I'm making a journey tonight from Acton Central to Clapham Junction, and looking at TfL Single Fare finder it seems that it would cost me £3.40 peak to travel Acton Central - Willesden Junction - Clapham Junction.
However, if I travel via Gunnersbury, Earl's Court and West Brompton, it's reduced to £2 peak.
Why is this? It's still a zone 3 - 2 journey.
Any advice would be appreciated!
A look at
@MikeWh's
Oyster Fare Finder helps to elucidate - the default route (i.e. what you will be charged unless you meet the conditions for another route) assumes travel via Richmond in Zone 4, and accordingly charges the NR1 scale zone 2-4 fare of £2.80 off-peak/£3.40 peak. This has to be the default route because there are no gatelines which you would pass through if changing at Richmond, and accordingly they must assume you've travelled that way unless proven otherwise.
There are also routes for if you interchange between LU and NR in Zone 1, which charge a much higher fare as obviously you have the Zone 1 and mixed mode 'tax'.
I suspect the reason why there isn't a cheaper TfL-LU scale zone 2-3 fare via Willesden Juncton is because you would have to touch a pink reader at Willesden Junction to prove you've travelled this way. But the pink reader is positioned in the walkway between the High and Low Level platforms, which you wouldn't use if you're doing the cross-platform interchange between High Level trains.
There is accordingly no technical reason why a lower fare couldn't be introduced, but more the fact that it could cause confusion and disappointment if people look up that the fare is £1.70 off-peak/£2.00 peak via Willesden Junction and then end up being charged more because they never went past a pink reader. But there is no harm in asking TfL whether they would consider adding it as a route, and if they refuse, raising it with your local politicians (councillor, MP or Assembly Member). You could also consider contacting London Travelwatch.
