Young Persons Railcard

[Root]

Just wrote to TfL, here's what I wroted!

Let me begin by saying that it is fantastic that Oyster is coming to the entire National Rail network within London, enabling millions more journeys on Oyster for many people.

Unfortunately, I am still not one of them, and that is why I am writing to you.

Almost every journey I make on the train within London either starts or ends in Chesham, and is off-peak. This means that, using Oyster, a single daytime fare (0700-1859) is £5.50 and the off-peak cap is £6.90. However, I can buy a 1-6+D Travelcard for only £4.80, using my Young Persons Railcard, meaning I still have no incentive to use Oyster. Even in the evening/morning period (1900-0659) a single fare is £3.00, so a return journey would cost more than my discounted Travelcard. Of course, the ticket office is very seldom open for me to buy my discounted Travelcard, but you get the picture.

If TfL are so keen to get everybody using Oyster (as I would love to, because it is Faster, Smarter, Easier, and so on), why haven't you done anything about this situation that encourages me NOT to use Oyster?

As far as I can see, the solution is simple. You could allow holders of a Young Persons Railcard (or similar, other Railcard) to register it to their Oyster card for the duration of it's validity. Then, single fares could remain the same, but the off-peak cap would be £4.80 (or even 50p less?), lower than an adult Oyster card, with the peak cap also staying the same as Railcards are not valid in peak times. This means that holders of these Railcards would again have an incentive to use Oyster, enjoying all the benefits that it provides, and reducing queues and congestion in your stations.

Please consider my suggestion. I think it is a shame that Oyster is still not the best option for a large number of people who could potentially be using it.

Yours faithfully,

Oliver L

What do you think? Am I the only one who encounters this problem?

[zeibura]

you're quite right. i think they need to stop all the "student oystercard" tripe and bring in a completely new tariff for people aged 16-25. it's ludicrous how the fare is going to go up suddenly from being free to costing **** loads.

[Yorkie]

I found that national rail rules regarding zone D aren't exactly straightforward. I asked for a return to Amersham from Stoke on Trent, but the guy told me that Amersham was just a tube station, and therefore I couldn't buy a national rail ticket to go there. I assured him that Amersham was accessible via national rail, and he still couldn't give me a ticket (~= "Computer says no."). Only following my suggestion that he give me a return to Great Missenden was he able to print a ticket (which I probably paid 20p over for). Fun with barriers at Amersham then ensued.

</thread hijack>

[barrykas]

I found that national rail rules regarding zone D aren't exactly straightforward. I asked for a return to Amersham from Stoke on Trent, but the guy told me that Amersham was just a tube station, and therefore I couldn't buy a national rail ticket to go there. I assured him that Amersham was accessible via national rail, and he still couldn't give me a ticket (~= "Computer says no."). Only following my suggestion that he give me a return to Great Missenden was he able to print a ticket (which I probably paid 20p over for). Fun with barriers at Amersham then ensued.

Yup. Thanks to the "weirdness" associated with Zones A to D, it's only possible to get a through ticket to Amersham where one of two things applies:

• The origin station has an Off-Peak Day Travelcard available, in which case the add-on to the "Out-Boundary" Met stations is £1.20 on top of the Travelcard fare, though that only gets you a Cheap Day Return, not a Travelcard
• A through fare to Chalfont and Latimer is shown in the Fares Manual, without a "double-ended" crucifix (‡)

If neither of these apply, then you either have to buy two separate tickets, or buy a ticket through to Great Missenden (which takes the same fares as High Wycombe for long distance journeys). Great fun for all concerned...not.

A similar anomaly exists on the main Chiltern route, where Denham is outside the zonal area, and less than a mile from the boundary with the London Borough of Hillingdon. London bus route 331 (Uxbridge - Ruislip) runs past the station, and the local shop will quite happily sell you a Zone 1 to 6 (or 2 to 6) Travelcard, or Bus Pass, for travel on said bus to Uxbridge (or Northwood, or Ruislip). Go up to the station, however, and you'll pay £9.00 for an "Out-Boundary" Travelcard.

Cheers,

Barry