. The pre-pay
must be validated on entry to LUL and at Highbury you do that at
platform level. It would be impossible to impose a rule that said you
must go the ticket hall, exit on your NR ticket and then re-enter and go
all the way back to the Tube platform having activated your Oyster card
at the gates. There are many instances of these open interchanges on
the system and LUL is the only large scale application of a stored value
system to have such "gaps" in the system.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!


John Rowland January 1st 04 10:45 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...

With a validator equipped station Travelcard holders
who are "in zone" don't have to swipe their Oyster
card but if you are out of zone you do for the
purposes of calculation of auto ticket extensions.


I see no way that LU can prevent fraud. You can travel anywhere you like on
the system with a one-zone travelcard, and then when you get to your
destination, if the gates are active, you swipe and have your extension
deducted... if the gates are inactive, you just walk out and you have no way
of getting caught. If any RCI stops you en route out of your travelcard
zone, you just say you are going to swipe for the extension at your
journey's end.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes



Richard Adamfi January 1st 04 11:14 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 11:45:19 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:

I see no way that LU can prevent fraud. You can travel anywhere you like on
the system with a one-zone travelcard, and then when you get to your
destination, if the gates are active, you swipe and have your extension
deducted... if the gates are inactive, you just walk out and you have no way
of getting caught. If any RCI stops you en route out of your travelcard
zone, you just say you are going to swipe for the extension at your
journey's end.


Is it possible for an inspector to check tickets further from the
platform than the validator?

For example, you have a zone 3 Travelcard, go to Finsbury Park, pass
the validator, then inspector gets you for not validating?

Steve January 1st 04 11:19 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In article , John Rowland
writes
"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
.. .

With a validator equipped station Travelcard holders
who are "in zone" don't have to swipe their Oyster
card but if you are out of zone you do for the
purposes of calculation of auto ticket extensions.


I see no way that LU can prevent fraud. You can travel anywhere you like on
the system with a one-zone travelcard, and then when you get to your
destination, if the gates are active, you swipe and have your extension
deducted... if the gates are inactive, you just walk out and you have no way
of getting caught. If any RCI stops you en route out of your travelcard
zone, you just say you are going to swipe for the extension at your
journey's end.


Presumably, TfL are working on the principle that once people find out
they have inadvertently used up all the value on the Oyster by not
validating it on entry, they will get used to the idea - and cynic TfL
will have received extra revenue /cynic. Not being able to get out
through the gates because you haven't remember to swipe on the way in
should focus peoples minds.

Mind you, that all requires the gates to be manned by people who will
explain the system and not just swipe people though, or ignore jumpers
and tailgaters...

--
Steve
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GCM/B$ d++(-) s+:+ a+ C++ UL++ L+ P+ W++ N+++ K w--- O V
PS+++ PE- t+ 5++ X- R* tv+ b+++ DI++ G e h---- r+++ z++++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

Kat January 1st 04 11:47 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , John Rowland
writes
"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
.. .

With a validator equipped station Travelcard holders
who are "in zone" don't have to swipe their Oyster
card but if you are out of zone you do for the
purposes of calculation of auto ticket extensions.


I see no way that LU can prevent fraud. You can travel anywhere you like on
the system with a one-zone travelcard, and then when you get to your
destination, if the gates are active, you swipe and have your extension
deducted... if the gates are inactive, you just walk out and you have no way
of getting caught. If any RCI stops you en route out of your travelcard
zone, you just say you are going to swipe for the extension at your
journey's end.


But this is no different from the magnetic ticket system.
CofC state that you must have a ticket to cover the whole of the journey
you are making.
A RCI finding no Pre Pay balance on an Oyster could either issue a paper
extension ticket or a £10.00 Penalty Fare.
--
Kat "bears, said the taxi driver, is sixpence extra,

sticky bears is ninepence"

Richard Adamfi January 1st 04 11:54 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 12:47:28 +0000, Kat
wrote:


But this is no different from the magnetic ticket system.
CofC state that you must have a ticket to cover the whole of the journey
you are making.
A RCI finding no Pre Pay balance on an Oyster could either issue a paper
extension ticket or a £10.00 Penalty Fare.


I think the argument here is that you would always keep a Pre Pay
balance, just in case you had to validate.

Kat January 1st 04 12:13 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , Richard Adamfi
writes
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 11:45:19 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:

I see no way that LU can prevent fraud. You can travel anywhere you like on
the system with a one-zone travelcard, and then when you get to your
destination, if the gates are active, you swipe and have your extension
deducted... if the gates are inactive, you just walk out and you have no way
of getting caught. If any RCI stops you en route out of your travelcard
zone, you just say you are going to swipe for the extension at your
journey's end.


Is it possible for an inspector to check tickets further from the
platform than the validator?

For example, you have a zone 3 Travelcard, go to Finsbury Park, pass
the validator, then inspector gets you for not validating?


