Zone 1 charged , using zone 2 and 3

stacey4415c

I have a zone 2 and 3 weekly travel card. I go from North Acton to Parsons Green every day, and as i don't want to, and can't afford to buy a travel card incl zone 1 , i go from north acton to ealing broadway (touch out at ealing, touch back in) catch a district line train to earls court (touch out at earls court back in) then catch a district line to wimbledon, get off at parsons green. The reason i do this is i was told by three members of staff at tube stations that if i didn't touch out, i would be charged for the zone 1 journey as the "system" would assume i'd go the most logical route possible which would involve changing at Notting Hill Gate.

Is this true? would i be charged for zone 1 even if i didn't go through zone 1?

wealdroam

stacey4415c wrote: »

I have a zone 2 and 3 weekly travel card. I go from North Acton to Parsons Green every day, and as i don't want to, and can't afford to buy a travel card incl zone 1 , i go from north acton to ealing broadway (touch out at ealing, touch back in) catch a district line train to earls court (touch out at earls court back in) then catch a district line to wimbledon, get off at parsons green. The reason i do this is i was told by three members of staff at tube stations that if i didn't touch out, i would be charged for the zone 1 journey as the "system" would assume i'd go the most logical route possible which would involve changing at Notting Hill Gate.

Is this true? would i be charged for zone 1 even if i didn't go through zone 1?

Yes, you probably would... if you did not touch in/out as described.

How do you think they know you didn't go through zone 1?
They know that because you have touched in/out at those intermediate stations... thus telling them the actual route you took.

For further detail, you might like to have a look at this unofficial Oyster site.

How about ...
Touch in at North Acton,
Central Line to Shepherds Bush,
Touch out at tube station,
Walk to Shepherds Bush OverGround,
Touch in at Shepherds Bush OverGround,
Overground to West Brompton,
Touch Pink Validator at West Brompton,
District Line to Parsons Green,
Touch out at Parsons Green.

AirlieBird

For Oyster purposes each pair of stations has a default route attached to it. For North Acton to Parsons Green the default route is via Zone 1. There is an alternative route avoiding zone 1 via Shepherd's Bush and West Brompton using London Overground. To get the fare avoiding zone 1 you are required to touch on the pink validator at West Brompton.

What you are doing is interesting as it's not a recognised route for your journey. Technically when you touch in/out at Ealing and Earls Court the system will recognise it as a continuation of your journey from North Acton so that when you touch out at Parsons Green it sees you started your journey at North Acton and as there is no route validator flag for West Brompton it should charge the default fare.

If you are not being charged the zone 1 fare then one of two things is happening. Either, because you touched at Ealing it will then charge the default fare from Ealing to Parsons Green (which is set to avoid zone 1) for some reason possibly because Ealing is further out from your origin station, or because you touched in and out within the validity of your travelcard it doesn't check for additional fares. Whichever it is is interesting.

Incidentally, because the default fare from Ealing Broadway to Parsons Green is Zone 2-3 I don't believe you need to touch in/out at Earls Court. Touching out/in at Earls Court proves nothing to Oyster as all routes except the London Overground route go through Earls Court.

stacey4415c

Thanks wealdrom but if i took the overground then i would be charged extra as it wouldn't be included in my zone 2 and 3 travel card, or at least i don't think it would

stacey4415c

Thanks airlie bird. I can't actually remember what my reason for touching out at Earls Court was/is. I think i thought if i didn't, the "system" would think maybe i caught a central line train to Notting Hill Gate and then a wimbledon train from there down to Parsons Green.

Thank you both for your help.

wealdroam

stacey4415c wrote: »

Thanks wealdrom but if i took the overground then i would be charged extra as it wouldn't be included in my zone 2 and 3 travel card, or at least i don't think it would

That bit OverGround is included on your travelcard.

The route I described earlier is actually an authorised route for your journey.

That journey is also mentioned by AirlieBird.

The route you are currently using is not a recognised route for your journey, and therefore there is no guarantee that the fare you are currently paying will remain.

AirlieBird has described the situation better than I could. :beer:

stacey4415c

Oh i didn't realise the overground was included in my travel card, thank you, i may just do that from now on. Surely if i touch out at the stations though, in my described method, even if it was seen as a continuation of the journey could i really be charged outside of my travel card? that would seem extremely unfair if that were the case

wealdroam

stacey4415c wrote: »

Oh i didn't realise the overground was included in my travel card, thank you, i may just do that from now on. Surely if i touch out at the stations though, in my described method, even if it was seen as a continuation of the journey could i really be charged outside of my travel card? that would seem extremely unfair if that were the case

Well yes you could.

Simply because as described by AirlieBird...

• by touching out/in you are merely continuing an already started journey,
• the route you are using is not a recognised route for your journey,
• the only way of telling 'the system' that you have not used zone1 is by touching the pink validator at West Brompton.

wealdroam

Hang on... I think we have all missed something.

North Acton is on the boundary between zones 2 and 3, so can be considered in either zone.

Notting Hill Gate is on the boundary between zones 1 and 2, so can be considered in zone 2.

Parsons Green is clearly within zone 2.

So in fact your journey could be completed all in zone 2, even if going via Notting Hill Gate (but there is no point in getting a zone 2 only weekly travelcard as it is no cheaper than a weekly zone 2-3 t/c).

So I cannot understand the bit of your original post where tube staff have told you that going via Notting Hill Gate involves zone 1.

Having said all that, remember that AirlieBird told us...

AirlieBird wrote: »

For Oyster purposes each pair of stations has a default route attached to it. For North Acton to Parsons Green the default route is via Zone 1.

To avoid any problems, I would stick to the Shepherd Bush, West Brompton route, and remember to touch the pink validator when changing at West Brompton.

AirlieBird

wealdroam wrote: »

Hang on... I think we have all missed something.

North Acton is on the boundary between zones 2 and 3, so can be considered in either zone.

Notting Hill Gate is on the boundary between zones 1 and 2, so can be considered in zone 2.

Parsons Green is clearly within zone 2.

So in fact your journey could be completed all in zone 2, even if going via Notting Hill Gate (but there is no point in getting a zone 2 only weekly travelcard as it is no cheaper than a weekly zone 2-3 t/c).

So I cannot understand the bit of your original post where tube staff have told you that going via Notting Hill Gate involves zone 1.

It is because although the stations are on the zone boundary, the section of the District line between Notting Hill Gate to Earl's Court which includes High Street Kensington, which you have to travel through, is wholly within Zone 1 unfortunately.

AirlieBird

stacey4415c wrote: »

Surely if i touch out at the stations though, in my described method, even if it was seen as a continuation of the journey could i really be charged outside of my travel card? that would seem extremely unfair if that were the case

It may seem unfair, but by doing what you are doing the system does not know that once you got to Ealing Broadway you simply didn't just use the Central Line back to Notting Hill Gate and District Line from there.