Travelling in London

[BanburyBlue]

Hi, apologies, I didn't know whether this post should be in the Ticket Advice section or the London Underground section. Anyway...

We're going to a 2 day wedding this weekend in London. On the Saturday there's a civil ceremony in Chigwell, and on the Bank Holiday Monday there's the Hindu ceremony near East Ham. We are staying near Chigwell (nearest tube Woodford). On the Monday we need to be in East Ham at 9 a.m. so was going to lash out on a taxi to get there. As there's no time pressure after the ceremony, one option is the get the Underground on the way back to Chigwell.

Now, when I normally go to London, I buy a Travelcard for the day so all this new fangle dangle Oyster card stuff has passed me by .

Looking at the TfL website, I see now you can tap in and out using a contactless credit card. I've never done this before so I have some (stupid) questions that hopefully someone can help me with?

1. Do I have to register my card, or can I just turn up and use my card?

2. Can I assume I can use Credit or a Debit card?

3. What is the purpose of the pink Oyster card readers? I think I would use these if changing trains? So travelling from East Ham to Woodford, I could change at Mile End. So is there a pink reader somewhere in Mile End that I should look for?

Many thanks,

Clive

 

[brtom]

1) no need to register, 2) yup 3) they're only at certain stations (ones where if you change there you would be doing a slower cheaper journey) so they're probably won't even be one

 

[MikeWh]

1. Do I have to register my card, or can I just turn up and use my card?

2. Can I assume I can use Credit or a Debit card?

3. What is the purpose of the pink Oyster card readers? I think I would use these if changing trains? So travelling from East Ham to Woodford, I could change at Mile End. So is there a pink reader somewhere in Mile End that I should look for?

1) You can just turn up and go. If you do register the card you get the benefit of on-the-day journey history, accessible roughly 5-15 minutes after each touch.

2) Any contactless card can be used.

3) No pink readers at Mile End. It might be a bit quicker to change at West Ham and Stratford for that journey. But if you do go via Mile End that is fine. You don't need to worry about pink readers either way in fact.

 

[Hadders]

One thing to bear in mind is that if there's more than one person travelling you each need a contactless card, i.e. You can't use the same card to pay for two (or more) people.

 

[BanburyBlue]

Many thanks all.

Next (stupid) question, on the Saturday we may be going to Greenwich. Looking at the map it's Woodford to Stratford, then DLR to Greenwich.

So I assume it's touch out of the Central Line, touch in at DLR?

 

[Clip]

Many thanks all.

Next (stupid) question, on the Saturday we may be going to Greenwich. Looking at the map it's Woodford to Stratford, then DLR to Greenwich.

So I assume it's touch out of the Central Line, touch in at DLR?

No need to touch out at Stratford as its part of the same complex so just touch out when you get to GReenwich

 

[telstarbox]

Yes. For the DLR you want the high level Platform 4a/4b. If there is no train shown to Lewisham, board the first train to Canary Wharf and change cross-platform here (you don't need to touch in/out at Canary Wharf). Note that there are no barriers on most DLR stations so the readers are to the side of the entrance/exits.

If you're going to the Cutty Sark/Maritime Museum/Greenwich Park, Cutty Sark station is closer.

 

[Muzer]

Yes, it's definitely important to remember to touch in and out even at stations without barriers - it's all too easy to forget if you're used to having travelcards! Done this myself on the Waterloo & City a couple of times when I was attempting to use Oyster and momentarily forgot I didn't have a travelcard at Waterloo.

It probably isn't of interest to you as you won't need to use them, but in case you're curious, pink readers, as others have mentioned, are usually placed in places where people would usually change when making a journey cheaper than the more obvious/direct one - most often, journeys that cross London but avoid zone 1 would have a pink reader somewhere along the way, so you can "prove" to the system that you've not gone via zone 1. Of course, sometimes you have to go through two sets of ordinary gatelines when changing on such a journey, in which case no pink reader would be provided as the system can tell from you tapping out and then in again at a different gateline.

 

[BanburyBlue]

Yes, it's definitely important to remember to touch in and out even at stations without barriers - it's all too easy to forget if you're used to having travelcards! Done this myself on the Waterloo & City a couple of times when I was attempting to use Oyster and momentarily forgot I didn't have a travelcard at Waterloo.

It probably isn't of interest to you as you won't need to use them, but in case you're curious, pink readers, as others have mentioned, are usually placed in places where people would usually change when making a journey cheaper than the more obvious/direct one - most often, journeys that cross London but avoid zone 1 would have a pink reader somewhere along the way, so you can "prove" to the system that you've not gone via zone 1. Of course, sometimes you have to go through two sets of ordinary gatelines when changing on such a journey, in which case no pink reader would be provided as the system can tell from you tapping out and then in again at a different gateline.

Great thanks. So if using a credit card to swipe in and out, if you see a pink reader, swipe?

 

[Muzer]

Yes! Never hurts to touch a pink reader if you do see one (except in some very rare/unusual cases that have appeared recently, I believe), and though it's not required, it can make your journey cheaper if you do.

 

[MikeWh]

Great thanks. So if using a credit card to swipe in and out, if you see a pink reader, swipe?

Whether using Oyster PAYG or contactless when travelling within zones 1-9 it won't hurt to touch on a pink reader. There are some issues with the outside the zones sections, especially the Gatwick extension.