If you mean, do RCIs only operate on the paid-side, then the answer is
no.
--
Kat "bears, said the taxi driver, is sixpence extra,

sticky bears is ninepence"

Kat January 1st 04 12:17 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , Richard Adamfi
writes
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 12:47:28 +0000, Kat
wrote:


But this is no different from the magnetic ticket system.
CofC state that you must have a ticket to cover the whole of the journey
you are making.
A RCI finding no Pre Pay balance on an Oyster could either issue a paper
extension ticket or a £10.00 Penalty Fare.


I think the argument here is that you would always keep a Pre Pay
balance, just in case you had to validate.


And if you never intend to add Pre Pay to your Oyster, always make sure
you buy an extension.
From what I've gathered, the £10.00 Penalty Fare is going to be very
strictly enforced now.
--
Kat Reality is the leading cause of stress among those in touch with it.


Paul Corfield January 1st 04 08:07 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 11:45:19 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:

"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
.. .

With a validator equipped station Travelcard holders
who are "in zone" don't have to swipe their Oyster
card but if you are out of zone you do for the
purposes of calculation of auto ticket extensions.


I see no way that LU can prevent fraud. You can travel anywhere you like on
the system with a one-zone travelcard, and then when you get to your
destination, if the gates are active, you swipe and have your extension
deducted... if the gates are inactive, you just walk out and you have no way
of getting caught. If any RCI stops you en route out of your travelcard
zone, you just say you are going to swipe for the extension at your
journey's end.


there are other ways of knowing how a card is (mis)used. Be sure that
the ability to detect fraud will get better not worse. Open (ungated)
entry and exit points are not a good way to design a stored value system
but the scheme is unaffordable if it has to carry the cost of gating and
manning every single entry / exit point to the LUL system. Also how on
earth do you deal with segregating people e.g. between Richmond and
Gunnersbury, where there is inter-operation?

It's a compromise design - there are risks but they have to be
controlled.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!



David Jackman January 1st 04 08:48 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
"John Rowland" wrote in
:

"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...

With a validator equipped station Travelcard holders
who are "in zone" don't have to swipe their Oyster
card but if you are out of zone you do for the purposes of calculation
of auto ticket extensions.


I see no way that LU can prevent fraud. You can travel anywhere you
like on the system with a one-zone travelcard, and then when you get to
your destination, if the gates are active, you swipe and have your
extension deducted... if the gates are inactive, you just walk out and
you have no way of getting caught. If any RCI stops you en route out of
your travelcard zone, you just say you are going to swipe for the
extension at your journey's end.


It will be interesting to see what happens: given the capacity of the
system to remember journeys made it would be reasonable to assume some kind
of ability to query this database and identify potentially fraudulent
travel patterns such as this.

Now where is my copy of the Data Protection Act?

David

John Rowland January 1st 04 11:38 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...

With a validator equipped station Travelcard holders
who are "in zone" don't have to swipe their Oyster
card but if you are out of zone you do for the
purposes of calculation of auto ticket extensions.


I see no way that LU can prevent fraud. You can travel
anywhere you like on the system with a one-zone travelcard,
and then when you get to your destination, if the gates
are active, you swipe and have your extension deducted...
if the gates are inactive, you just walk out and you have
no way of getting caught. If any RCI stops you en route
out of your travelcard zone, you just say you are going
to swipe for the extension at your journey's end.


I think I've seen the flaw in my argument. (By the way, all of the following
is supposition since I haven't read any Oyster leaflets.)

Even if your Oyster contains a valid travelcard for the whole journey, you
are still required to swipe at the beginning and end of your journey. If an
RCI catches you halfway through your journey with an unswiped Oyster
containing a valid travelcard for the zone in which you currently are, this
looks suspicious but you would presumably just be warned to swipe in future.
If the RCI catches you are out of your valid zone with an unswiped oyster,
you can then be busted. If you are out of your zone with a swiped Oyster,
then you are obviously intending to swipe on exit and be charged for the
extension... if you don't swipe on exit, you will be charged the maximum
possible extension (to zone 6D or whatever). Therefore the system can not
generally be defrauded in the way I suggested.

But a possible fraud does spring to mind. You have a 2 to 6 Travelcard in
your Oyster. You swipe when you enter at Finchley Road, and again when you
leave at Earls Court. The system doesn't know if you have travelled through
Zone 1 or via Rayners Lane, unless it checks journey times.... can it do
that? Any RCI who caught you in Zone 1 wouldn't be able to bust you, since
you could legitimately be planning to exit at a Zone 1 station and be
debited for the extension.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes



Kat January 2nd 04 12:14 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , John Rowland
writes
If you are out of your zone with a swiped Oyster,
then you are obviously intending to swipe on exit and be charged for the
extension... if you don't swipe on exit, you will be charged the maximum
possible extension (to zone 6D or whatever). Therefore the system can not
generally be defrauded in the way I suggested.


