Oyster PAYG "oddity"

[CheapAndNerdy]

Thanks to http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/ I now know that there are no peak fares between Stratford and Clapham Junction, and the TfL single fare calculator clearly indicates this.

The "oddity" (which to be fair, is also clearly indicated) is that by extending a journey by just a single stop (eg from Clapham Junction to Wandsworth Common), the entire journey is subject to peak fares, even if the part of the journey outside TfL is not in the peak timeslot.

As an example:

I caught the 18:48 from Hampstead Heath to Clapham Junction. If I had left the station at CLJ I would have been charged £1.30 (single zone "off peak"). In my case, I connected (at 19:34) with a Southern service into zone 3 and ended up being charged the zones 2-3 peak fare of £1.80.

Not a complaint, because I knew in advance what I would be charged, and I quite deliberately took the journey at that time rather than waiting 20 minutes as an experiment, but it does seem a little "illogical, captain".

 

[MikeWh]

I think the reality is that rather than being off-peak all the time, the fares on the North London Line are just the same for both peak or off-peak. The time restrictions are still the same though, so as your journey started in the evening peak the whole journey is charged as such.

I do agree that it's a bit of an oddity, but then so is an awful lot about the Oyster system at the moment.

 

[CheapAndNerdy]

I think the reality is that rather than being off-peak all the time, the fares on the North London Line are just the same for both peak or off-peak. The time restrictions are still the same though, so as your journey started in the evening peak the whole journey is charged as such.

Thanks Mike. That interpretation helps make sense of it.