Pink Reader charges EXTRA

[burgesst]

I travel from Zone 6 South Western Railway, via Richmond (where I touch pink reader and change to the Overground ) and exit at Willesden Junction (zone 2/3)

I get charged for a zone 3-6 journey.

Last week I accidentally additionally touched the pink reader at Willesden Junction just before exiting, and got charged 70p extra, I assume for a zone 2-6 journey.

Surely this is a bug? I've entered and exited at the normal points and the extra touch doesn't change my route?

 

[Kilopylae]

@MikeWh is our resident expert on the Oyster system, and should know the answer.

 

[Paul Kelly]

You don't say what station but I tried Thames Ditton to Willesden Junction - Oyster fares here: https://www.ltfares.com/!fares?orig=NRTHD&dest=NRWIJ

The default fare is 70p dearer than the fare which requires a touch of the pink reader at Richmond. I am assuming, to get the cheaper fare, you must touch the exact pink reader(s) listed (i.e. Richmond only) - if you also touch WIllesden Junction, maybe as there is no special fare defined for that combination of touches, you get the default fare? Is it even possible to have a fare require two separate pink touches? Maybe the second one overrides the first one? It does seem like some sort of system limitation though; I agree.

 

[Alex365Dash]

Is it even possible to have a fare require two separate pink touches? Maybe the second one overrides the first one?

There’s probably many more examples, but I’ll go with the first one I found which is West Ealing to East Croydon requiring pink reader touches at Ealing Broadway and Richmond.

Why this fare even needs the touch at Ealing Broadway when the other not via Zone 1 fare only requires the touch at West Brompton and still needs a change at Ealing Broadway, I do not know.

 

[MikeWh]

My page https://oysterfares.com/information-pages/route-validators-pink-readers/ includes a warning not to touch a pink reader at the station you finish your journey at for just this reason.

As your journey won't be defined with a route validator at the end you'll be charged the default fare.

Is it even possible to have a fare require two separate pink touches? Maybe the second one overrides the first one? It does seem like some sort of system limitation though; I agree.

Yes, lots of journeys require two validators, but there is a limitation on what is stored on the card. It might override a previous touch, or only keep a higher/lower zoned touch. It's not something TfL talk about for obvious reasons.

 

[Nottingham59]

There’s probably many more examples, but I’ll go with the first one I found which is West Ealing to East Croydon requiring pink reader touches at Ealing Broadway and Richmond.

Why this fare even needs the touch at Ealing Broadway when the other not via Zone 1 fare only requires the touch at West Brompton and still needs a change at Ealing Broadway, I do not know.

Do we know what would happen if a traveller via West Brompton did touch the pink reader at Ealing Broadway too?

 

[JonathanH]

Do we know what would happen if a traveller via West Brompton did touch the pink reader at Ealing Broadway too?

Probably nothing untoward.

I touched Ealing Broadway, West Brompton and Wimbledon when travelling from Twyford to Sutton on Monday, when a touch at West Brompton was sufficient, as I hadn't decided where to end my journey and some possible destinations required a touch at Ealing Broadway while others didn't.

I was charged the avoiding Zone 1 fare. I think that 'MikeWH's advice was not to touch the pink reader at a destination rather than not to touch it at all possible places.

It would be a bit of a nuisance if the system were set up to require exact pink reader touches for a given route, as in theory, it should not be necessary to look up the fare first before travelling.

 

[burgesst]

You don't say what station but I tried Thames Ditton to Willesden Junction - Oyster fares here: https://www.ltfares.com/!fares?orig=NRTHD&dest=NRWIJ

The default fare is 70p dearer than the fare which requires a touch of the pink reader at Richmond. I am assuming, to get the cheaper fare, you must touch the exact pink reader(s) listed (i.e. Richmond only) - if you also touch WIllesden Junction, maybe as there is no special fare defined for that combination of touches, you get the default fare? Is it even possible to have a fare require two separate pink touches? Maybe the second one overrides the first one? It does seem like some sort of system limitation though; I agree.

I don't think it's necessarily a special fare, but a case of getting charged zones 2-6 not 3-6 as Willesden Junction is in both 2/3 and the reader seemed to assume zone 2?

I shouldn't have touched the pink reader, but I went a different route to the exit to normal, and the pink reader was just before the exit gates and I absent mindedly touched it.

 

[Nottingham59]

the pink reader was just before the exit gates

That's annoying, given that TfL tell you to touch pink readers when you pass them...

 

[jon81uk]

That's annoying, given that TfL tell you to touch pink readers when you pass them...

No they say to touch them when changing trains. If at the end of your journey you should tap yellow reader.

Touch a pink card reader when changing trains

Pink card readers help you pay the right fare by telling us the route you took.

tfl.gov.uk