But only if you attempt to come back through Zone 6.
You might legitimately argue that you got to that station by some other
means and just buy the extension to return. Otherwise, all that would
happen would be that your Oyster will be expecting to exit when used
next in your valid zone so won't open an entry gate.
There'd be a 02 on the POD and unless we checked the ticket with an HHC
(which takes time) would have to assume that the Oyster had not been
validated at the end of the journey... it happens all the time.


But a possible fraud does spring to mind. You have a 2 to 6 Travelcard in
your Oyster. You swipe when you enter at Finchley Road, and again when you
leave at Earls Court. The system doesn't know if you have travelled through
Zone 1 or via Rayners Lane, unless it checks journey times.... can it do
that? Any RCI who caught you in Zone 1 wouldn't be able to bust you, since
you could legitimately be planning to exit at a Zone 1 station and be
debited for the extension.

Read my earlier post; it would all depend on whether the Oyster
contained Pre Pay as well a season ticket.
--
Kat "bears, said the taxi driver, is sixpence extra,

sticky bears is ninepence"

Robert Woolley January 2nd 04 12:23 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Fri, 2 Jan 2004 00:38:44 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:

But a possible fraud does spring to mind. You have a 2 to 6 Travelcard in
your Oyster. You swipe when you enter at Finchley Road, and again when you
leave at Earls Court. The system doesn't know if you have travelled through
Zone 1 or via Rayners Lane, unless it checks journey times.... can it do
that? Any RCI who caught you in Zone 1 wouldn't be able to bust you, since
you could legitimately be planning to exit at a Zone 1 station and be
debited for the extension.


I'd would have thought that the system should pick that up:

a) Your last validation point was at Finchley Road.
b) You could make the journey via Rayner's Lane and be ok - but it
looks unlikely!

c) Gates raise 'possible dumbell' flag - SA asks where ypu've been....


No real change from now....

Rob.
--
rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk

Jason January 2nd 04 03:25 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Thu, 01 Jan 2004 03:32:15 +0000, Stuart
wrote:

BTW hos do Oysters work on National Rail services?


If it's a pre-pay, it's only valid on National Rail services to/from
Underground interchange stations. This is where things get stupid and
will lead to absurd price anomalies, especially on weekends and public
holidays.

Weekend/public holiday single ticket example:
Walthamstow Central Z3 - Underground Z1 via NR and/or Tube: £1.80
St James Street Z3 - Zone 1 Underground Z1 via NR and Tube: £2.50
Hackney Downs Z2 - Zone 1 Underground Z1 via NR and Tube: £2.20

So come Oyster pre-pay, using singles travelling from a Zone 3 station
can be CHEAPER than travelling from a Zone 2 station!

Oyster has further reduced inter-availability of tickets and price
matching. Those using National Rail services and single tickets get a
fare rise and miss the opportunity for cheaper weekend and public
holiday single tickets. Not a good time to only be near to National
Rail IMHO.


Cheers,

Jason.

K January 2nd 04 02:23 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Fri, 2 Jan 2004 00:38:44 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:



Even if your Oyster contains a valid travelcard for the whole journey, you
are still required to swipe at the beginning and end of your journey.


No you aren't. Not if the gates are open/ungated, etc. Only pre-pay
users must present their cards.

If an
RCI catches you halfway through your journey with an unswiped Oyster
containing a valid travelcard for the zone in which you currently are, this
looks suspicious but you would presumably just be warned to swipe in future.


Why - you are not required to?


If the RCI catches you are out of your valid zone with an unswiped oyster,
you can then be busted.


Why? See above.

If you are out of your zone with a swiped Oyster,
then you are obviously intending to swipe on exit and be charged for the
extension... if you don't swipe on exit, you will be charged the maximum
possible extension (to zone 6D or whatever).


How will you be charged if you don't swipe? It doesn't know where you
are - you could have got out at a open station within your zone.



Bob Adams January 2nd 04 10:54 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , K
writes
On Fri, 2 Jan 2004 00:38:44 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:



Even if your Oyster contains a valid travelcard for the whole journey, you
are still required to swipe at the beginning and end of your journey.


No you aren't. Not if the gates are open/ungated, etc. Only pre-pay
users must present their cards.

If an
RCI catches you halfway through your journey with an unswiped Oyster
containing a valid travelcard for the zone in which you currently are, this
looks suspicious but you would presumably just be warned to swipe in future.


Why - you are not required to?


If the RCI catches you are out of your valid zone with an unswiped oyster,
you can then be busted.


Why? See above.

If you are out of your zone with a swiped Oyster,
then you are obviously intending to swipe on exit and be charged for the
extension... if you don't swipe on exit, you will be charged the maximum
possible extension (to zone 6D or whatever).


