please empty your brain below

Nicely summed up DG. Thanks!

I've had an e-mail saying that auto-top up on my Oyster card pre-pay has failed. Apparently I have to take 2 pieces of ID into the tube station and fill in a failed card report.

Not strictly relevant - but I just felt like moaning about it.

There are costs to pearls in any Oyster. Fact.

I think I'll go back to paying for each day's journeys on my cash-back credit card. It'll only be a few pence more than the Oyster dare (especially taking into account the cashback).

I only use the tube one day a month or so and I already think that the day's fares deducted from my PAYG Oyster Card are often more than they should be, but, as you don't always get a read-out of the credit remaining every time you touch in or out, its very hard to tell.

At least I won't be paying even more by incurring excess fares by accident (I do always touch in and out - but I'm not convinced the readers always work eg at Epping late at night, when the gates are open).

As a related aside...

Does anyone know - if you make a complaint about a delayed journey you've made using an Oyster Card, do they just creidt your card, or do they write and tell you they have (as they would if you din't have an Oyster Card)?

I was delayed 2.5 hours 5 weeks ago, filled in the form to claim a refund, and still haven't heard anything?

Oooh good! Someone to ask! Please sir, if I travel to Stratford and touch out on the platform (so far so good) but THEN continue to Manor Park on rail -in the same zone but without people or an oyster pad, am I a GOOD boy or a BAD boy????

dg writes: Continuing to Manor Park is officially BAD, because National Rail don't allow you to use a pay-as-you-go Oyster on that stretch of line.

I only look at the site during the week and often don't go back to Sat/Sun posts but the 'Task Bar Shuffle' is something that I have always wanted so a really big thanks.

This is one of the reasons I've avoided the revolution, and stuck with good old fashioned travelcards (still available at all good National Rail stations).

I HATE London Transport.

That is all.

Stand by the barriers at Leytonstone tube station, at any time of day and you will see, without fail, at least one fare dodger. Sometimes many more. I've even seen people jump over the barrier right in front of the Member Of Staff Who Just Stands There All Day (to give them their correct title). So the people who BUY tickets get penalised for easily-made errors, while the dodgers keep dodging with impunity. Hear that? That's the sound of my piss boiling.

Sounds like a genius idea this one. The perfect ticketing system, that's just a little too inconsistent for anyone to fully understand. It'll have paid for itself by Xmas!

THAT is some smart design.

(and apologies for sounding smug, but then you will all choose to live in London... *ducks*)

The Chorleywood fare thing is fantastic... I like Oyster (even including the fact that I am a Wimbledon station user), but this is now starting to get a bit silly!

The two hour limit is also not enough.

A system like Rome or Moscow is required methinks... one ticket or token which is a flat fare which allows you to go anywhere...

It's all part of Mayor Ken's plan to drive people off the Underground and back into their congestion charge-generating cars.

Or, it could be the other way round. Or both, even.

Or, just keep it in a metal cigarette case and show it to the inspector, if present...

The police were bigging up oyster as a citizen tracking sysem the other week. But it only tracks innocent people, since criminals will pre-pay with cash and not register. Whoops.

Still keeping mine safe for my trips down as it's so much nicer not to have to screw about with paper.

All good in theory. But when one asks a question of a tube employee about the new system, they do not know the answer.
I quote "Look Love I don't really know, because we have not been trained- if I were you I would just go through".

I hate being called Love.

I shall just ask DG from now on.

Q: How many touches are required to activate the Oyster aphrodisiac function?

Q: Can you lend me a tenner to get home please? - I've forgotten who I am.

It's a bugger at Finsbury Park when you're chatting and forget to touch out, get on the bus, remember, get off the bus, go back to FP, touch out and then get on the bus again. I do it at least once a week. I wish they'd put a touch pad at the top of the stairs for idiots like me.

Oyster is full of odd anomalies - and there's a biggie.

You can get from anywhere on the northern end of the Victoria line to anywhere on the north end of the Bakerloo/east end of Central, and their wonderful system doesn't realise you go through zone 1 hence only get charged £1-1.50 for what's technically a £2.50+ fare. That saved me about £500 last year.

I wonder if this overhaul of the system will fix that or not..

Nico, I think that's because technically you can get Mankytrain from Highbury & Islington to Willesden Junction or Stratford and not have to go into zone 1, and Oyster's programmed to work out the least expensive route for your trip. But seeing as you can't use prepay on Mankylink yet then that doesn't make much more sense.

Thanks ever so much DG.

I'm still stuck on PAYG, don't see much point until New Year to get a monthly fare.

My card hasn't been playing up recently, always seemed to not be recognised, yet I could walk through the barriers when i didn't notice.

I'm so glad I no longer travel around London on a daily basis. The whole thing sounds like a complete rip-off to me.

You're incorrect about season ticket holders - they will be charged £1 if they have Zone 1 on their season ticket, or £1.50 if they don't. These represent the maximum extensions fares - LT don't seem to want to screw over season ticket holders *too* much outside of New Year's increases.

(This was told to me by station staff, so apologies if it's untrue.)

And the bonus is, we ALSO get to go on the TUBE. Yay!

Oh dear. As an unsophisticated Norfolk girl, I've only just got an Oyster card for occasional London visits and have been telling everyone how wonderful it is.

I feel so gauche.

And I would like to mention that I'm not trying to screw up your posting statistics but have been too busy to read blogs this week

Is the Oyster Card rule book the latest project from the developers of cricket?

I'm not comfortable about the two hour rule.

Also, I went to a concert at Earls Court about 18 months ago. Afterwards, the barriers were left open and the station staff were making it clear that they didn't want people to touch in - just wanting free flow of people through the barriers. I actually got a few pence credited when I reported myself to a ticket office.

I hope they have reasonable fallback plans, especially for stations like Earls Court, Wembley etc











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