Does TFL ever "guess" tap in/outs

[andy33gmail]

Last night, I went from Embankment to Kings Cross.

Having had a drink or five, it would appear that I messed up and tapped out using the wrong card. Second time I've done this - but having researched this - the obvious thing would be to enable Express Travel mode in Apple Pay rather than unlocking and picking a card each time.

Last time this happened, I followed the flow to request a refund - and ended up being charged the correct fayre twice (once per card) - which was at least better than the maximum fayre twice. So this time I've contacted them instead in the hope they can fix it

Anyway, what intrigues me is that I can see:

Amex card:
Embankment to Liverpool Street
21:22-21:22
£2.80

Visa credit card:
-Unknown to Kings Cross
21:51
£7.00

My [main] question would be ... why does it think I travelled to Liverpool Street - when I didn't leave the train, and thus wasn't anywhere near a card reader.

Has it inferred this from previous journeys .. given that I *did* travel from Embankment to Liverpool Street on the Amex on 29th October

 

[dvboy]

I believe there is an algorithm used to complete journeys based on previous journeys.

For example, ticket barriers at Greenwich North may be left open at the end of a concert at the O2 and not every card may be registered but it would guess the journey based on arriving there earlier in the day

Similarly at Southfields at the end of the day during Wimbledon.

 

[pdsalford]

Forgive me, I cannot speak for TfL, but anyone travelling with TfGM, should know that their tap'n' go is very hit and miss.

 

[Mawkie]

Last night, I went from Embankment to Kings Cross.

Having had a drink or five, it would appear that I messed up and tapped out using the wrong card. Second time I've done this - but having researched this - the obvious thing would be to enable Express Travel mode in Apple Pay rather than unlocking and picking a card each time.

Last time this happened, I followed the flow to request a refund - and ended up being charged the correct fayre twice (once per card) - which was at least better than the maximum fayre twice. So this time I've contacted them instead in the hope they can fix it

Anyway, what intrigues me is that I can see:

Amex card:
Embankment to Liverpool Street
21:22-21:22
£2.80

Visa credit card:
-Unknown to Kings Cross
21:51
£7.00

My [main] question would be ... why does it think I travelled to Liverpool Street - when I didn't leave the train, and thus wasn't anywhere near a card reader.

Has it inferred this from previous journeys .. given that I *did* travel from Embankment to Liverpool Street on the Amex on 29th October

Yes, TfL does try to auto-complete journeys. Some years ago, CSAs were forbidden from closing incomplete journeys on the station ticket machines as it could conflict with the auto-complete at the time. I haven't worked on stations for many years, but I'm confident it has got more advanced.

Forgive me, I cannot speak for TfL, but anyone travelling with TfGM, should know that their tap'n' go is very hit and miss.

I'm not sure what you are contributing here, nobody mentioned Manchester, and the OP is not enquiring about faults with card readers; by their own admission they used 2 different cards for a journey.

Perhaps start a new thread about Manchester card readers if you feel it's valuable?

 

[Tetchytyke]

I believe there is an algorithm used to complete journeys based on previous journeys.

If you go into the TfL Go app during a journey you can see it in action.

I'm an irregular TfL user but my most common journey is Stratford to London City Airport. Every time I tap in at Stratford the app shows it as auto-completing to London City Airport. Obviously it updates to the actual station when I do tap out correctly.

 

[AdamWW]

If you go into the TfL Go app during a journey you can see it in action.

Indeed.

Recently I did a contactless journey in London then returned the next day.
On the train on the way back, and before I could possibly have completed the journey, it had already guessed what I was doing.

So it doesn't seem to even need to be a regular journey.

(But I came back a different way with an out of station interchange, after which it decided it didn't know what I was doing after all and decided to wait until I'd tapped out).

 

[island]

Yes, the system will attempt to guess missing taps if it can.

Give TfL a quick ring and they'll sort it out.

 

[jumble]

Yes, TfL does try to auto-complete journeys. Some years ago, CSAs were forbidden from closing incomplete journeys on the station ticket machines as it could conflict with the auto-complete at the time. I haven't worked on stations for many years, but I'm confident it has got more advanced.


I'm not sure what you are contributing here, nobody mentioned Manchester, and the OP is not enquiring about faults with card readers; by their own admission they used 2 different cards for a journey.

Perhaps start a new thread about Manchester card readers if you feel it's valuable?

I am not surprised
A friend who did this got a double bubble refund once