How will you be charged if you don't swipe? It doesn't know where you
are - you could have got out at a open station within your zone.



This is turning into a great thread, one that I can thoroughly enjoy for
the time being as I am relatively unaffected by it, as I purchase my
zones 1-6 (non-Oyster) travel card from a WAGN NR station well outside
of zone 6.

This has all the makings of a typical LUL sponsored Brian Rix farce.
(And if you've never heard of Brian Rix then ask your mum or dad!) :-)

Bob. (Who admits that he doesn't work for London Underground!)

--
Bob Adams


Adrian January 6th 04 08:09 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
"Kat" wrote in message
...
In message , Richard Adamfi
writes
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 12:47:28 +0000, Kat
wrote:


But this is no different from the magnetic ticket system.
CofC state that you must have a ticket to cover the whole of the journey
you are making.
A RCI finding no Pre Pay balance on an Oyster could either issue a paper
extension ticket or a £10.00 Penalty Fare.


I think the argument here is that you would always keep a Pre Pay
balance, just in case you had to validate.


And if you never intend to add Pre Pay to your Oyster, always make sure
you buy an extension.
From what I've gathered, the £10.00 Penalty Fare is going to be very
strictly enforced now.


So as long as I have pre-pay on my Oystercard (zones 2 & 3 only), I don't
need to buy an extension ticket when I travel into Zone 1 - it should take
it £1.60 extra off my pre-pay?

Adrian



Kat January 6th 04 08:25 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , Adrian
writes

So as long as I have pre-pay on my Oystercard (zones 2 & 3 only), I don't
need to buy an extension ticket when I travel into Zone 1 - it should take
it £1.60 extra off my pre-pay?

That's correct.
But if you go out of zone 2 - 3 and have no Pre Pay, you won't be able
to use your Oyster in your valid zones until the debit has been repaid.

BTW, people who are still buying magnetic extension tickets (which of
course don't register on the Oyster) need to take ticket and Oyster to
the ticket window to have it sorted out on the TOM (Ticket Office
Machine)

I advise people to keep some Pre Pay on their period ticket Oysters.
The number of times people have told me that they haven't travelled out
of zone until I read them their travel history is surprising. I don't
believe they're trying to pull a fast one; most genuinely don't realise
it.
--
Kat Me, Ambivalent? Well, yes and no.


Martin Rich January 7th 04 08:17 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Tue, 6 Jan 2004 21:25:49 +0000, Kat
wrote:



BTW, people who are still buying magnetic extension tickets (which of
course don't register on the Oyster) need to take ticket and Oyster to
the ticket window to have it sorted out on the TOM (Ticket Office
Machine)

I advise people to keep some Pre Pay on their period ticket Oysters.
The number of times people have told me that they haven't travelled out
of zone until I read them their travel history is surprising. I don't
believe they're trying to pull a fast one; most genuinely don't realise
it.


That's interesting. At present I go out of zone around once a week:
so far I've just bought paper extension tickets and used them exactly
as I would have done with a magnetic season ticket: I touch the Oyster
at the in-zone station, and put the extension in the gate at the
out-of-zone station. I had in mind to use pre-pay for this
eventually, but wasn't planning to change over yet.

The really nice thing would be if Oyster could calculate, when the
season expires, whether it would have been cheaper simply to buy an
extra zone for the season, and charge me the cost of that extra
zone...

If I *do* have both a season and pre-pay on my card, will I then need
to touch my Oyster to one of the readers when I go through Finsbury
Park, which *is* covered by my season

Martin

Kat January 7th 04 03:39 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , Martin Rich
writes
On Tue, 6 Jan 2004 21:25:49 +0000, Kat
wrote:



BTW, people who are still buying magnetic extension tickets (which of
course don't register on the Oyster) need to take ticket and Oyster to
the ticket window to have it sorted out on the TOM (Ticket Office
Machine)

I advise people to keep some Pre Pay on their period ticket Oysters.
The number of times people have told me that they haven't travelled out
of zone until I read them their travel history is surprising. I don't
believe they're trying to pull a fast one; most genuinely don't realise
it.


That's interesting. At present I go out of zone around once a week:
so far I've just bought paper extension tickets and used them exactly
as I would have done with a magnetic season ticket: I touch the Oyster
at the in-zone station, and put the extension in the gate at the
out-of-zone station.


Have you actually done this yet or was that in the days before Pre Pay
was enabled? It won't work now because an extension ticket cannot open
the gate for you and your Oyster will be recording an unresolved
journey. You should be using Pre Pay now.

I had in mind to use pre-pay for this
eventually, but wasn't planning to change over yet.


When the extension fare is taken from your Pre Pay, it will be at the
2003 price and not the new price, so it's worth doing sooner than later
(apart from the trouble at the gate of having your Oyster read and then
maybe having to queue to get the thing sorted out.)

