TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Discuss the full Tube Challenge here
xcooler123
Zone 5
Posts: 455
Joined: 17 Jun 2015, 10:20
Location: Derby

TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by xcooler123 »

Some concerning news coming out this evening which will have a pretty big impact on Tube Challenges of any kind -

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2021/1 ... s-defecit/

As part of a package of measures to help TfL reduce its deficit, one of the proposals is that TfL withdraws from the Travelcard Agreement with National Rail services. This would mean the end of paper travelcards and any challenge anyone does in the future would have to be done on Oyster/Contactless. The daily/weekly caps would still be in place but it would mean that you have to ensure that you tap in/out at the correct times to ensure you don't time out (and lead to a hefty fare if you don't/can't claim a refund) adding another complexity to challenges. Increased costs will come in as well if you have to use NR on top of LU (as this will be a separate charge outside of the caps).
David
5 x FNC attempts, Best Tine - 17:25:11 (Comic Relief 2017)
20 x R15, Best Time - 02:02:46
2017/18 & 2018/19 R15 Champion
4 x Alternative Challenge Records (LO, Z1&2, SofT & Compass)
trains 500
Zone 4
Posts: 268
Joined: 23 Jun 2020, 19:52

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by trains 500 »

Can’t see this being an issue, anyone serious about a record breaking attempt will take the time out fine
Lner station assist (dispatcher)

YT: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... x7lo4OqFpy
Quizzes for Tube Nerds
xcooler123
Zone 5
Posts: 455
Joined: 17 Jun 2015, 10:20
Location: Derby

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by xcooler123 »

trains 500 wrote: 15 Dec 2021, 21:44 Can’t see this being an issue, anyone serious about a record breaking attempt will take the time out fine
It's not just the Full Network that it affects though, its all the other alternative challenges which are arguably more affected given that a number rely on NR connections and people aren't going to be keen to do them if the cost goes up quite a bit.
David
5 x FNC attempts, Best Tine - 17:25:11 (Comic Relief 2017)
20 x R15, Best Time - 02:02:46
2017/18 & 2018/19 R15 Champion
4 x Alternative Challenge Records (LO, Z1&2, SofT & Compass)
ANDY_JS
Zone 2
Posts: 82
Joined: 19 Feb 2019, 19:55

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by ANDY_JS »

trains 500 wrote: 15 Dec 2021, 21:44 Can’t see this being an issue, anyone serious about a record breaking attempt will take the time out fine
What exactly is the "time out fee"? I've heard of it a few times but still not sure what it is apart from very vaguely.

On my first couple of attempts I bought a paper ticket, but I kept having problems with it losing its magnetism, so last time I switched to using a debit card. I probably got charged this "time out" fee but I haven't bothered to check so far. I hope it wasn't a lot of money!
Last edited by ANDY_JS on 16 Dec 2021, 02:05, edited 1 time in total.
ANDY_JS
Zone 2
Posts: 82
Joined: 19 Feb 2019, 19:55

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by ANDY_JS »

edit — not sure how to delete posts
User avatar
al
Zone 6
Posts: 774
Joined: 20 May 2007, 09:34
Location: Staffs

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by al »

trains 500 wrote: 15 Dec 2021, 21:44 Can’t see this being an issue, anyone serious about a record breaking attempt will take the time out fine
I beg to differ! If you are trying to break the record, running in and out of the barriers a couple of times could easily make the difference between success and failure. OSIs become your enemy here. You may even have to go to the barriers artificially at times which is even worse.
Held some Alternative Challenge records for a long time.
Doesn't any more.
User avatar
EastActionWoman
Zone 4
Posts: 262
Joined: 19 May 2019, 10:02

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by EastActionWoman »

ANDY_JS wrote: 16 Dec 2021, 02:00 What exactly is the "time out fee"? I've heard of it a few times but still not sure what it is apart from very vaguely.

