Quick Question Regarding Staff Pass

[Darkuser999]

Hi All,

So ibahve recently just joined GTR and was issued a staff pass. HR told me that it essentially works as an Oyster. My question however is do I need to register it and keep track of my usage. If I forget to tap in or out, as I sometimes do with my contactless, do I get penalised or charged full fare, and then have to rectify it? I'm aware of Keygo and the accompanying letter says I can register on that. Is this something I need to do?

Thanks,

 

[Urban Gateline]

Hi All,

So ibahve recently just joined GTR and was issued a staff pass. HR told me that it essentially works as an Oyster. My question however is do I need to register it and keep track of my usage. If I forget to tap in or out, as I sometimes do with my contactless, do I get penalised or charged full fare, and then have to rectify it? I'm aware of Keygo and the accompanying letter says I can register on that. Is this something I need to do?

Thanks,

When I used to work for them and had the staff "Key" card, you didn't have to touch in and out, if you forget and the barrier is open for example it won't penalise you in anyway for not tapping one end. In fact I preferred not to tap and have the same inclination with any staff smartcard as I'm not that keen on them being able to track my journeys with it! So no, it's essentially just so you can pass through the ticket barriers and show it on the trains to staff onboard, you don't need to register it. To add to that, it may work like an Oyster with it being a touch card, but it is only valid on the GTR network and Southeastern so it won't operate the barriers at Underground or other TOC stations that are not GTR.

 

[Surreytraveller]

There's no money or credit on it, so it doesn't really work like an Oystercard, so they cannot penalise you for not tapping it.
Perhaps a better comparison would be an annual season, which doesn't have to be tapped.
One would hope HR would realise not everyone lives in London, and would not necessarily be familiar with Oystercards, as obviously HR aren't familiar with how they work either.
Presumably they've given you a pass without any instructions on how to use it? Sounds like typical GTR to me. Then blame you when you do something wrong, as they make the rules up as they go along

 

[Darkuser999]

When I used to work for them and had the staff "Key" card, you didn't have to touch in and out, if you forget and the barrier is open for example it won't penalise you in anyway for not tapping one end. In fact I preferred not to tap and have the same inclination with any staff smartcard as I'm not that keen on them being able to track my journeys with it! So no, it's essentially just so you can pass through the ticket barriers and show it on the trains to staff onboard, you don't need to register it. To add to that, it may work like an Oyster with it being a touch card, but it is only valid on the GTR network and Southeastern so it won't operate the barriers at Underground or other TOC stations that are not GTR.

Cool, thanks for clarifying.

A follow up question then is does this mean it works by Station and barrier. Meaning certain stations and barriers are considered to be in the GTR network.

If this is the case, what happens if you use the card at London Waterloo, which (I might be wrong) only has Southwest Services. Also, what happens when the journey requires both GTR and mom-Gtr services, for example London Underground or if you were to say do London Bridge to Clapham Junction, via Waterloo (using both Southeastern and Southwest Trains)?

Thanks,

 

[Surreytraveller]

It'll work at some Underground stations, such as Farringdon. I don't think it works at Cambridge, as that station isn't run by GTR (even though it's valid on their services there).
It's only valid on GTR and SouthEastern trains. It's not valid on London Underground or anyone else's trains - if you get caught, you'll be treated as not having a valid ticket and we'll see you in the disputes section of the forum!

 

[Darkuser999]

It'll work at some Underground stations, such as Farringdon. I don't think it works at Cambridge, as that station isn't run by GTR (even though it's valid on their services there).
It's only valid on GTR and SouthEastern trains. It's not valid on London Underground or anyone else's trains - if you get caught, you'll be treated as not having a valid ticket and we'll see you in the disputes section of the forum!

OK, my point is what happens when you need to use both the staff pass and the contact less payment card together?

 

[Surreytraveller]

You would need to get off and tap/out in with contactless.
If within the Oyster area, once you get your Staff Leisure Card, you can add the Priv discount to an Oystercard (National Rail only) and use that, and you can obtain a PTAC discount as well, for use on TfL services. Don't know whether the PTAC and Priv discounts can be added to the same Oystercard, as they have different T&Cs for use

 

[lb001]

I would advise having PTAC and PRIV on separate oyster cards as they clash, though no staff told me this when I had them added. When I had PTAC, I had one card with that, and a separate one for PRIV (RSLC), just as it would only apply the discount for the one added last (although that being said it would just apply 1, or the other, or none depending on how it felt lol)

 

[Surreytraveller]

I would advise having PTAC and PRIV on separate oyster cards as they clash, though no staff told me this when I had them added. When I had PTAC, I had one card with that, and a separate one for PRIV (RSLC), just as it would only apply the discount for the one added last (although that being said it would just apply 1, or the other, or none depending on how it felt lol)

You must mean avoid having them on the same Oystercard as they clash?
You need to be wary of adding more than one discount on one Oystercard. Adding a Priv onto a Zip can cause a clash if the staff don't know what they're doing - which the majority don't.
For anyone else reading, make sure they don't put a 'nominee' onto a Zip - it needs to be a 'staff'.