The really nice thing would be if Oyster could calculate, when the
season expires, whether it would have been cheaper simply to buy an
extra zone for the season, and charge me the cost of that extra
zone...


2 - 6 Annual ticket is £956.00
1 - 6 Annual ticket is £1068.00

The difference would buy you 70x Zone 1 extension tickets. If you are,
for example, going into and out of Zone 1 once a week, that's 35 x 2
uses so it would be sensible to include Zone 1 on your annual card.

If your season ticket has two zones not including Zone 1 and you go to
another zone, NOT Zone 1 then Pre pay would be cheaper.
(She said, hoping she got the arithmetic right)

You need to sit down with a Fares and Tickets booklet and work out
what's best for you...



If I *do* have both a season and pre-pay on my card, will I then need
to touch my Oyster to one of the readers when I go through Finsbury
Park, which *is* covered by my season


No matter what sort of ticket or Pre Pay alone you have on Oyster, it's
essential to use the yellow reader at both the start and finish of your
journey.
--
Kat Me, Ambivalent? Well, yes and no.


Martin Rich January 8th 04 06:50 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 16:39:20 +0000, Kat
wrote:

In message , Martin Rich
writes

That's interesting. At present I go out of zone around once a week:
so far I've just bought paper extension tickets and used them exactly
as I would have done with a magnetic season ticket: I touch the Oyster
at the in-zone station, and put the extension in the gate at the
out-of-zone station.


Have you actually done this yet or was that in the days before Pre Pay
was enabled? It won't work now because an extension ticket cannot open
the gate for you and your Oyster will be recording an unresolved
journey. You should be using Pre Pay now.


You're right, of course. I haven't (yet) done this since pre-pay
started.

I had in mind to use pre-pay for this
eventually, but wasn't planning to change over yet.


When the extension fare is taken from your Pre Pay, it will be at the
2003 price and not the new price, so it's worth doing sooner than later
(apart from the trouble at the gate of having your Oyster read and then
maybe having to queue to get the thing sorted out.)


Fair point


The really nice thing would be if Oyster could calculate, when the
season expires, whether it would have been cheaper simply to buy an
extra zone for the season, and charge me the cost of that extra
zone...


2 - 6 Annual ticket is £956.00
1 - 6 Annual ticket is £1068.00

The difference would buy you 70x Zone 1 extension tickets. If you are,
for example, going into and out of Zone 1 once a week, that's 35 x 2
uses so it would be sensible to include Zone 1 on your annual card.

If your season ticket has two zones not including Zone 1 and you go to
another zone, NOT Zone 1 then Pre pay would be cheaper.
(She said, hoping she got the arithmetic right)

You need to sit down with a Fares and Tickets booklet and work out
what's best for you...


My card is for zone 1-2 and the regular out-of-zone journeys are into
zone 3. I used to have a zone1-3 card, until I did sit down with the
fares booklet and worked out that usually zone 1-2 + extensions when
necessary would be cheaper.

On 2003 prices and for an odd-period season (my current one is for a
bit over 3 months and started in late December) zone 1-2 plus
extensions is better value if I make 6 or fewer return underground
trips into zone 3 per month.



If I *do* have both a season and pre-pay on my card, will I then need
to touch my Oyster to one of the readers when I go through Finsbury
Park, which *is* covered by my season


No matter what sort of ticket or Pre Pay alone you have on Oyster, it's
essential to use the yellow reader at both the start and finish of your
journey.


So far, I haven't been doing this at Finsbury Park, and I've done 5
journeys starting or finishing at Finsbury Park so far this week. The
posters at Finsbury Park imply that it's only essential to use the
readers there if you're on pre-pay.

That's why I remain slightly puzzled by the problems with using a
paper extension ticket. If I buy a paper extension, my Oyster record
looks just the same whether I've travelled from a zone 1 station to a
zone 3 station, and presented my extension at the zone3 station, or
I've travelled from zone 1 to Finsbury Park and just walked out of the
station at Finsbury Park. (As it happens I usually travel to or from
Finsbury Park by W3 or W7 bus, so it should be easy enough to deduce
where I've been from the complete record, but I don't think the system
is that clever). At the other end, if the paper extension won't open
the gate, what would I do if I still had a paper season ticket? The
extension ticket and the gate at the zone 3 station don't know what
type of Travelcard I have.

Sorry. I've rambled on for much too long about one obscure case.
Kat: thank you very much for responding to my previous post, and I do
appreciate what you and other LU insiders have brought to the various
Oyster threads

Martin

Paul Corfield January 8th 04 05:40 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 07:50:24 +0000, Martin Rich
wrote:

On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 16:39:20 +0000, Kat
wrote:

[snip]
No matter what sort of ticket or Pre Pay alone you have on Oyster, it's
essential to use the yellow reader at both the start and finish of your
journey.


