TfL fare confusion

[YJSP]

I plan to go to Gatwick Airport from Wembley. The easiest way seems to be taking a direct Southern train to East Croydon and changing there for a train to Gatwick Airport. According to the TfL fare finder, the off-peak fare from Wembley Central to Gatwick is £10.50. However, when I check the fares for Wembley Central to East Croydon and then East Croydon to Gatwick Airport separately, they're £3.70 and £4.50, which adds up to less.


I'm not sure why this happens, but I guess that if I touch out and then touch back in at East Croydon, I would get the cheaper split fare. I just worry if I touch out and back in too quickly at East Croydon, would TfL consider this as a single continuous journey and still charge me the through fare instead of two separate ones?

 

[Watershed]

East Croydon to Gatwick PAYG fares are ridiculously cheap, so for almost all journeys between Gatwick and stations north of East Croydon, it's cheaper to "split" the journey there. Because it's PAYG, you have to physically get off the train, touch out and back in, but due to the service frequency that usually isn't a huge issue.

Touching out and back in isn't an issue at a barriered station like East Croydon, since the barrier readers are directional and thus the system knows whether you are starting or ending your journey when you touch the reader. Your two journeys won't get joined up; you'll be charged the Wembley to East Croydon and East Croydon to Gatwick fares separately.

If you were using a freestanding validator - the type you get at unbarriered stations, and within the barriers at some Underground/National Rail interchange stations like Farringdon or Stratford - then you would be correct that this would not work. The system doesn't know whether you are trying to start or end a journey at a freestanding validator, so if you touch your card a second time, it assumes you have mistakenly done so twice and doesn't touch you back in. As a result you would therefore be charged for an incomplete journey when touching out at the other end, and you'd potentially be liable to pay a Penalty Fare if you were inspected onboard the train.

 

[yorkie]

This is perfectly valid, and you can tap out and immediately back in.

It's not uncommon for two shorter distance fares to be cheaper than one through fare, especially when travelling shoulder- peak or when using an airport.

The same principle applies to Heathrow (tap out/back in at somewhere like Ealing Broadway if using Elizabeth Line, or at Hatton Cross if using Piccadilly Line)

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Can be a faff negotiating the ramps from the platforms at East Croydon up to the card validators at the main station entrance on Addiscombe Road, and then back down again, particularly so at busy times of the day. There is also a smaller side exit/entrance on the platform 1 side of the station, which may prove easier to negotiate. Depends if you consider the small saving worthwhile.

 

[YJSP]

Can be a faff negotiating the ramps from the platforms at East Croydon up to the card validators at the main station entrance on Addiscombe Road, and then back down again, particularly so at busy times of the day. There is also a smaller side exit/entrance on the platform 1 side of the station, which may prove easier to negotiate. Depends if you consider the small saving worthwhile.

Thanks! It worked. Some train stops at platform 3 in East Croydon for about 4 minutes. I chose the most front coach, which is close to the exit. It took me just 2 minutes to touch out, touch in again and then boarded the same train to Gatwick Airport. I guess 2 minutes for saving £3 is not bad.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Thanks! It worked. Some train stops at platform 3 in East Croydon for about 4 minutes. I chose the most front coach, which is close to the exit. It took me just 2 minutes to touch out, touch in again and then boarded the same train to Gatwick Airport. I guess 2 minutes for saving £3 is not bad.

Most times you might try that, you'd then return, only to see the tail lights of the train you were on, disappearing into the distance. BTW, was it the side exit nearest to platform one that you used, and how much was the actual saving, I reckon maybe was £2.70.