Dave Arquati wrote:
TheOneKEA wrote:
Tony Bryer wrote:

http://www.oystercard.com/use_1.php says that you can use an Oyster
card on "National Rail services in London ... You cannot use Oyster
for travel on mainline trains outside Zone 6 in London".

but

http://oystercard.com/buy_1_4.php#7 says "Pre Pay can only be used
on the following participating National Rail routes:" which does
not include the ones round here.

So if I understand right I cannot use my Oyster Prepay card to go
from Twickenham to Richmond on SWT and thence by underground. If I
pay the standard rail fare for this, then my Oystercard for the
rest I will lose out so I need to buy a one-day Travelcard from a
shop, which defeats the purpose of having an Oystercard. Or am I
missing something?


Yes. Don't use PrePay - buy an Oyster Travelcard, which is accepted
everywhere within the zones by TOCs. Last I checked, Twickenham was
within the TfL zones.

No! Buy a paper (one-day) travelcard! (I think that's what you meant
anyway but all the mention of Oyster worked its way in there).

Prepay will work on National Rail services in the future, but not just yet.

Just to add my own clarification to this.

Oyster PrePay cannot be used on most National Rail routes. There are a
few so-called 'participating' National Rail routes where Oyster PrePay
can be used, but these are the exception rather than the rule. For a
list of these routes on the Ask Oyster website see:
http://tinyurl.com/78fu8

The OP's confusion appears to come as a result of comparing the first
and second webpages. However look carefully and all will become clear.
The first webpage says that Season Travelcards (i.e. weekly, monthly or
longer) can be loaded onto an Oyster card - these Oyster cards with
Season Travelcards loaded on them are accepted on all National Rail and
Tube services for the zones they are valid in.

- Oyster PrePay and National Rail = not compatible (apart from a few
exceptions).
- Oyster card loaded with Season Travelcard = valid for use in all the
zones the Travelcard covers.

Presuming that the OP only wishes to travel occasionally, and depending
on the amount of travelling the OP wishes to make, he has a choice
between buying a return from Twickenham to Richmond and then using his
Oyster PrePay on the Tube, or buying a paper one-day Travelcard (and
leaving the Oyster card out of the equation). It's almost certain that
the one-day Travelcard will be cheaper so that's what the OP should
buy.

If the OP wished to buy a Season Travelcard, then he could have that
Season Travelcard loaded onto his Oyster. As Dave Arquati pointed out,
the Oyster PrePay system will be rolled out to National Rail
eventually, but it's still useful having an Oyster card with PrePay at
the moment for bus journeys as well as any single Tube journeys as
it'll save you money.


Dave - as an aside, do you have any definitive info on when PrePay is
coming to National Rail?