Wrong station right ticket?

Mr_Singleton

Took a train out of Liverpool street station yesterday but missed my stop so ended up going 2 zones further out than I wanted. Got the next available train back to my intended stop.

If I had been challenged at any point by a ticket inspector I.e at the wrong station 2 zones up or getting off at the correct station but coming from the wrong direction would a penalty fare be charged? Also do the oyster card readers know the difference between platforms where there are no gates i.e. You got on going north but touched out on the south bound platform so give a penalty fare?
Thanks

BTW I had a correctly touched in contactless card and never left the incorrect station and came back on the first available train.

Nasqueron

I can't see the issue here? You tapped in at one station and you'd tap out at the other end, if you'd been challenged you could prove you had tapped in and how do they know which station you were intending to go back to?

silvercar

You can check online whether it has been recorded correctly on not. As far as I know there is no facility for expecting not to pay for a journey you took in error.

If you have been charged for two incomplete journeys the system will allow you to submit the stations you used online, or you could phone up and explain that you didn't tap out from the first and in for the second because you were already on the platform.

laird

What can happen is that you will exceed the maximum journey time between your touch in and touch out locations, which if flagged can attract the attention of revenue protection to abnormal use.

Clearly late at night or early in the morning it is not uncommon for someone to oversleep, realise their mistake and return to the point they intended to disembark. However this is usually a one off mistake.

Beyond that the normal penalties for ticketless travel would apply or worse if some element of deception was considered appropriate.

In short its best not to have your headphone volume set so loud you cannot hear the station announcements.

glider3560

The ticket checking device used for contactless cards doesn't fully work in real-time. If you are checked on the train and not touched in, you will be charged a maximum fare to the card (usually overnight).

In any case, when using Oyster PAYG or contactless, you can take any route you like, provided the maximum journey time is not exceeded, you remain within the Oyster area and (in the case of Oyster) have enough credit to pay the fare to whichever zone you are in.

The readers don't know which platform they are on (except Gatwick Express platforms at Victoria, which are set up slightly differently). In any case, trains are sometimes routed into different platforms from usual by the signaller, for operational reasons.