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Post by spsmiler on May 10, 2015 19:05:54 GMT
Today being a Sunday I thought I'd see how to buy a 1-6 ODTC at the Network Card rate of £7.90. Of course I do have a Network Card.
As I was at Liverpool Street station I had a choice of ticket machines from which to make my simulated purchase.
First I tried a LU machine. I got as far as the selection for mainline railway railcards and crashed out. Although there were many options, the Network Railcard was not listed. This was a surprise.
Then I tried an mainline railway TOC ticket vending machine, and all went well. The Network Railcard was included in the options and I could have made a purchase right then, had I wanted to.
Later in the day I had a word with a member of staff who was hovering over the ticket machines at a different station. Having tried to show me what to do and found that Network Railcards are not included in the list of options he agreed that its not possible.
So, does this mean that LU do not want to sell passengers the correct tickets at the correct fare?
Simon
ps: I'll be wanting one of these later this month, and using it to visit some stations which I've not been to for ages.
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Post by spsmiler on Oct 16, 2015 13:20:50 GMT
The march towards no railway stations where London Underground are the sole ticket seller having staffed ticket windows continues.
I have on ongoing complaint filed with TfL over this, because whilst the staffed windows could sell tickets (such as Network Railcard rate One Day Travelcards) several days in advance, the machines will only sell them for 'today' or 'tomorrow'.
The background to this is that I was at Gants Hill station on a Friday and wanted a ticket for Sunday so that I could see the Steam On The Met train - and be able to catch a bus from my nearest bus stop to the station.
Whilst I could have bought the ticket on the Sunday morning whilst passing through the station I did not want to be paying a bus fare when I would then be buying a ticket which would have covered me for the journey I'd just made.
In addition I did not want to risk not being able to buy a paper ticket because of a not working ticket sales machine. The desire to not leave buying my ticket to the last minute came to me from an experience at a different station in the summer when I wanted to top-up an Oystercard and found that the only machine which accepted paper money was not working.
I absolutely wanted a paper ODTC for my Sunday out because it was quite a bit cheaper than the fares cap and that because I was going to be inside the fares paid area for much longer than the permitted journey time so with Oyster I would have been stung for several maximum fares.
So, despite TfL's hype Oyster was not at all the right ticketing solution for my travels on that day.
---------------------------
As I was in Ilford on the Saturday I bought my ticket from there.
As I have a Network Railcard and it was a weekend I was able to pay £8.45 for travel in zones 1-9, whereas the normal Oyster capped fare is significantly higher than this.
Simon
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Post by suncloud on Oct 17, 2015 1:55:27 GMT
I'm having issues with Stratford. None of the machines offer 'Super-off-peak' NR tickets for GA services. To get the cheapest ticket I now need to book on the GA app and 'collect' it from the machine. Last time I did this there was only one NR ticket machine working in the Westfield hall, and it took 10 minutes... Grah...
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Post by philthetube on Oct 17, 2015 5:06:00 GMT
and what is a freedom pass holder supposed to do if travelling out of London from Stratford?
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Post by stapler on Oct 17, 2015 7:09:57 GMT
Suncloud, I bought a super off peak day return at Stratford this week, at the NR machine adjacent to the NR ticket office (which was "alive" with staff in it, but with both windows closed).
On the train, a TTI approached the girl sitting opposite me, also from Stratford, who had been unable to buy a ticket at Stratford to extend her zone 6 NR travelcard to Chelmsford. The TTI very magnanimously said he would not charge her the penalty fare!
This is force majeure, and it is really time that LU and NR got their act together
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Post by crusty54 on Oct 17, 2015 7:23:59 GMT
The former Abellio ticket offices at Stratford have been taken over by TfL Rail. They still sell the same tickets as before.
The one at the south entrance has reasonable hours but the Westfield one doesn't open until after the morning peak and shuts early.
You can walk across the bridge to the main office.
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Post by melikepie on Oct 17, 2015 7:49:39 GMT
Network Richards only work best at weekends. I have found that I can't use it in conjunction with my oyster and during the weekday it only gets £1 off travel cards. It is annoying also during weekdays it is only to be used on journeys outside London over £13.
