London Overground Fares

[stephy]

Hello,

Wonder if you can help - the TFL fares information does not tally with my actual experiences!

I've started travelling regularly from West Hampstead to Richmond, or from Hackney Central to Richmond when I stay at my boyfriend's.

Peak time, I've been charged £2.20 from Hackney Central to Richmond, which seems fair enough as it is a long way.

Peak time from West Hampstead to Richmond is £1.40.

Off-peak West Hampstead to Richmond is 90p. I've also been known to be charged this from Hackney Central, although it's inconsistent and off-peak form that far can sometimes be £1.40 (which seems to make sense if peak from there is £2.20!)

However, I want to know at what point this line switches from charging £1.40 peak to £2.20 peak! At which point does it change? I know it changes again e.g. from Acton Central to Richmond (£1.30).

The TFL website simply lists all journeys from either Hackney Central or West Hampstead to Richmond as £2.20 peak and £1.40 'at any other time'. This does not explain my 90p off-peak journeys... It's all really confusing.

I can understand why the line, being long, will have slightly different fare bands depending on how you use it (all cheaper than going via Zone 1), but why is the TFL information so unclear and can anybody explain the cut-off points to me?

For example, I'm thinking of moving closer to Caledonian Road & Barnsbury or Highbury & Islington overground stations, and want to find out if I'd be charged £2.20 or £1.40 peak to get to work... Obviously at the moment it works for me to be living in West Hampstead with £1.40 or 90p fares!

Any help appreciated,

Steph

 

[bb21]

Do you have any railcard?

 

[stephy]

I'm using Oyster on Pay As You Go, with my under 26 railcard 1/3 off discount applied - although I think I'm correct in saying this is only applied to my cap, not on individual journeys.

 

[bb21]

Assuming that you remain on the direct Overground train for your whole journey.

West Hampstead - Richmond is charged at Zone 2-4
Peak £2.20
Off-Peak £1.40 (90p)

Same prices apply to Hackney Central.

Acton Central - Richmond is charged at Zone 3-4
Peak £1.40
Off-Peak £1.30 (85p)

Peak fares to Richmond on the Overground changes from £1.40 to £2.20 after Willesden Junction.

Caledonian Road & Barnsbury or Highbury & Islington will both be charged as per West Hampstead.

Your railcard is where your 90p fare comes from. This means that the above prices become the ones in brackets. There is no railcard discount for peak fares.

Morning peak is 06.30 - 09.30 and afternoon peak is 16.00 - 19.00. Whether peak or off-peak fare is charged depends on the time when you touch 'in'.

There is no peak time designation at weekends or Bank Holidays.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I'm using Oyster on Pay As You Go, with my under 26 railcard 1/3 off discount applied - although I think I'm correct in saying this is only applied to my cap, not on individual journeys.

Applies to the off-peak cap and off-peak single journeys. Afternoon peak journeys do not attract the 1/3 discount but DO contribute towards the off-peak cap.

 

[stephy]

Very interesting, thanks for the response. I wasn't aware that my 1/3 off applies to single off peak journeys!

Now I need to work out whether or not it's worth getting some sort of travel card depending on how many evenings per week after work I go home after 7pm... Otherwise it's £4.40 a day! Ouch.

 

[bb21]

Np.

If you're using Richmond, the off-peak cap for Zones 1-4 is £4.80, and £4.30 for Zones 1-2 (not £4.40 due to rounding).

Thanks to Boris for abolishing the Zone 2-6 travelcard, if you reach the cap for the day you might as well travel via Zone 1.

 

[stephy]

But if I've already made a peak journey that day, do I become exempt from an off-peak cap if I go on to make lots of off-peak journeys?

I'm so angry about the abolition of the 2-6 cap!

Richmond also becomes confusiong when the South West Trains route is accounted for... Waterloo > Richmond off-peak yesterday was £1.50, but I'm sure I was charged £2 the other week...

 

[island]

If you make a journey before 9:30am and several journeys after 0930, the system is intelligent enough to charge you an off-peak cap plus the cost of the pre-0930 journey if it's lower than the peak cap.

 

[bb21]

If the off-peak cap plus that single journey is below the peak-cap (undiscounted) then the off-peak cap will still be applied separate to that journey.

Waterloo - Richmond is charged at Zone 1-4 (NR Rate)
Peak £3.30
Off-Peak £2.30 (£1.50)

Not sure about the £2 fare.

 

[island]

Re Waterloo to Richmond, on SWT this is £3.30 peak £2.30 off-peak, per bb21 (the £2.30 gets knocked down to £1.50 by your Railcard). However if you are not going to reach the daily cap, then the cheapest way to make that journey in the evening peak would be to buy a paper ticket for £2.65. This is because Railcard discounts in the London zones apply to paper tickets from 1000 onwards, without an evening peak.

If you make this journey by underground, it is £3.40 peak £2.50 reduced to £1.65 off-peak.

If you saw a £2 fare on the Oyster reader at Richmond, my best guess is that you had come from somewhere else to Waterloo, and that journey got combined as an out-of-station interchange. However I can't find any journey that would give a fare of exactly £2 (£2.30 would be the off-peak discounted fare for a journey involving both National Rail and TFL in zones 1-4).

 

[stephy]

do you know if the new discount on travelling INTO zone 1 in the evening peak applies to the NR oyster fare from richmond to waterloo?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
thanks for the great response!
so i should either get the tube or buy a paper ticket using my railcard when i go to waterloo in the evening peak?
i'm so glad i asked, it's so complicated working in zone 4 now! need to grin and bear it (used to work in zone 2 and be able to walk to work)!

 

[Mojo]

do you know if the new discount on travelling INTO zone 1 in the evening peak applies to the NR oyster fare from richmond to waterloo?

To Waterloo only? No.

If you were going from Richmond - Waterloo (on NR) and then on from Waterloo to any Z1 LU station (eg. Oxford Circus), officially the answer for that is also no, but since 28 Jan there has been a temporary fix to a glitch, meaning that in situations like this where there is a NR + TfL option or a wholly TfL option for a journey customers would always pay the reduced fare. Although this is a temporary fix and may be removed at any time.