So far, I haven't been doing this at Finsbury Park, and I've done 5
journeys starting or finishing at Finsbury Park so far this week. The
posters at Finsbury Park imply that it's only essential to use the
readers there if you're on pre-pay.

That's why I remain slightly puzzled by the problems with using a
paper extension ticket. If I buy a paper extension, my Oyster record
looks just the same whether I've travelled from a zone 1 station to a
zone 3 station, and presented my extension at the zone3 station, or
I've travelled from zone 1 to Finsbury Park and just walked out of the
station at Finsbury Park. (As it happens I usually travel to or from
Finsbury Park by W3 or W7 bus, so it should be easy enough to deduce
where I've been from the complete record, but I don't think the system
is that clever). At the other end, if the paper extension won't open
the gate, what would I do if I still had a paper season ticket? The
extension ticket and the gate at the zone 3 station don't know what
type of Travelcard I have.


The issue at the heart of this is whether you *have* to validate solely
for Pre-Pay or part Pre-Pay trips compared to a Travelcard only trip.

As I think I (and others) have posted before it is essential to record
entry and exit points for any trip that involves pre-pay. The
subtleties relating to extension tickets being paid from the pre-pay
part of an Oyster card have not been well communicated IMO.

Your experience of using Finsbury Park is different to other whole gated
trips simply because you have not validated your travelcard part of your
Oyster card (you don't have to) which is why a trip record would show
and entry in Zone 1 and then presumably an exit back at Zone 1 because
there is no validation at the Zone 3 station to which you have travelled
on a magnetic ticket. The system has to be tolerant of such cases
because if it wasn't thousands of people who enter the LUL system via
open interchanges (e.g. Highbury cross platform from WAGN) would have
their cards rejected. This would not be a sensible policy.

Extension tickets hardly ever open ticket gates at the destination
because they are for a lower fare than the trip you have taken from the
station where you bought it. Therefore a gate will always reject them on
exit as "under fare". If you bought an extension (for your return leg)
at your Zone 3 station to add to your Z12 T/Card then it would work
because the ticket was bought where the gate is and is for a valid fare
to some other station from Z3.

There is a clear need to provide a sensible explanation as to

a) how travelling out of Zone with an Oyster card works.
b) what passengers should do with their cards.
c) what the ramifications are if for whatever reason they are unable /
unwilling to comply with the rules.

I was most surprised when Kat posted that someone with zero Pre-Pay
balance had been deducted into negative value because they presented
their Travelcard Oyster out of zone. While I understand why the system
does it I think it is barmy to put passengers in a position of needing
to do something with their cards when there is nothing to explain to
them the way to avoid it happening. I've looked at the Oyster website
and I was not terribly impressed with the FAQ.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!

Kat January 8th 04 05:53 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , Paul Corfield
writes
There is a clear need to provide a sensible explanation as to

a) how travelling out of Zone with an Oyster card works.
b) what passengers should do with their cards.
c) what the ramifications are if for whatever reason they are unable /
unwilling to comply with the rules.

I was most surprised when Kat posted that someone with zero Pre-Pay
balance had been deducted into negative value because they presented
their Travelcard Oyster out of zone. While I understand why the system
does it I think it is barmy to put passengers in a position of needing
to do something with their cards when there is nothing to explain to
them the way to avoid it happening. I've looked at the Oyster website
and I was not terribly impressed with the FAQ.


There is a fairly clear explanation about travelling out of zone with an
Oyster season ticket in a leaflet which all stations should have. I make
a point of handing it to passengers who've been caught out this way in
addition to explaining how the system works.

I cannot see how it could have been made to work in any other way
though; magnetic tickets just can't *talk* to Oyster cards.

I have to say, it's all very time consuming though..
--
Kat Me, Ambivalent? Well, yes and no.


Kat January 8th 04 06:20 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , Martin Rich
writes
So far, I haven't been doing this at Finsbury Park, and I've done 5
journeys starting or finishing at Finsbury Park so far this week. The
posters at Finsbury Park imply that it's only essential to use the
readers there if you're on pre-pay.

That's why I remain slightly puzzled by the problems with using a
paper extension ticket. If I buy a paper extension, my Oyster record
looks just the same whether I've travelled from a zone 1 station to a
zone 3 station, and presented my extension at the zone3 station, or
I've travelled from zone 1 to Finsbury Park and just walked out of the
station at Finsbury Park. (As it happens I usually travel to or from
Finsbury Park by W3 or W7 bus, so it should be easy enough to deduce
where I've been from the complete record, but I don't think the system
is that clever).


I have Finsbury Park listed as a Continuation Exit. This means, I think,
that if you validate there and carry on your journey, you'll only be
charged for one journey and not two because the system *knows*

At the other end, if the paper extension won't open
the gate, what would I do if I still had a paper season ticket? The
extension ticket and the gate at the zone 3 station don't know what
type of Travelcard I have.


