TFL Travelcard tip (I think!)

ellersb

I don't know if everyone knows this already (born and bred in London and I had no idea!) so apologies if I'm behind on this, but if you have a travelcard (i.e. weekly, monthly etc) the greater London bus network is covered, regardless of what zones you have on your card.
So, I (for the past 14 years) have used a zone 1-5 travelcard as I live in zone 5 and work in zone 1 (£169 a month). I've just found out that I can change to zones 2-5 (£98 a month!) because I only EVER use buses in zone 1, never tube and never train further in.
Just thought I'd share the knowledge if anyone else didn't know! £70 a month eh. I checked it with the oyster lady and she confirmed that this is correct, adding that zone 1 is the killer.

surreysaver

ellersb wrote: »

I don't know if everyone knows this already (born and bred in London and I had no idea!) so apologies if I'm behind on this, but if you have a travelcard (i.e. weekly, monthly etc) the greater London bus network is covered, regardless of what zones you have on your card.

This has been the case ever since the zones for buses were abolished when the Oystercards were introduced about 6 or 7 years ago. Obviously when you swipe your Oystercard getting on a bus, it has no way of knowing which zones you will be travelling through, so they just got rid of the zones! And just for clarity - it is not the Greater London bus network that Oystercards are valid on - it is the TfL network - there are some bus services in Greater London that are not part of the TfL network which do not accept Oystercards (mainly the remnants of the London Country services).

ellersb

The point I was making was that even if I swipe in on a bus whilst in zone 1, it's still valid.
Also, from the tfl site:
Bus services within the entire Greater London area (regardless of the zone the Travelcard actually covers)

This doesn't apply just to oysters, it's paper travelcards as well.

chuckley

so u start at 5 and exit at 2 then bus it around 1?

surreysaver

ellersb wrote: »

The point I was making was that even if I swipe in on a bus whilst in zone 1, it's still valid.
Also, from the tfl site:
Bus services within the entire Greater London area (regardless of the zone the Travelcard actually covers)

This doesn't apply just to oysters, it's paper travelcards as well.

The point I was making was there is no such thing as Zone 1 or any other zones on buses. Any Travelcard is valid on any TfL bus. The Zones only apply to rail services (Underground, DLR & National Rail). And Travelcards are not valid on all bus services in Greater London - buses not operated as part of the TfL network do not accept them. Route 402 in Bromley and 409 in Croydon spring to mind.

surreysaver

Actually, just checking, a Travelcard is valid on the 402, but only to the TfL boundary. TfL must contribute to the cost of the service - on route 409 they do not - it is funded by Surrey County Council and Metrobus.

AirlieBird

Not forgetting that on some sections of bus routes you can use bus passes and Oyster travelcards outside of the Greater London area.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/guide-to-using-tickets-and-payg-on-buses-outside-london.pdf