Just read the excellent London Connections Blog http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
which links to a the minutes of a Londontravelwatch meeting on changes
to Oyster Fares and London Overground. There is going to be some
"correction" of fares especially as there are many anomalies on the
Richmond - Stratford line.
This weekend I was involved in two interesting journeys which may
unravel some mysteries wrt Oyster Fares / Oyster PAYG

On Friday I undertook a journey from South Ruislip to Snaresbrook. My
Oyster has the YP-RC cap put onto it and as I was going to be
travelling exclusively in z2-6 my fare was going to be capped at
£2.80. There was £1.00 already on it so I put in another £2.00 to make
a sum total of £3.00.
South Ruislip - West Ruislip ( Central Line) , £1.00 deducted ,
£2.00 remaining.
Ruislip - Finchley Road (Piccadilly Line) , £1.80 deducted, £0.20
remaining. So a total of £2.80 had been deducted - the z2-6 cap with
YPRC.
I needed to get the London Overground from Finchley Road and Frognal
to Stratford ( changing there for Snaresbrook) so as to avoid
travelling through zone 1 and to get the benefits of the £2.80 cap.
There was now just £0.20 on my cap and the Oyster pads at Finchley Rd
and Frognal came up with error as I touched in. I had wrongfully
assumed that as I had already been deducted £2.80 that I could now
roam freely through z2-6. Wrong ! I had to put in another £1.00 to
bring the balance up to £1.20 to travel further. The Oyster pad would
only work if there was the minimum oyster fare amount on the card i.e
£1.00. Thankfully, when I exited at Snaresbrook I was not charged for
the journey and my balance remained at £1.20. Even though I had
reached my cap I still had to have a minimum about of at least £1.00
on my card to continue my journey from Finchley Road and Frognal. I
had a heated discussion at Finchley Rd + Frognal with the LO ticket
clerk. She refused to acknowledge the existence of the z2-6 YP-RC cap
of £2.80. Admittedly LO have recruited many new staff for the stations
on the line but it was a repeated theme over the weekend that they
have been inadequately trained and clearly there has been a "rush job"
to get ticket clerks in place.

On Saturday I needed to go from Ruislip to Gospel Oak. The fare for
this according to the TFL Fare Finder is £1.00. I still had £1.20 on
my card from the day before so the fare for the journey should be
covered. Just as a precaution I asked a member of staff at Ruislip
that I needed to touch out of Finchley Rd and touch in again at
Finchley Rd + Frog, so did not want to be charged twice. I also
mentioned going the Zone 1 route via Kings Cross - Highbury +
Islington. He said that I was not allowed to use the z1 route for the
£1.00 fare. He advised me to check with the barrier guards at Finchley
Rd regarding changing for the LO at Finchley Rd + Frognal.
I got off the tube at Harrow on the Hill and explained my dilemma to
the ticket clerk who said that I would be charged twice for the
journey and had no idea how to solve the problem but advised to see
staff at Finchley Rd. Again he repeated I was not allowed to travel
through Zone 1. But I guess as I only started off with £1.00 on my
card and if an inspector had caught me in Zone 1 I would have been
penalised. But If I had £2.00 or more on my card I could have gone
through z1, be charged the £1 fare for the journey and the inspector
could have been none the wiser !
I explained the situation to the barrier staff at Finchley Rd and they
kindly let me through without touching out. I asked the ticket clerk
at Finchley Rd and he told me that even if I touched out at
Finchley Rd, touched in at Finchley Rd + Frognal and touched out at
Gospel Oak I should only get charged £1.00 for the whole Ruislip -
Gospel Oak journey. So conflicting solutions from ticket staff. I was
allowed out of Finchley Rd tube without touching and nor did I touch
in at Finchley Rd + Frognal. Finally touched out at Gospel Oak and
got deducted the correct fare of £1.00 for the Ruislip - Gospel Oak
journey. Ii had the same problem on the return journey.
Ticket staff were themselves perplexed by the fares and blamed the
fact it was a "new system" and they themselves have just started
working here and cannot help. They again advised to touch in at Gospel
Oak but not touch out at Finchley Rd + Frognal and to see barrier
staff at Finchley Rd. Barrier staff at Finchley Rd checked my card
to see that I had indeed boarded at Gospel Oak and let me through
the barriers without touching in. I touched out at Ruislip and got
charged the correct fare , £1.00, for the Gospel Oak - Ruislip
journey.
What I discovered over this weekend was :
Even though you have reached your Oyster Cap for the day you still
need a minimum amount of funds on your card to travel. This minimum
amount is dependent on what station you touch in at and what the
minimum fare from that station is at that time of the day.
I am still to be convinced that Finchley Rd / Finchley Rd + Frognal
is a valid interchange. Staff at West Ruislip , Ruislip and Harrow-on-
the-Hill say that I will get charged twice for the Ruislip-Gospel Oak
journey, while ticket staff at Finchley Road say that I will only get
charged once. I would really like some clarification of this. I have
emailed TFL and am awaiting a response.
Staff at West Ruislip, Ruslip, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Finchley Rd
said that I could not travel through Z1 for the £1.00 fare. Clearly if
I had no more than £1.00 on my card before touching in at the start of
my journey ( Ruislip) they have a valid point. But I could have had
say £3.00 on my card at the start, travelled through zone 1 and still
got charged the £1.00 fare ?
The fares shakeup on London Overground will definitely address the
issue of routes and the correction of some fare anomalies.
Unfortunately, I am still left with this Finchley Rd / Frognal tube /
London Overground problem. I have many friends who live along the NLL
and beyond so the interchange is very useful and avoids the need to
travel though Central London.

uc