Oyster Charges on London Overground

[Ian99]

I swiped in my Pay As You Go Oystercard this morning at Sydenham at 7.30am. A reading came up on the screen there saying 4.60

I then swiped out 45 mins later at London Bridge rail (not underground) and the reading on the screen then said 2.00 (2.60).

Am I correct in thinking that I was therefore only charged £2 for that journey? That seems cheaper than I would have expected for a single at peak time.

Can someone advise?

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[323235]

I dunno how it came to £4.60
but as far as I can gather Oyster works on the principle that it charges you the highest fare on commensement of the journey
and then refunds you to the correct fare on touching out

therefore if someone doesn't touch in at the end , the higher charge stays

The Correct fare for your journey is £2.60

Therefore it charged you £4.60 on commencement of the journey
and refunded you £2.00 on touching out at the end,
ensuring you paid the correct fare as indicated on the ticket gate in brackets.

Just a guess???

 

[General Zod]

4.60 was the credit on your card on commencement of your journey. 2.00 is your remaining credit and you were charged £2.60 for the journey. As it was at 7.30am you were charged the "peak fare". If you had undertaken the journey between 0930 - 1600 or after 1930 ( off peak times) then you would have been charged £2.00.

 

[Ian99]

Thanks for your answer.

The National Rail Enquiries website shows the single Anytime fare as varying between £3.70 and £3.10 - i.e. 50p - £1.10 more than I paid.

Does that mean that it is generally cheaper to "pay" by Oyster rather than by cash on such journeys?

Also, why does the price on the website vary in no obvious pattern between £3.10 & £3.70 despite each ticket having the same name?

 

[General Zod]

In the Greater London area it is cheaper to travel using Oyster than paying cash for a ticket on both London Underground and National Rail, although due to the complexities of calculating the fares there may be an exception on NR somewhere. NRES website gave you two fares : £3.10 is from Sydenham and £3.70 is from Lower Sydenham.