Oyster Pay as you go problem

So, you entered at Canning Town, came to Stratford then went through the Jubble gates to the Central Line, exiting at Sheppy Bush?

In that respect, the system should automatically 'reset itself' and in theory, you should get your fare adjusted. Keep the print out in case you need to verify this incident in the future.

Have you the printout available? If so post what the printout says.

I'm guessing it something like

12:00 Canning Town - Stratford
13:40 unstarted - Shepherds Bush


As for using the Oyster in the way TfL dictate, that is partially true. Some interchanges are complex and require you to multiply touch your Oyster card on certain readers - Wimbledon was/ is one that springs to mind when changing between tram and tube. Additionally fares are based on the LU fare chart and not Travelcard zones. So for example West Kensington - Hanger Lane is possible by not travelling through zone 1 (changing at Ealing Broadway & North Acton) BUT the fare could be via Earl's Court.

AND if you think the fare structure is complex now, imagine when more NR lines become available...

Yep spot on!

So what way would TFL want me to Travel to SB from Canning Town?

I am pretty sure I have gone this way before when heading up to Oxford Circus

If I went Tower I would have to touch in at Tower but I wouldnt have touched out

there is something wrong there, when you come from Canning town on jub line you tap out at stratford on the OSI gates and then jump on the tube, tap out at destination and ur done. Did you go straight to the central line? or wander around? did your journey take over 2 hours? if no to these, i would call the oyster help line and get a refund.

It's even more confusing if you happen to use Wimbledon, for anything....

You mean High Street Ken - Earl's Court and Notting Hill Gate are both zone1/2.

Are change-at-Bank (DLR, Central) or change-at-Bond Street (Jubilee, Central) quicker than change at Stratford (Jubilee, Central)? If so, I would presume that it would refuse to let via Stratford be one journey (just as it would assume that you wouldn't use the NLL for several journeys where via-zone-1 is considered quicker, though involves a change).

I would phone the oyster helpline, tell them that you:
1. touched in at Canning Town
2. travelled on the Jubilee Line to Stratford
3. Passed through the Jubilee Line barriers at Stratford*
4. Walked directly to the Central Line platforms
5. travelled on the Central Line to Shepherd's Bush
6. touched out at Shepherd's Bush 1 hour after touching in.
7. That you were charged a total of £4.00 for the journey when you should have been charged £2.20 **

*It may be necessary to explain that you have no choice but to go through these barriers if the person you speak to is not familiar with Stratford station.
** Assuming off-peak travel

Separately, I would submit a complaint to TfL about the staff at Shepherd's Bush. Even if they were right and you were wrong (which does not appear to be the case) there is no excuse for them being rude towards you.

One thing that baffles me about Stratford station is that, why did the Jubilee get its own separate set of ticket barriers? Just can't think of any logic for that!

Think about it... if you come off the National and needed to go to Mudchute DLR say, you'd be able to walk straight on unchallenged and thus have that part of the journey free and relatively risk free. The jubbly got there in 1999. The new ovaloid station building opened slightly before the Jubbly... It's a very oddly laid out station, but short of a total rebuild... I can't think of another solution!

If you are making a single journey that you will pay for by using a PAYG Oyster then you should touch in at the start of the journey in all cases.

If you are travelling by bus you should not touch your oyster card to a reader again on that journey.

If you are travelling by tram, and your journey does not start or end at Wimbledon station you should not touch your oyster card to a reader again on that journey.

If you are travelling by tram from Wimbledon station then you should touch your oyster card to a reader on the tram platform before you board the tram. You should not touch your oyster card to a reader again on that journey.

If you are travelling by tram to Wimbledon station, then you should touch your Oyster card on the reader of an automatic exit gate to leave the station. If you exit via an open manual gate, then you should not touch your card on any reader.

If you are travelling by tube, DLR or national rail and your destination station requires you to pass through one or more gatelines to exit the station, then you should touch your Oyster card on the reader of an automatic exit gate (or manual gate if this is opened for you) in each gateline. You do not need to touch your oyster card to any stand-alone readers at your destination station.

If you are travelling by tube, DLR or national rail and your destination station does not require you to pass through any gatelines to exit the station, and your journey has taken less than 2 hours* then you should touch your oyster card to a stand-alone reader between alighting from the train and exiting the station. At some stations (e.g. West India Quay) this may require you go out of your way to find a reader.

If you are travelling by tube, DLR or national rail and your destination station does not require you to pass through any gatelines to exit the station, and your journey has taken more than 2 hours* AND this journey time is the fault of the service provider (e.g. severe delays on your route) then you should touch out as per the previous paragraph. You should contact the oyster help line the following day to obtain your refund.

If you are travelling by tube, DLR or national rail and your destination station does not require you to pass through any gatelines to exit the station, and your journey has taken more than 2 hours* AND this journey time is your fault (e.g. you stopped to take photos on your journey, or went a circuitous route unnecessarily) then you should not touch your oyster card to a reader (this will result in you paying for 1 incomplete journey rather than 2)

(* or whatever other maximum time limit is in force for your journey)

Things get more complicated if you are passing through intermediate barriers, arriving at Waterloo on teh W&C and interchanging to a different LU line, interchanging between tram and tube or national rail at Wimbledon, interchangin between Overground and Underground at Euston or making an outerchange. I don't have time (before I fall asleep) to write these out.

If you tap out on a stand-alone reader and then tap out again at an automatic exit gate the system is smart enough to know you only exited the station once. If you do this in the other order your second tap will most likely be taken as tapping in at the star of a new journey.

It sounds to me like the Oyster system failed at Stratford and the staff failed at Shepherd's Bush. I cannot see any way in which there was anything wrong with the route chosen.

I suppose it is possible that once you touch out at the Jubilee gates you need to touch a reader on the Central line platforms, but I am sure I have changed there without doing that or being overcharged. It should be able to detect that when you exit at Shepherd's Bush that it was all part of the same journey.

Why are you touching anything at Finsbury Park? There are no gates so it's not necessary. I don't think you'd have these problems if all the system can read is entry at Moorgate and exit at Bermondsey.

That would then give a journey of three hours and the following from Oyster:

1730 Moorgate - Unfinished £4.00
Unstarted - Bermondsey 2030 £4.00

Maximum journey time under Oyster is two hours (or there abouts).