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Post by whistlekiller2000 on Oct 17, 2015 9:03:23 GMT
Network Richards only work best at weekends. I have found that I can't use it in conjunction with my oyster and during the weekday it only gets £1 off travel cards. It is annoying also during weekdays it is only to be used on journeys outside London over £13. A "Network Richard"? Please elaborate.  |
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Post by howda62 on Oct 17, 2015 10:05:41 GMT
I needed to buy a day return ticket a few weeks ago from an LU ticket machine and wanted to use my Network Railcard. I too encountered the lack of a Network Railcard button on the screen. The assistant noticed I was stuck on the screen and quickly came over. She duly advised that LU does not distinguish between all the possible types of railcards and that what I needed to do was the use the "Gold Card" option (forget the actual words for it) as this would cost the same as if using a Network Railcard. On the printed ticket, it is simply described as a "CSN DAY RETURN", CSN presumably meaning concession, and no mention of Gold Card. I never had to present the ticket to anyone so it was never validated by a human, but I assume this was correct advice?
This is a few months after your experience so perhaps this situation is now well known to the assistants.
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Post by John Tuthill on Oct 17, 2015 10:52:28 GMT
Network Richards only work best at weekends. I have found that I can't use it in conjunction with my oyster and during the weekday it only gets £1 off travel cards. It is annoying also during weekdays it is only to be used on journeys outside London over £13. A "Network Richard"? Please elaborate. Yes please do! I'm hoping it's nothing to do with cockney rhyming slang  |
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Post by norbitonflyer on Oct 17, 2015 10:58:33 GMT
A "Network Richard"? Please elaborate. Hopefully not rhyming slang but predictive text mangling "Railcard". But from henceforth they will no doubt be referred to on this website as "Richards" - just beware of the potential for double entendres! |
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Post by suncloud on Oct 17, 2015 11:04:10 GMT
Maybe the machine's have been updated since I last attempted to purchase a ticket from them. The previous time was a little while ago and later in the evening so no ticket office and I tried different machines. When collecting lately I suppose I could have gone the other side to use one of the other machines... But generally I get the impression that TfL Rail are less concerned about the bigger NR picture...
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Post by theblackferret on Oct 17, 2015 11:26:35 GMT
A "Network Richard"? Please elaborate. Hopefully not rhyming slang but predictive text mangling "Railcard". But from henceforth they will no doubt be referred to on this website as "Richards" - just beware of the potential for double entendres!
As good as @sean and the peck service!
Would also be a great name for a new wave/post-punk revival group.
That featured a strong set of tube-orientated songs. |
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Dom K
Global Moderator
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Post by Dom K on Oct 17, 2015 12:47:36 GMT
I'm going to ask a quick off topic question as it doesn't require a new thread. Does Potters Bar have an Oyster card reader?
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Post by domh245 on Oct 17, 2015 13:10:30 GMT
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Dom K
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The future is bright
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Post by Dom K on Oct 17, 2015 13:37:20 GMT
Thanks. That's very useful |
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Post by melikepie on Oct 17, 2015 14:35:46 GMT
As know that area, no there are no oyster readers at Potters Bar station as it is outside of the Zones. You can however use Oyster all the way to Potters Bar on bus routes 298 and 313.
There are also no plans by GTR to introduce them AFAIK
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Post by whistlekiller2000 on Oct 17, 2015 17:32:30 GMT
A "Network Richard"? Please elaborate. Hopefully not rhyming slang but predictive text mangling "Railcard". But from henceforth they will no doubt be referred to on this website as "Richards" - just beware of the potential for double entendres! Hee hee.......given that it's my name as well chaps........... |
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Post by crusty54 on Oct 17, 2015 17:47:17 GMT
Maybe the machine's have been updated since I last attempted to purchase a ticket from them. The previous time was a little while ago and later in the evening so no ticket office and I tried different machines. When collecting lately I suppose I could have gone the other side to use one of the other machines... But generally I get the impression that TfL Rail are less concerned about the bigger NR picture... not really fair - the TfL Rail ticket office staff (mostly) and the ticket machines haven't changed. They are still selling the same range of tickets. The only real change is that some fares have been reduced. Different story at LUL stations. The ticket machines are being updated but the kit behind the touch screens hasn't really been upgraded since the original installations. Don't think the people in charge of the changes look at them from a customer viewpoint. |
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Post by spsmiler on Oct 17, 2015 22:39:28 GMT
re: collecting tickets Stratford is unusual in that it has ticket machines on the platforms! So, even passengers using PAYG can do this - without having to touch out and back in!
The platform which I know for 100% certainty is 6/8 (eastbound) but I think there might also be one on 3/5.
Simon
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Chris M
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Post by Chris M on Oct 17, 2015 23:21:29 GMT
That's very useful to know, thanks!
I miss being within walking distance of a National Rail station as that made life significantly easier when collecting tickets in advance.
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Post by suncloud on Oct 18, 2015 8:22:48 GMT
I definitely couldn't find any way when using a TfL rail machine of buying the cheapest ticket that was offered on the Greater Anglia app (probably Network Super off peak single). And it was too late to buy via the app...
I like mTickets... It's a shame they're only issued for advance fares on GA...
If only they could make purchasing instant so you can buy an mTicket on your way to the station and avoid queueing completely..!
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Post by crusty54 on Oct 18, 2015 12:40:55 GMT
I definitely couldn't find any way when using a TfL rail machine of buying the cheapest ticket that was offered on the Greater Anglia app (probably Network Super off peak single). And it was too late to buy via the app... I like mTickets... It's a shame they're only issued for advance fares on GA... If only they could make purchasing instant so you can buy an mTicket on your way to the station and avoid queueing completely..! Using the operator's app is very likely to find a cheaper fare than the ticket machines. This applies countrywide. That way they get all the money less a card commission. |
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Post by stapler on Oct 18, 2015 13:44:43 GMT
Stratford could do with a ticket machine on 9/10 and 10A/11 as well. There are now Oyster readers on 9/10, but they are well hidden. The ticket machine on 6/8 is less useful now that Oyster is valid as far as Shenfield
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Post by spsmiler on Oct 18, 2015 22:10:40 GMT
Stratford could do with a ticket machine on 9/10 and 10A/11 as well. There are now Oyster readers on 9/10, but they are well hidden. The ticket machine on 6/8 is less useful now that Oyster is valid as far as Shenfield I hope they don't remove it! Simon |
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Post by philthetube on Oct 19, 2015 5:26:46 GMT
It really is pathetic that this thread even exists, I wish the peop;e who decided to close the offices were reading it.
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Post by crusty54 on Oct 19, 2015 7:02:32 GMT
Stratford could do with a ticket machine on 9/10 and 10A/11 as well. There are now Oyster readers on 9/10, but they are well hidden. The ticket machine on 6/8 is less useful now that Oyster is valid as far as Shenfield I hope they don't remove it! Simon Being well used just now as I got off a train from Liverpool Street. |
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Post by crusty54 on Oct 19, 2015 7:07:26 GMT
It really is pathetic that this thread even exists, I wish the peop;e who decided to close the offices were reading it. But how many people in a year want to buy such a ticket? For most people Oyster or contactless is all they need. As I said earlier the new entry screens are not so easy to comprehend. They need reworking. |
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Post by norbitonflyer on Oct 19, 2015 9:39:46 GMT
But how many people in a year want to buy such a ticket? As long as the ticket is advertised, it should be available. All rail operators, TfL included, are required by the regulator to sell you the correct ticket appropriate for your journey. |
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Post by crusty54 on Oct 19, 2015 9:46:58 GMT
But how many people in a year want to buy such a ticket? As long as the ticket is advertised, it should be available. All rail operators, TfL included, are required by the regulator to sell you the correct ticket appropriate for your journey. but the reason for wanting a paper ticket in this case was not to travel alone. It was wanted to stay on railway property. A cheaper fare would have been available on Oyster or contactless. Londoners can't afford to pay the cost of ticket offices with minimal and declining usage. The ticket could have been bought from the machine with a bit of advice which has been given. |
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