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Crossrail ticketing

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virgintrain1

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Please excuse my London ignorance.

With Crossrail set to open soon I was wondering does it count as a 'national rail' service or TfL service. For example will non safeguarded staff receive PRIV rate tickets.
 
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Watershed

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Please excuse my London ignorance.

With Crossrail set to open soon I was wondering does it count as a 'national rail' service or TfL service. For example will non safeguarded staff receive PRIV rate tickets.
A bit of both, in essence.

Crossrail/Elizabeth Line will be operated, just as TfL Rail is now, by MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Limited. They are a National Rail operator and hence National Rail staff travel facilities will be valid on them, and travel on paper tickets will be subject to the National Rail Conditions of Travel.

If you have the 'Priv' discount set on an Oyster card, I would expect that, as with Thameslink, you will be charged the discounted fares when travelling on Crossrail so long as there is no Tube travel involved in your journey.

However, most of the 'core' stations are managed by London Underground. And there doesn't appear to be any indication that there will be paper National Rail only fares for travel the core stations (as there are between Farringdon and stations serve by Thameslink, for example). The core stations will also not be treated as London Termini, hence you won't be able to use a London Terminals ticket to travel through the core. You would need to buy a ticket to the other side of London.
 
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virgintrain1

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A bit of both, in essence.

Crossrail/Elizabeth Line will be operated, just as TfL Rail is now, by MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Limited. They are a National Rail operator and hence National Rail staff travel facilities will be valid on them, and travel on paper tickets will be subject to the National Rail Conditions of Travel.

If you have the 'Priv' discount set on an Oyster card, I would expect that, as with Thameslink, you will be charged the discounted fares when travelling on Crossrail so long as there is no Tube travel involved in your journey.

However, most of the 'core' stations are managed by London Underground. And there doesn't appear to be any indication that there will be paper National Rail only fares for travel the core stations (as there are between Farringdon and stations serve by Thameslink, for example). The core stations will also not be treated as London Termini, hence you won't be able to use a London Terminals ticket to travel through the core. You would need to buy a ticket to the other side of London.
Thank you!
 

MikeWh

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Further information from Barry Doe in this weeks RAIL magazine:
  • Cross London tickets (eg Bath to Colchester) will be valid on Crossrail.
  • Within zones 1-6 standard LU ticket prices will apply.
  • From further out you will need a ticket to Zone U1 London.
  • All Line Rover and Britrail Pass will both be valid, including to stations like Tottenham Court Road, but not on Underground services.
 

miklcct

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So does it mean effectively Crossrail will be a line where Underground ticket will be interavailable on it?
 

Dr Day

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Will there be ticket barriers between Elizabeth Line and LU lines at interchange stations? ie will it be obvious where National Rail stops and Underground begins? (for say someone on an All Line Rover or other 'not valid on London Underground' type ticket)
 

iphone76

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Will there be ticket barriers between Elizabeth Line and LU lines at interchange stations? ie will it be obvious where National Rail stops and Underground begins? (for say someone on an All Line Rover or other 'not valid on London Underground' type ticket)
I've noticed at both Liverpool Street and Moorgate you'll be able to transfer between the two systems without having to pass a barrier line.

I believe it is the same at the other stations from what I've seen.
 

Mojo

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Will there be ticket barriers between Elizabeth Line and LU lines at interchange stations? ie will it be obvious where National Rail stops and Underground begins? (for say someone on an All Line Rover or other 'not valid on London Underground' type ticket)
All stations Bond St to Whitechapel inclusive are LU stations, they are controlled and staffed by LU staff but will have MTR staff on the platforms. The boundary point is the platform screen doors (although technically LU is also the infrastructure manager for the platform tunnels and area above the overheads). There will be no need to pass through a gateline at any of these stations as they are the same station. Of note that the Crossrail platforms and new entrance at Liverpool St is actually Moorgate station. There is however also direct access to the main Liverpool St LU ticket hall, anyone going down to the Central line can see the fire doors separating Moorgate from Liverpool St. Farringdon is also connected to Barbican, with a single lift that takes you to the headwall of the Inner Rail platform again with no need to pass through any gates.