But someone would have to look at your extension ticket and your
magnetic season ticket to allow you into the system in Zone 1; at the
other end of your journey, your season ticket would let you out.
But supposing you had Zone 1 - 2 and wanted to travel from 3 to 3 across
Zones 1/2. You would then need to show the extension at the start and
finish of your journey to be let in and out.
An Oyster with Pre Pay simplifies all this by doing the whole thing
automatically.

Sorry. I've rambled on for much too long about one obscure case.


No problem; it's interesting and I'm learning a lot.

We are having a lot of problems with people (with Zones 2/3) using the
NR service from say Highbury and Islington to Mile End via Stratford.
Their Oysters are assuming that they've come across Zone 1 via OXO and
so charging them £1.60. There should be validators on the NR platforms
at Stratford, if so, I'll advise people to make sure they validate there
before getting on the Central Line and hopefully that will solve the
problem.
--
Kat Me, Ambivalent? Well, yes and no.


David Jackman January 8th 04 08:22 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
Kat wrote in
:


We are having a lot of problems with people (with Zones 2/3) using the
NR service from say Highbury and Islington to Mile End via Stratford.
Their Oysters are assuming that they've come across Zone 1 via OXO and
so charging them £1.60. There should be validators on the NR platforms
at Stratford, if so, I'll advise people to make sure they validate there
before getting on the Central Line and hopefully that will solve the
problem.


How is this supposed to work? How will the validators at Stratford tell
between a Highbury and Islington to Stratford via OXO onward via National
Rail and a Highbury and Islington to (say) Leyton via NLL? Or does the
user need to validate both "in" (through the barrier) then "out" (on the
platform, I assume one has been provided) at Highbury, "in" at Stratford
and then "out" at Mile End? What a performance!

David

Paul Corfield January 8th 04 08:24 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 18:53:45 +0000, Kat
wrote:

[travelling out of zone]
There is a fairly clear explanation about travelling out of zone with an
Oyster season ticket in a leaflet which all stations should have. I make
a point of handing it to passengers who've been caught out this way in
addition to explaining how the system works.


Ah - I need to get some leaflets then.

I cannot see how it could have been made to work in any other way
though; magnetic tickets just can't *talk* to Oyster cards.


Well yes I understand why it works that way and it is still early days
but I would have thought it was an advantage that should be sold far
more loudly to the public to encourage both take up of cards and also
understanding of how to use validators on open interchanges. I'm not
very impressed with the minimalist signing.

I have to say, it's all very time consuming though..


regrettably it was always going to be the case that some transactions
(e.g. incomplete journeys) would be rather involved.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!


Kat January 8th 04 09:33 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , Paul Corfield
writes
On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 18:53:45 +0000, Kat
wrote:
I have to say, it's all very time consuming though..


regrettably it was always going to be the case that some transactions
(e.g. incomplete journeys) would be rather involved.


I really meant that it's time consuming to go through the explanation as
well as do all the other things we need to do.
The whole Pre Pay Oyster concept is complicated to explain to people and
often needs to be done on a one to one basis rather than just put
leaflets in a rack and hope that people will read them.
I think it's up to us on the gateline to do it though, SAMFs just don't
have the time.
--
Kat Me, Ambivalent? Well, yes and no.


Bob Adams January 8th 04 10:11 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , Martin Rich
writes
In message , Martin Rich
writes

That's interesting. At present I go out of zone around once a week:
so far I've just bought paper extension tickets and used them exactly
as I would have done with a magnetic season ticket: I touch the Oyster
at the in-zone station, and put the extension in the gate at the
out-of-zone station.


Have you actually done this yet or was that in the days before Pre Pay
was enabled? It won't work now because an extension ticket cannot open
the gate for you and your Oyster will be recording an unresolved
journey. You should be using Pre Pay now.


You're right, of course. I haven't (yet) done this since pre-pay started.


Except of course, that Finsbury Park doesn't have any gates anyway.

--
Bob Adams (email to )



[email protected] January 9th 04 12:34 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
The clock on the validator at Kings Cross WAGN platforms 9-11 is 4
houra fast.. so if you try to use your prepay between Finsbury Park
amd Kings Cross on WAGN it will create two unresolved journeys, whivh
charged mr £10.20,, No ticket office staff seem to know how to sort
this out....

K January 9th 04 12:05 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 18:40:17 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:


I was most surprised when Kat posted that someone with zero Pre-Pay
balance had been deducted into negative value because they presented
their Travelcard Oyster out of zone. While I understand why the system
does it I think it is barmy to put passengers in a position of needing
to do something with their cards when there is nothing to explain to
them the way to avoid it happening. I've looked at the Oyster website
and I was not terribly impressed with the FAQ.


They have posters at Canary Wharf explaining this.


