Oyster breaking journey

[dcmbarton]

Well I got my Oyster card and used it for the first time on Sunday and it worked fine - all the right prices etc. Does travelling by Oyster permit you to break your journey, for example, if I did Richmond to Waterloo, but got off for 10 minutes at Clapham Jct to take a photo (but didn't go out through the gates, thus not touching in and out) would the price still be the same as a direct journey?

David

 

[LexyBoy]

Well I got my Oyster card and used it for the first time on Sunday and it worked fine - all the right prices etc. Does travelling by Oyster permit you to break your journey, for example, if I did Richmond to Waterloo, but got off for 10 minutes at Clapham Jct to take a photo (but didn't go out through the gates, thus not touching in and out) would the price still be the same as a direct journey?

David

Yes - there's no way for Oyster to know what you're doing if you don't touch a reader.

BUT you must complete your journey within the maximum journey time for your journey, or you'll be charged the maximum cash fare. This can be corrected at the ticket office however, as long as your journey isn't ridiculously long.

 

[RJ]

Well I got my Oyster card and used it for the first time on Sunday and it worked fine - all the right prices etc. Does travelling by Oyster permit you to break your journey, for example, if I did Richmond to Waterloo, but got off for 10 minutes at Clapham Jct to take a photo (but didn't go out through the gates, thus not touching in and out) would the price still be the same as a direct journey?

David

Yes, so long as you don't breach the maximum time limit (admittedly it is quite difficult). You may also break your journey briefly at certain points where you may have to exit a station and re-enter another to complete your journey.

 

[LexyBoy]

Also to be pedantic, you're not breaking your journey unless you leave the station anyway. At least, that's the case on NR, it may be different according to TfL (since you're using Oyster, you are also bound by TfL's T&Cs).

I've even left the station without touching out (59 mins till next train = pub time) - though of course only do this if you're definitely resuming your journey (and barriers won't have come into operation during your absence).

 

[yorkie]

Well I got my Oyster card and used it for the first time on Sunday and it worked fine - all the right prices etc. Does travelling by Oyster permit you to break your journey

What constitutes a journey on Oyster is complex, there are maximum journey times which, if exceeded, result in an unresolved journey.

for example, if I did Richmond to Waterloo, but got off for 10 minutes at Clapham Jct to take a photo (but didn't go out through the gates, thus not touching in and out) would the price still be the same as a direct journey?

That is NOT a break of journey.

Maximum journey times are detailed here, as you can see they range from 70 minutes to 290 minutes, depending on various factors.

 

[dcmbarton]

I am aware that technically, in rail-speak it's not a break of journey...I just couldn't think what else to call it!

 

[JKJimar53]

Sometimes the Oyster card system does count two journeys as one when you touch out then touch back in later at the same station.

For example i made two journeys Surrey Quays to Stanmore i touched back in 15 minutes later at Stamore then went to Barbican.

The Oyster system counted this as Surrey Quays to Barbican via Stanmore.

 

[philjo]

Last week I did Kings Cross- High Street Kensington on the circle line, touched out & went upstairs to M&S for about 15 minutes.
then touched back in & went to Olympia on the District Line shuttle. This all counted as one journey.

I think touching out at Blackfriars & in again at Tempe within a short time counts as one journey at the moment while the underground station is closed at Blackfriars. (Well it did when I went that way a few months back)

 

[MikeWh]

Well I got my Oyster card and used it for the first time on Sunday and it worked fine - all the right prices etc. Does travelling by Oyster permit you to break your journey, for example, if I did Richmond to Waterloo, but got off for 10 minutes at Clapham Jct to take a photo (but didn't go out through the gates, thus not touching in and out) would the price still be the same as a direct journey?

David

As others have said, stopping off en-route without touching out and in again is fine, as long as you don't exceed the maximum time allowed for your journey.

Sometimes the Oyster card system does count two journeys as one when you touch out then touch back in later at the same station.