Paddington is a separate station with automatic fire doors between the Crossrail section and LU stations. There is with direct access to the Bakerloo line. Signage directs customers for the District & Circle lines and the Circle & Hammersmith lines to exit through a gateline and re-enter via the Mainline concourse, although in the case of the former it would be possible to go via the Bakerloo line escalators, just not signed.

Canary Wharf and Woolwich are separate stations from stations of the same or similar name in the area.

Custom House, from the looks of pictures and videos it looks like you have to pass through a gateline to change between DLR<>Crossrail.

Abbey Wood is the same station and no gateline required to change Southeastern<>Crossrail.
 

akm

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Will there be ticket barriers between Elizabeth Line and LU lines at interchange stations? ie will it be obvious where National Rail stops and Underground begins? (for say someone on an All Line Rover or other 'not valid on London Underground' type ticket)
There are already many instances of products that are only valid on some of the trains from a given station
 

Hadders

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It’ll be interesting to see if there is a ‘London Elizabeth’ destination created that would work in a similar fashion to ‘London Thameslink’.

With TfL being in control I doubt they’ll do this, they will assume little use of paper tickets.
 

plugwash

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Will there be ticket barriers between Elizabeth Line and LU lines at interchange stations?
As others have said, in most cases no.

But this is not a new thing, there are plenty of places on the existing network where London Underground platforms and National rail platforms are behind the same gateline. Heck there are even places where London Underground and National Rail services use the same platforms.

ie will it be obvious where National Rail stops and Underground begins?
TFL seem to deliberately brand their national rail services as part of the "TFL empire", and downplay the fact they are national rail services.

OTOH TFL rail and Overground services do show up as regular rail services on rail planning sites and I presume the same will apply to crossrail when it open.

(for say someone on an All Line Rover or other 'not valid on London Underground' type ticket)
I think the all lines rover is an expensive/niche enough ticket that it's unlikely to be a massive problem. Most people buying that ticket will be railfans who are hopefully aware of what is and isn't a rail service. I don't think there are any other rovers in that area which are not TOC specific.

I guess foriegn visitors on interrail/britrail may be confused, but I think it's more likely they will be confused in the direction of asuming that their pass is not valid on services which it is valid on than vice-versa (IIRC in most places interrail is not valid on metro services).

Most regular cross-london tickets have validity on the underground anyway.
 
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biko

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I guess foriegn visitors on interrail/britrail may be confused, but I think it's more likely they will be confused in the direction of asuming that their pass is not valid on services which it is valid on than vice-versa (IIRC in most places interrail is not valid on metro services).
Indeed, and it’s always a good idea to check if one’s wanting to use Interrail on a city network. Also outside of the UK, some networks are included, some not and some partly. For example, some RER lines in Paris are included because they are operated by SNCF, but others aren’t as those are operated by RATP. There is no difference in branding besides the line letter, so that’s quite similar to the Elizabeth Line/Crossrail.
 

miklcct

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I have found out that there exist some "Not Underground" fares which, once Crossrail opens, will be valid on the Crossrail service and undercut other operator's fares. I hope those loopholes will continue to exist and found out by regular London commuters and media, making headline that "Crossrail saves xx% of your commute cost" in the news.
 

JonathanH

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I have found out that there exist some "Not Underground" fares which, once Crossrail opens, will be valid on the Crossrail service and undercut other operator's fares.
Will "Not Underground" fares be valid on the Crossrail services?
 

Watershed

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Will "Not Underground" fares be valid on the Crossrail services?
Why wouldn't they be? "Not Underground" is clearly a TOC restriction referring to London Underground Limited. Crossrail will be operated by a completely separate company, MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Limited.
 

alistairlees

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Why wouldn't they be? "Not Underground" is clearly a TOC restriction referring to London Underground Limited. Crossrail will be operated by a completely separate company, MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Limited.
Only tickets with a cross-London marker, or which are to an appropriate U zone, will be valid on the Elizabeth Line between Paddington and Liverpool Street / Abbey Wood. Although schedules on this section of line will appear in the National Rail timetable, they will be treated as being London Underground schedules for fares purposes.
 

