Pink Oyster readers

[oe]

A seventh anniversary post.


Would I be alone in thinking that at Stratford platforms 1&2 there are not enough Pink Oyster readers?
Even before 7 am it is nigh on impossible to disembark and tap the reader without becoming part of a scrum..... and this with strategic door selection and standing from almost the moment the train leaves Hackney Wick on my part.
I believe there are 6 readers on platforms 1&2 but feel this ought really be doubled at the least.

[Chris M]

Try disambarking at Crossharbour in the evening peak - just one yellow oyster reader per staircase.

[roman80]

TFL should look at this systematically across the network. These can't be too expensive. On the frequent occasions the Jubilee line falls apart in the evening peak, the three nearby DLR stations to Canary Wharf also have inadequate readers. At Putney Bridge whenever Fulham play at home on a weeknight there aren't enough either. Surely portable ones could be used for football games.

[sawb]

I have a question regarding the pink oyster readers at Stratford.


I am needing to get from Wickford to West Brompton on 5th October. If the strike goes ahead, then I plan to use Greater Anglia to Stratford, then London Overground to West Brompton. When touching in at Stratford, do I need to touch both a yellow reader and a pink reader, or just a pink reader on the Overground platforms please?

[Chris M]

If you are starting your Oyster journey at Stratford you need to touch on a yellow reader.

To prove your route you would then need to tap on the pink reader, but the single fare finder on the TfL website shows only one fare defined between those two stations, equal to the zone 2 only fare and makes no mention of pink readers. This is contrasted to Canning Town to Highbury and Islington where there are fares defined for via zone 1 and zone 2 only via Stratford which makes mention of the need to touch a pink reader at Stratford. Routes from Stratford International to West Brompton and from Stratford to Fulham Broadway also have two fares defined and mention the need to tap pink readers at Stratford and West Brompton respectively. Stratford International to Fulham Broadway indicates a need to tap pink readers at both locations.

[snoggle]

Sept 20, 2017 13:59:57 GMT Chris M said:

If you are starting your Oyster journey at Stratford you need to touch on a yellow reader.

To prove your route you would then need to tap on the pink reader, but the single fare finder on the TfL website shows only one fare defined between those two stations, equal to the zone 2 only fare and makes no mention of pink readers. This is contrasted to Canning Town to Highbury and Islington where there are fares defined for via zone 1 and zone 2 only via Stratford which makes mention of the need to touch a pink reader at Stratford. Routes from Stratford International to West Brompton and from Stratford to Fulham Broadway also have two fares defined and mention the need to tap pink readers at Stratford and West Brompton respectively. Stratford International to Fulham Broadway indicates a need to tap pink readers at both locations.

There are a few Z2 fare only combinations where there is a direct Overground train from Stratford to points west. In those few cases there is no need for a pink validator touch.

[norbitonflyer]

I think if there is a direct route between two stations the system assumes you took that route, even if a faster route via Zone 1 exists involving a change (at Mile End in this case)

Not sure what happens if two direct routes passing through different zones are available between the same points, using the same barrier line at each end (so not Blackfriars to Wimbledon for example) Are there any such journeys in fact?

[Chris M]

Sept 20, 2017 15:14:54 GMT norbitonflyer said:

Not sure what happens if two direct routes passing through different zones are available between the same points, using the same barrier line at each end (so not Blackfriars to Wimbledon for example) Are there any such journeys in fact?

Well West Brompton to West Ham was one such route, before the North London Line was truncated at Stratford. I don't recall whether this journey was ever permissible using Oyster though.

Clapham Junction to Canonbury or Highbury and Islington (the eastern route goes via Zone 1 at Shoreditch High Street, the western is Zone 2 all the way) is the only one I can think of in the present day.

[stapler]

I think for a journey from Wickford to West Brompton you would need to touch in on the yellow reader at Stratford (there are well hidden readers on plats 9/10)- and again on the pink readers at the head of 1/2, just so there is no suspicion you travelled via the District Line and zone 1

[croxleyn]

Sept 20, 2017 13:59:57 GMT Chris M said:

If you are starting your Oyster journey at Stratford you need to touch on a yellow reader.

That's not strictly true (unless it's changed). Some years ago, I changed from Finchley Rd Metropolitan to the North London O/G at Frognal, touching in as I thought. This should have been an OSI change, i.e. free. Got to Stratford and decided to do the Docklands LR to Stratford International journey, touching the pink reader (necessary or not).

Looking at my journey history later, I realised that Frognal had not registered the entry (even though it beeped). I was then charged a new journey from Stratford to SI.

[norbitonflyer]

Sept 20, 2017 16:32:28 GMT Chris M said:

Sept 20, 2017 15:14:54 GMT norbitonflyer said:

Two direct routes passing through different zones available between the same points, using the same barrier line at each end?

Well West Brompton to West Ham was one such route, before the North London Line was truncated at Stratford. I don't recall whether this journey was ever permissible using Oyster though..

It would have been - I've certainly used Oyster at North Woolwich. But I don't think there were ever any through trains to the West London Line from east of Stratford. West Ham to Richmond, however.............

Sept 20, 2017 16:32:28 GMT Chris M said:

Clapham Junction to Canonbury or Highbury and Islington is the only one I can think of in the present day.

Charged as a Zone 2-only journey, so it would seem from the fare finder.

[snoggle]

Sept 20, 2017 17:29:04 GMT stapler said:

I think for a journey from Wickford to West Brompton you would need to touch in on the yellow reader at Stratford (there are well hidden readers on plats 9/10)- and again on the pink readers at the head of 1/2, just so there is no suspicion you travelled via the District Line and zone 1

Sorry but that is incorrect. You only "touch pink" if the fares finder details for the journey and route being undertaken says that you must. Stratford to West Brompton has no alternative routes and therefore no "touch pink" requirement so doing so is unnecessary.

I have years of experience of using a Z23 Travelcard and having to touch pink on all sorts of routes and never having wrongly incurred a Z1 fare. I was also given a briefing on how the system deals with this stuff before I left LU and surrendered the joys of a Staff Pass where such fripperies as touching pink and adding value are not needed.

[rincew1nd]

The rule in my mind is "if you're walking past a pink reader, touch it: it won't cost you more and might cost you less"

[stapler]

Sept 20, 2017 19:53:15 GMT rincew1nd said:

The rule in my mind is "if you're walking past a pink reader, touch it: it won't cost you more and might cost you less"

That's exactly what I was getting at. The average person doesn't kow about the fare finder!¬