On my first couple of attempts I bought a paper ticket, but I kept having problems with it losing its magnetism, so last time I switched to using a debit card. I probably got charged this "time out" fee but I haven't bothered to check so far. I hope it wasn't a lot of money!
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and ... rney-times

If you haven't tapped out again after approx 1 hour, the system assumes you've travelled to one of the outer zones and charges you accordingly. For our tube challenges that usually means £5.80 for an off-peak journey. I have my debit card registered with TfL which means I can edit my journey history. For the Roads, Streets and Lanes challenge I didn't tap out between Park Royal and Mansion House (via Rayners Lane and Bow Road), so was charged the time out fee. The website allowed me to say that I'd gone via Rayners Lane (the furthest zone on that challenge) and I got a refund.

https://contactless.tfl.gov.uk/
Not a plus one :wink:
Roads, Streets and Lanes (2020-08-28) 3:46:16
Prague metro (2020-02-18) 2:27:56
All the Actons (2021-11-20) 0:42:34
jrparkin
Zone 3
Posts: 163
Joined: 06 Oct 2020, 09:56

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by jrparkin »

But can it be longer than an hour. I've looked at the table and in certain instances it's 90 minutes or so. I only had a brief look and then got a headache calculating when I needed to tap out
Former record holder; Repton 3 Oceans high score 36916
Sheffield Supertram: 3:17:29
London Underground (243 stations): 18:06:49
Vienna U Bahn (FNC): 5:04:47
User avatar
EastActionWoman
Zone 4
Posts: 262
Joined: 19 May 2019, 10:02

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by EastActionWoman »

jrparkin wrote: 16 Dec 2021, 18:34 But can it be longer than an hour. I've looked at the table and in certain instances it's 90 minutes or so. I only had a brief look and then got a headache calculating when I needed to tap out
Yeah, me too :lol: That's why I just check the website after a challenge to see if I've timed out anywhere. Saves thinking about it.
Not a plus one :wink:
Roads, Streets and Lanes (2020-08-28) 3:46:16
Prague metro (2020-02-18) 2:27:56
All the Actons (2021-11-20) 0:42:34
jrparkin
Zone 3
Posts: 163
Joined: 06 Oct 2020, 09:56

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by jrparkin »

Is there an upper limit you can put on an Oyster Card? The solution seems to be load up with sufficient cash so you don't need any top ups which would waste even more time
Former record holder; Repton 3 Oceans high score 36916
Sheffield Supertram: 3:17:29
London Underground (243 stations): 18:06:49
Vienna U Bahn (FNC): 5:04:47
Golf
Zone 4
Posts: 284
Joined: 08 Nov 2020, 19:18

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by Golf »

More examples of how technology is not better for you! :roll: :lol:
5 time london underground record holder
1 time new york record holder
1 time berlin record holder (not ratified by guinness)
1 time paris record holder
zone 1 winner 2009,2012,2023
random 15 championship winner twice
tube olympic winner once
barrykas
Zone 4
Posts: 264
Joined: 03 Aug 2005, 01:52
Location: Edmonton, North London, UK

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by barrykas »

jrparkin wrote: 17 Dec 2021, 18:57 Is there an upper limit you can put on an Oyster Card? The solution seems to be load up with sufficient cash so you don't need any top ups which would waste even more time
The maximum PAYG balance you can have on an Oyster is £90. In terms of the other "slots", you can have three discounts set and three Season tickets loaded at any one time.
--
Barry Salter, barry (at) southie (dot) me (dot) uk
jrparkin
Zone 3
Posts: 163
Joined: 06 Oct 2020, 09:56

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by jrparkin »

But the Season ticket version is the one TFL are thinking of scrapping isn't it. Or will it still be available on Oyster. A £90 limit could get tricky quite easily. Although what about Contactless
Former record holder; Repton 3 Oceans high score 36916
Sheffield Supertram: 3:17:29
London Underground (243 stations): 18:06:49
Vienna U Bahn (FNC): 5:04:47
ANDY_JS
Zone 2
Posts: 82
Joined: 19 Feb 2019, 19:55

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by ANDY_JS »

trains 500 wrote: 15 Dec 2021, 21:44 Can’t see this being an issue, anyone serious about a record breaking attempt will take the time out fine
What's the maximum likely fine you could be hit with on one day on the Underground doing the tube challenge?

Also is there any way to avoid it? For example if you have a few spare minutes, would it be worth going out of a station and back in again perhaps...
tintin
Zone 1
Posts: 41
Joined: 29 Dec 2019, 21:29

Re: TfL to withdraw from National Railcard Travel Agreement

Post by tintin »

Surely the TFL daily cap will just apply? That's about £19, assuming you are doing the extremities of the Metropolitan line before 9.30am. (Using contactless - Obviously it's £5 more to use a paper ticket)

That isn't much more than I spend with TfL to go to work.
Tramlink: 2:07:14 (301219)
DLR: 1:56:33 (130320)
South of the River: 2:05:58 (050220)
South of the River post NLE: 2:04:34 (210921)
Copenhagen Metro 1:47:13 (050723)
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests