Cash Tube fares to rise to £4

[scifisam]

Why not be able to print it out from your computer then?

Can you print receipts for paper tickets out from your computer? Actually a genuine question - can you, if you renew a travelcard online?

The only sensible argument I've heard against it is that people with very little money may struggle with the pre-payment model. Makes sense - they've only enough for today's bus fare, not enough to top it up for the week.

That's not a sensible argument either, because you can top the Oyster up with any amount (well, minimum 5p). I topped mine up with 20p once.

I agree with the rest of what you said (including the last line ) - it's not that hard a system to work out.

Tourists and infrequent visitors potentially paying more doesn't make me upset at all, considering they don't pay the extra tax that London residents pay to maintain the tube (such as it is).

The countries where PT is much cheaper probably have much bigger state subsidies for PT. It doesn't really cost that little to send a train from place to another, so you end up paying for it one way or another; the difference is that in those countries the end consumer doesn't pay as much, even if they're not paying the taxes which enable the cheap fares.

I love daily travelcard fare-capping on Oyster - gives me more flexibility. Conversely, when I was working for a few months out in zone 6 and living in zone 2, I discovered that two daily single pre-pays on Oyster came out cheaper than a weekly or monthly zones 2-6 travelcard.

All that said, it is unfair to raise the amount so much while some train companies don't even accept it and the ticket machines still don't reflect reality. Those are the arguments that make sense to me.

 

[Giles]

Once they sort out the overgrouns trains integration issue, it will be a better alternative than f***ing about with cash.

I already have a PAYG Oyster for the relatively infrequent times I use buses/trains, since I walk to work (next door!), and find it pretty handy, just stick a tenner on every so often, and save that money.

Giles..

 

[waverunner]

At Brixton tube station today, went to the man behind the glass and asked for a return to zone 1. He said £6 please. I said WHAAAAAAAT at the top of my voice. Couldn't bloody believe it. £6?! I don't really care about this instance cos I'll be claiming it on expenses but... fucking hell £6 return trip to zone 1... pfffffffffffff

 

[scifisam]

If you live in Brixton, why don't you have an Oyster? Not that you have to, but it surprises me.

If it had been your own money, would you have bought an Oyster instead of paying for the ticket?

Also, why go to the ticket office? Were all the machines not working? This can happen. Bloody annoying when it does.

Apologies if these sentences sound antagonistic - they're not meant to. In real life I'd be saying them with a perplexed tone and a frown, while having an open posture.

 

[Cobbles]

For once in a blue moon, it's not LU's fault - it's the national rail operating companies' fault. Red Ken's being trying to get all the London based & surrounding (i.e. all commuter belt) stations Oyster'd up, but the train operating companies are whinging about the installation costs.

Why should they pay for a system that's 100% incompatible with standard rail ticketing systems - I doubt that they were even consulted as part of the selection process. They could have opted for a plasticised chip enhanced version of a standard ticket with a central magnetic strip and have the barriers write to as well as read from the "ticket".

That way, no change (apart from software) would be needed at overground stations. Thesame technology could then also be used anywhere on the rail network to provide new fare structures.

 

[jæd]

That way, no change (apart from software) would be needed at overground stations. Thesame technology could then also be used anywhere on the rail network to provide new fare structures.

What about the buses...? From what I've seen the only change at most LU stations barriers is the addition of the reader. Your system would mean that large barriers would need to be mounted on buses instead of the smaller readers...

 

[EastEnder]

At Brixton tube station today, went to the man behind the glass and asked for a return to zone 1. He said £6 please. I said WHAAAAAAAT at the top of my voice. Couldn't bloody believe it. £6?! I don't really care about this instance cos I'll be claiming it on expenses but... fucking hell £6 return trip to zone 1... pfffffffffffff

It's not that expensive for normal people - they were making you pay the illegal immigrant supplement.

Personally, I'd go further still - anyone not born & bred in God's great land should be made to ride on top of the tube train, or possibly hanging off the back, and have to pay 50 quid for the privilege.

 

[Roadkill]

And the man who made it work was hired by ken to make the tube work, but prescott didn't like the idea, so stomped on his plans.

Prescott didn't like the idea because it involved keeping the tube fully in the public sector, whereas the government was hell-bent on part-privatisation, which gets the expenditure off the government's balance sheet in the short term but costs a fecking fortune in the long run.

 

[tim]

If I have to travel around town for work, I have to get a single cash fare, because it's difficult to prove that you've made a journey with oyster, innit.

If work pays, who cares about the cost. Think of it as travelling business class on a bendy 38

 

[Kameron]

And the man who made it work was hired by ken to make the tube work, but prescott didn't like the idea, so stomped on his plans.

There is a political reason for quite apart from the public ownership arguments as well. Not everyone approves of trade union busting & strike breaking. O'Toole didn't keep costs, and there by fares, down in Conrail by being a nice guy.

 

[Errol's son]

Considering London is a major tourist zone and people often just pop in from all over the place for just one day once in a blue moon, not everyone wants or needs a bloody oyster card £4 is quite frankly obscene

I agree. Imagine what it is like for business! You fly into Heathrow for a quick meeting in London. You get stung by the Heathrow Express, which I believe to be one of the most expensive railways in the world, and then have to pay £4 to get from Paddington to where your meeting is.

 

[waverunner]

I was born in the UK you tosser

e2a: aimed at EE

 

[waverunner]

If you live in Brixton, why don't you have an Oyster? Not that you have to, but it surprises me.

If it had been your own money, would you have bought an Oyster instead of paying for the ticket?

Also, why go to the ticket office? Were all the machines not working? This can happen. Bloody annoying when it does.

Apologies if these sentences sound antagonistic - they're not meant to. In real life I'd be saying them with a perplexed tone and a frown, while having an open posture.

I have an Oyster card but I couldn't use pre pay for that journey as I wouldn't have anything to present my employers with when claiming expenses (they want to see the actual travelcard). So yup. Thats why

 

[EastEnder]

I was born in the UK you tosser

e2a: aimed at EE

If it looks foreign and it sounds foreign, my money says it foreign.

 

[Tank Girl]

on the london news this morning (itv I think) there was a piece saying how less people are using the tube and going onto the buses, because of oyster.

I'm going to look to see if I can find a link.

 

[fudgefactorfive]

on the london news this morning (itv I think) there was a piece saying how less people are using the tube and going onto the buses, because of oyster.

I'm going to look to see if I can find a link.

I'm not surprised, it's a sick joke; why pay £4 for a two-stop Tube journey when you can bunk on the new conductorless bendy buses for free all day?

E2A: Twice now, I've been unable to top up my fuckin' Oyster card because I'd need to make a 15 minute walk to do so, so I just got on the bus and said "Look mate, there's nowhere I can top this up, can't I just pay the Oyster rate in cash?" and the driver waved me through onto the bus without having to pay at all.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

It cost 1 euro and 30 cents to go 45 miles from Lisbon to Cascais. How the hell does it cost TfL 7 euro to transport me 1 mile?

Wow, that's almost china prices.

 

[exleper]

at the risk of getting a lot of 'your not from laaandaaaan' responses...i have to travel through central london every so often going to and from uni in kent, but not really often enough to compel me to get an oyster card, so this price rise is another dent in my pocket, cheers, ken

 

[lighterthief]

at the risk of getting a lot of 'your not from laaandaaaan' responses...i have to travel through central london every so often going to and from uni in kent, but not really often enough to compel me to get an oyster card, so this price rise is another dent in my pocket, cheers, ken

Let me get this right - you can't be bothered to get an Oystercard, but in the same breath you're bitter about that fact that you now have to pay more?

 

[Muddled]

at the risk of getting a lot of 'your not from laaandaaaan' responses...i have to travel through central london every so often going to and from uni in kent, but not really often enough to compel me to get an oyster card, so this price rise is another dent in my pocket, cheers, ken

TBH, it's not exactly tough to get an Oyster card - next time you have to travel through central London, go to the ticket office for your ticket and ask for it on Oyster, and 'voila', job done, you get your ticket on an Oyster card which you then hang on to.

When the cost of a single fare goes up to £4, it'll only cost 50p more for a single zone 1 tube fare + the Oyster deposit of £3, and you'll be in 'profit' to the tune of £2 on your second journey.

 

[PacificOcean]

*dons tin foil hat*

Why are they so keen to get us all onto Oyster, cash fares have worked since the invention of public transport?

*removes tin foil hat*

 

[lighterthief]

*dons tin foil hat*

Why are they so keen to get us all onto Oyster, cash fares have worked since the invention of public transport?

*removes tin foil hat*

Because cash is a (more) expensive and insecure method for handling transactions?

 

[Kameron]

Because cash is a (more) expensive and insecure method for handling transactions?

and doesn't allow you to track your customers so easily and all in all is a royal pain in the arse, you don't get paid up front often months before people actually use the service you provide and finally it allows you to cut down on station staff because you don't need loads of them to deal with long lines of luddites wanting to interact with your staff who on a side note might not provide your customers with the tfl line in all things there by breaking your brand and giving it a human face that isn't one picked by your marketing people.

 

[EatMoreChips]

So, if I come over to visit London, how do I get one of these Oyster cards? Sounds like a perfect way to put foreign tourists from visiting... 4 quid !?!

 

[Giles]

*dons tin foil hat*

Why are they so keen to get us all onto Oyster, cash fares have worked since the invention of public transport?

*removes tin foil hat*

So our lizard masters KNOW where we are at all times, it's obvious......

Giles..

 

[chio]

So, if I come over to visit London, how do I get one of these Oyster cards? Sounds like a perfect way to put foreign tourists from visiting... 4 quid !?!

Just go to a ticket desk at a tube station, ask for either a travelcard or an amount of money on an Oyster, they'll charge you £3 for the Oyster and you can keep topping it up.

 

[Blagsta]

If LU are so insistent that we all use Oyster cards, why don't they install some more Oyster card ticket machines at tube stations? Winds me up that does. Old ticket machines still outnumber the Oyster machines about 3:1.

 

[fjydj]

Oxford circus + 3 oyster card machines = big queues

Does anyone know if its possible to print out the oyster card (unregistered card of course) usage information from the same machines... I can get a receipt when topping up but not for trips made... some are for business and some not. Should I have 2 oyster cards in this case?

It also deducts £2 in the morning but £1.50 in the evening? why, the evening rush hour is just as busy.

 

[Kameron]

It also deducts £2 in the morning but £1.50 in the evening? why, the evening rush hour is just as busy.

I think that is daily price capping. Basically it works out the cheapest combination of travel cards and tickets for a day (as long as you don't use National Rail)

Does anyone know if its possible to print out the oyster card (unregistered card of course) usage information from the same machines... I can get a receipt when topping up but not for trips made... some are for business and some not. Should I have 2 oyster cards in this case?

I don't have an answer for this other than that you should tell your boss to get a life and stop demanding receipts of anything less than a £10er because that is just childish.

Having two oyster cards will just get you in to trouble when you swipe in on one and out on another and both cards will bill you for something. Just a pain in the arse.

 

[Roadkill]

It also deducts £2 in the morning but £1.50 in the evening? why, the evening rush hour is just as busy.

It's the same on the buses - £1 in the morning (7-930) and 80p at all other times. Come to think of it, off-peak travelcards and rail tickets don't allow you to travel between 7 and 930am either.

Maybe it's that the evening rush-hour is more spread out.