Touching in when changing at Stratford

[chris.w]

Hi guys,

I've been travelling Audley End -> Liverpool Street -> Holborn for the past year (a generally hassle-free journey), but next week start commuting from Cressing. I tried it out last week and fell foul of forgetting to touch-in at Stratford when I changed to the Central Line

Thinking back, I'm not sure I saw any Oyster readers on the platforms at Stratford. Are there any on or between the mainline platforms and the Central Line platforms or do I have to trek elsewhere in the station?

Alternatively I could carry on to Liverpool Street, but Cressing has no ticket machine and the Permit to Travel machine was broken last week, which I fear will cause all sort of delays getting through the ticket barriers. I guess I should queue at a ticket office in Stratford, but again, the ticket offices are on the other side of ticket barriers.

Happy to buy tickets, but I don't want to add considerable time to an already long commute. Any advice on how to achieve this with as little hassle as possible would be greatly appreciated!

 

[yorkie]

Alternatively I could carry on to Liverpool Street, but Cressing has no ticket machine and the Permit to Travel machine was broken last week, which I fear will cause all sort of delays getting through the ticket barriers. I guess I should queue at a ticket office in Stratford, but again, the ticket offices are on the other side of ticket barriers.

Happy to buy tickets, but I don't want to add considerable time to an already long commute. Any advice on how to achieve this with as little hassle as possible would be greatly appreciated!

I'm not sure I quite follow what you are saying you think your options are.

Anyway, the best choice for a daily commute is going to involve a Season ticket. The "least hassle" option is one Season from Cressing to London Zones 1-6, the monthly rate for this is £126.50 (but you're best buying them for periods of typically 5-week blocks, generally starting on Mondays and finishing on Fridays, taking account annual leave, Bank Holidays etc).

It might be cheaper to buy a Season to just Stratford, then use Oyster Pay As You Go, more so if you don't quite travel daily. Less so if you make other journeys in the London area and/or visit London at weekends. You'd still need to tap in/out where you change between payment methods though.

In some cases buying a paper Travelcard to an outlying Zone, then a separate Travelcard for the inner Zones can be cheaper. Providing all Zones are covered you do not need to worry about ticketing, or where the train calls.

 

[chris.w]

Thanks Yorkie,

Fortunately I normally only have to make the trip 3 days a week, which makes a season ticket uneconomic, and the days vary week from week, so it's difficult to purchase the tickets in advance. Awkward

So I think the only option via Stratford is to explain to the staff at the ticket barriers that the Permit to Travel machine in Cressing is broken (if it still is) and get them to let me through the barriers so I can queue to purchase a ticket for the journey I just made, or do they have someone at the gates who can sell tickets in such cases?

On the bright side, at least then I don't need to find an internal touch-in point!

Again, the other option is to carry on to Liverpool Street (where I'd have to do the same at the barriers). I find this journey takes longer but since I'd have to exit Stratford and re-enter, this is probably a moot point.

 

[306024]

At Stratford there are Oyster readers on 3/5 and 6/8, but not 9/10/10a.

Just a thought, if you catch the 06.45 or 07.31 from Cressing, these are 12 car trains that have conductors for the selective door operation. I think the conductor is in the cab of the 5th coach from the front. Look out for someone sticking their head out, they should be able to help if all else has failed. 8 car trains are DOO, but do sometimes have conductors doing tickets during the peak, trouble is they can only be in one unit at a time.

 

[bicbasher]

There's also a yellow Oyster reader on the Jubilee line concourse.