Watershed

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Only tickets with a cross-London marker, or which are to an appropriate U zone, will be valid on the Elizabeth Line between Paddington and Liverpool Street / Abbey Wood. Although schedules on this section of line will appear in the National Rail timetable, they will be treated as being London Underground schedules for fares purposes.
But that is not because of a special rule about Crossrail. It is simply because there won't be any paper fares defined to the core stations.

So if, for the sake of argument, there were a "not Underground" fare from Acton Main Line to Abbey Wood, it would be valid on Crossrail by virtue of it being the shortest route as well as (in due course) a through train.
 

Watershed

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The distance won’t be in the routing guide, so no.
No reference to the Routeing Guide is required for it to be a valid route under NRCoT 13.1.2:
by any services (including any change of trains) over the shortest route which can be used by scheduled passenger services between the stations shown on your Ticket
 

MikeWh

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Only tickets with a cross-London marker, or which are to an appropriate U zone, will be valid on the Elizabeth Line between Paddington and Liverpool Street / Abbey Wood. Although schedules on this section of line will appear in the National Rail timetable, they will be treated as being London Underground schedules for fares purposes.
But surely so are C2C fares between Upminster and Fenchurch Street, Chiltern between Amersham and Marylebone etc etc
 

miklcct

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My speculation is that:

- Crossrail is a National Rail line
- It is also an interavailable line with the Underground, making an Underground ticket valid on Crossrail, and an National Rail ticket with validity on Crossrail valid on the parallel Tube lines (unless it is routed Not Underground)
- However, the intention is that there won't be National Rail only fares defined in the National Rail database which will have validity on Crossrail except tickets with Maltese cross or U-zone tickets
- Meanwhile, I have found fares which violate the above intention and will become loophole fares if the route is not changed to "not Underground not Crossrail"
 

Horizon22

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I have found out that there exist some "Not Underground" fares which, once Crossrail opens, will be valid on the Crossrail service and undercut other operator's fares. I hope those loopholes will continue to exist and found out by regular London commuters and media, making headline that "Crossrail saves xx% of your commute cost" in the news.

Although highlighting it in the media will more than likely mean the loophole is closed!

RfLI (Rail for London Infrastructure) also control the tunnels & signalling through the area, which is a subsidiary of TfL
 

miklcct

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Although highlighting it in the media will more than likely mean the loophole is closed!

RfLI (Rail for London Infrastructure) also control the tunnels & signalling through the area, which is a subsidiary of TfL
The flow I have found is a really popular commuter flow which can fill peak time trains full, and I think it will make media appearance very soon after opening when regular commuters find their ticket price on websites reduced by a great extent when it's routed through Crossrail if the loophole is not closed by then. The loophole fare is 2/3 of the intended fare for peak-time commuting and doesn't need any special tricks in journey planners to produce.
 

Ralph Ayres

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Don't forget that all this relates only to the central Paddington-Liverpool St-Whitechapel-Abbey Wood stretch. Ticket acceptance on the bits running already is unchanged, and it won't matter whether Stratford-Liverpool St - with its existing LU/NR interavailability - is above ground or underneath.

If there really are any useful "Not Underground" loopholes left they will be few in number and living on borrowed time. There has already been work over recent years (there's been plenty of time!) to remove ambiguity by using routes such as "via City Thameslink" instead. Crossrail is about easing overcrowding and making journeys easier not about cutting fares, though there will be some reductions particularly for payg journeys that become possible as "TfL-only"; some are already charged on that basis anyway as they were put in ready for the original opening date and couldn't be taken out in case the opening happened without warning.
 

yorkie

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Just to confirm, I should have no issues using Interrail from St Pancras - Farringdon - Paddington (via Thameslink/Crossrail), is that correct?