It really shouldn't. I'm aware that it does at some places and I'm awaiting a response to a FOI request to find out more details.

For example i made two journeys Surrey Quays to Stanmore i touched back in 15 minutes later at Stamore then went to Barbican.

The Oyster system counted this as Surrey Quays to Barbican via Stanmore.

And that is a perfect example of the sort of place where it definitely shouldn't happen. There is only one way in or out of Stanmore by rail, so if you get there you must be at the end of your journey.

Last week I did Kings Cross- High Street Kensington on the circle line, touched out & went upstairs to M&S for about 15 minutes.
then touched back in & went to Olympia on the District Line shuttle. This all counted as one journey.

Interesting. I wonder how long they allow there?

I think touching out at Blackfriars & in again at Tempe within a short time counts as one journey at the moment while the underground station is closed at Blackfriars. (Well it did when I went that way a few months back)

Yes, that is one of the two temporary out of station interchanges that exist while Blackfriars LU is closed. A full list is available at: http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/out-of-station-interchange-osi/

 

[JKJimar53]

As others have said, stopping off en-route without touching out and in again is fine, as long as you don't exceed the maximum time allowed for your journey.

It really shouldn't. I'm aware that it does at some places and I'm awaiting a response to a FOI request to find out more details.

And that is a perfect example of the sort of place where it definitely shouldn't happen. There is only one way in or out of Stanmore by rail, so if you get there you must be at the end of your journey.

Interesting. I wonder how long they allow there?

Yes, that is one of the two temporary out of station interchanges that exist while Blackfriars LU is closed. A full list is available at: http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/out-of-station-interchange-osi/

Keep us updated on the FOI Request, i can't work out why Surrey Quays is an OSI with Stanmore!

 

[Mojo]

Keep us updated on the FOI Request, i can't work out why Surrey Quays is an OSI with Stanmore!

It's not. Stanmore to Surrey Quays was the journry made. An OSI is where you exit and then re enter and your journey carries on. An example would be Paddington BR to Lancaster Gate.

 

[MikeWh]

Keep us updated on the FOI Request, i can't work out why Surrey Quays is an OSI with Stanmore!

On the off-chance that this wasn't a joke, it's not an OSI. It's allowed you to break the journey at Stanmore and restart it there so the whole trip has counted as one journey. The oyster system treats a journey as from where you touch in to where you eventually touch out. It charges you what it thinks it needs to for the route you probably took. It doesn't take into account any other tocuhes apart from where they indicate that you've taken an allowable cheaper route. If you do use a random OSI (or break at one of the stations that allows it) then it simply joins the two segments up as one.

What they really need to do is keep track of OSIs and if your journey ends up exceeding the maximum allowed time they should then break the last OSI and charge you for two actual journeys rather than two unresolved journeys. I do appreciate that that is quite a complex task, especially if your eventual end station could in itself be an OSI.

 

[RJ]

What they really need to do is keep track of OSIs and if your journey ends up exceeding the maximum allowed time they should then break the last OSI and charge you for two actual journeys rather than two unresolved journeys. I do appreciate that that is quite a complex task, especially if your eventual end station could in itself be an OSI.

It would be a good idea as currently you get charged 1x Entry Charge + 1x Exit charge if it thinks you've exceeded your journey time. Recall doing a trip from Pontoon Dock - Euston LU, out of system for 1hr then Euston NR - Clapham Jn, ultimately it tried to sting me for an Entry Charge at Pontoon Dock and an Exit Charge at Clapham Jn even though I was out of the system at Euston for over an hour. The only thing that stopped two £4+ charges being deducted was that I only had £6.30 credit to begin with . That said, behind the scenes all sorts of "enhancements" are constantly being made to the way that the charges are calculated. I suspect in this case, OSIs benefit more people than they incovenience. Would be interested to hear if there have been any updates on solving this problem though, always reading about new developments with contra-flow charges and continuation validations etc