Bob Adams January 9th 04 09:39 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message ,
writes
The clock on the validator at Kings Cross WAGN platforms 9-11 is 4
houra fast.. so if you try to use your prepay between Finsbury Park
amd Kings Cross on WAGN it will create two unresolved journeys, whivh
charged mr £10.20,, No ticket office staff seem to know how to sort
this out....


Good entertainment on the 16:59 FP to Letchworth tonight. Gripper on
board gets handed an Oyster by passenger sitting opposite me. Passenger
does not possess English as his native tongue. Gripper says "Got the bit
with it" in not exactly perfectly clear grammar. Passenger looks
confused. "Got the bit with it" Gripper tries again, only this time
louder. Passenger shakes his head. "Where you going?" our perfectly
consumer friendly trained Gripper demands. Passenger responds with
something that starts with "New" but ends with "mumble". [1] Gripper
hands back the Oyster and goes in search of his next victim.

So what was "the bit with it" ?

When will WAGN Gripper's be able to read Oysters?

Why should I be willing to pay a three pound deposit for an Oyster when
it is going to save LUL a fortune? (But not it seems yet, WAGN.)

[1] New "mumble" transpired into being Oakleigh Park. Don't ask me!

--
Bob Adams (email to
)



Dave Newt January 9th 04 09:55 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 


Bob Adams wrote:

When will WAGN Gripper's be able to read Oysters?


The ones on the Chingford-Liverpool Street line had readers about a
month ago at least. (Though I guess they may not *all* have them...)

Robert Woolley January 9th 04 10:12 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
On Fri, 9 Jan 2004 22:39:12 +0000, Bob Adams
wrote:


So what was "the bit with it" ?

The Record Card issued with the Oyster when last topped up.
When will WAGN Gripper's be able to read Oysters?

When they have hand held checkers.
Why should I be willing to pay a three pound deposit for an Oyster when
it is going to save LUL a fortune? (But not it seems yet, WAGN.)

Because pre-pay will save you money on singles. And if you want a 7
day travelcard on Oyster you'll be able to renew over the internet or
at a ticket machine....

Rob.

--
rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk

Kat January 10th 04 12:16 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message 0, David
Jackman writes
How is this supposed to work? How will the validators at Stratford tell
between a Highbury and Islington to Stratford via OXO onward via National
Rail and a Highbury and Islington to (say) Leyton via NLL? Or does the
user need to validate both "in" (through the barrier) then "out" (on the
platform, I assume one has been provided) at Highbury, "in" at Stratford
and then "out" at Mile End? What a performance!

(1)
This is how I think it may be working.
Start journey on Victoria Line at Highbury and Islington (1st touch
reader at entry)
Change to Central Line at Oxford Circus (no reader)
Leave at Stratford (2nd touch of reader at exit)

(2)
Start journey at Highbury and Islington (1st touch at entry)
leave NR at Stratford ( use 2nd reader at continuation exit or possibly
Jubilee Line UTS gates)
Join Central Line.
Leave at Leyton (3rd touch of reader at exit)

I don't know Stratford (except the upper level Central/DLR/NR) part well
enough to know if you have to go through the Jubilee line gates to leave
the lower NR part of the station or if there are validators on the lower
NR platforms. Also, I don't know Highbury and Islington at all.
Maybe someone who uses these stations can tell me.
--
Kat Me, Ambivalent? Well, yes and no.


Mike Bristow January 10th 04 08:17 AM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In article ,
Kat wrote:
In message 0, David
Jackman writes
I don't know Stratford (except the upper level Central/DLR/NR) part well
enough to know if you have to go through the Jubilee line gates to leave
the lower NR part of the station


You don't.

or if there are validators on the lower
NR platforms.


I /think/ there are, but I don't use the NLL often.

Also, I don't know Highbury and Islington at all.
Maybe someone who uses these stations can tell me.



--
You dont have to be illiterate to use the Internet, but it help's.


Bob Adams January 10th 04 01:16 PM

Oyster at Finsbury Park
 
In message , Robert Woolley
writes
On Fri, 9 Jan 2004 22:39:12 +0000, Bob Adams
wrote:


So what was "the bit with it" ?

The Record Card issued with the Oyster when last topped up.


Is it compulsory to have it with you? And what if you renew via the
internet?

When will WAGN Gripper's be able to read Oysters?

When they have hand held checkers.


Get away!

Why should I be willing to pay a three pound deposit for an Oyster when
it is going to save LUL a fortune? (But not it seems yet, WAGN.)

Because pre-pay will save you money on singles. And if you want a 7
day travelcard on Oyster you'll be able to renew over the internet or
at a ticket machine....


Still doesn't answer why LUL/TfL are charging a deposit on the card (or
why passengers are willing to pay it.)

--
Bob Adams (email to )




All times are GMT. The time now is 03:42 AM.

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2006 LondonBanter.co.uk