Also, presumably Interrail should also be accepted between King's Cross - Farringdon - Moorgate on the Metropolitan line, due to inter-availability applying between NR/LU on tickets valid for travel into King's Cross/Moorgate?
 

Watershed

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Just to confirm, I should have no issues using Interrail from St Pancras - Farringdon - Paddington (via Thameslink/Crossrail), is that correct?

Also, presumably Interrail should also be accepted between King's Cross - Farringdon - Moorgate on the Metropolitan line, due to inter-availability applying between NR/LU on tickets valid for travel into King's Cross/Moorgate?
Interrail is certainly valid and was briefed as such when the Core opened.

Whether you will actually have "no issues" is another matter, although I wouldn't anticipate problems at St Pancras, and if you're travelling from Sunday onwards then there will be services from the west into Paddington LL, so again any argument over use of the Core should be reduced.

Interavailability does also apply between Kings Cross and Moorgate - and again with Moorgate, where you could have arrived on a NR service from Finsbury Park, you might have slightly less trouble than might otherwise be the case. Kings Cross St Pancras LU might be a different story though.
 

miklcct

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Interrail is certainly valid and was briefed as such when the Core opened.

Whether you will actually have "no issues" is another matter, although I wouldn't anticipate problems at St Pancras, and if you're travelling from Sunday onwards then there will be services from the west into Paddington LL, so again any argument over use of the Core should be reduced.

Interavailability does also apply between Kings Cross and Moorgate - and again with Moorgate, where you could have arrived on a NR service from Finsbury Park, you might have slightly less trouble than might otherwise be the case. Kings Cross St Pancras LU might be a different story though.
The interavailability document only specifies single, return and season tickets. It doesn't specify any tickets which are valid on the basis of being part of the National Rail network, for example, All Line Rover or Interrail Passes.

I would expect that an All Line Rover or Interrail Pass be rejected on Underground service regardless of interavailability since they are tickets which the validity is based on being a National Rail service, rather than based being valid on the route specified.
 

Watershed

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The interavailability document only specifies single, return and season tickets. It doesn't specify any tickets which are valid on the basis of being part of the National Rail network, for example, All Line Rover or Interrail Passes.
I've previously had it confirmed by LU, in writing, that interavailability does apply to NR passes such as ALR/Interrail. That it's a ranger/rover rather than single/return is immaterial.

I would expect that an All Line Rover or Interrail Pass be rejected on Underground service regardless of interavailability since they are tickets which the validity is based on being a National Rail service, rather than based being valid on the route specified.
I would expect them to be rejected simply on the basis that the Underground barrier staff aren't unlikely to be familiar with the rules for NR ticketing - despite the interavailable routes involving their station. That's certainly been my experience when trying to use interavailable routes in the past.
 

James H

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I'm not sure that this information on Elizabeth line fares sent by TfL to MPs and London Assembly members is quite right (or if right, it's not as clearly expressed as it could be). It certainly does little to demystify ticketing!

Using London Underground and tickets to "London Terminals" on the Elizabeth line

For customers travelling exclusively on the Elizabeth line (without interchanging with other London Underground services), London Underground tickets are only valid between Paddington and Abbey Wood.

Customers using London Underground tickets to other Elizabeth line stations in the east and west must travel on London Underground services for part of their journey. For example, customers using a London Underground ticket from Heathrow London Underground station to Abbey Wood, must start their journey on the Piccadilly line before inter-changing onto the Elizabeth line towards Abbey Wood. The ticket is not valid on Elizabeth line services direct from Heathrow to Abbey Wood.

Tickets to/from London Terminals are not valid on the Elizabeth line between Paddington Elizabeth line and Liverpool Street Elizabeth line stations. As such, customers using these tickets from the west and east who wish to travel beyond these respective stations must exit and resume their journey using pay as you go or buy a valid ticket for the rest of their journey.

Source: https://twitter.com/JuliaLopezMP/status/1588797742209458176
 
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