Travelcard

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For other uses, see Travel card.
London Underground One-Day Travelcard
London Underground One-Day Travelcard
One Day Travelcard issued at a National Rail outlet
One Day Travelcard issued at a National Rail outlet

A Travelcard is an inter-modal ticket, valid for a period of time varying from one day to a year, for use on most public transport in London. The ticket is issued by Transport for London and National Rail outlets and can be used on the services of either.

Contents

[edit] History

Prior to the introduction of the travelcard, travellers in Greater London had to pay separately each time they changed between London Transport's bus and Underground services. This caused inconvenience as it led to delays while purchasing the next ticket after changing from one means of transport to the next.

The introduction of an integrated ticket was one of the key promises made in 1981 by the newly-elected Labour administration of the Greater London Council, headed by council leader Ken Livingstone. The policy, marketed under the slogan "Just The Ticket", introduced an integrated ticket for London Transport bus and Underground services together with a substantial reduction in fares. The price cut was then ruled illegal, but the integrated pricing scheme was a considerable success and was extended during the 1980s and 1990s as new transport routes were opened in London.

By 1985, there were two travelcards: the Travelcard itself, which covered only London Buses and the Underground, and the Capitalcard, which covered most bus, Underground and local British Rail (BR) services. The Travelcard replaced the original Capitalcard, while including its greater availability, around 1989.

The original zonal system was mainly contained by the boundary of Greater London. The zone designations used both letters and numbers for the outermost zones such that bus availability ignored the letter while BR and Underground availability depended also upon the letter(s) - e.g. a Travelcard or Capitalcard valid in zone 3a (but not 3b or 3c) was valid on buses in zones 3a, 3b and 3c but only in zone 3a when used on the railway services.

[edit] Transport modes

A Travelcard entitles the holder to use the following modes of transport within Greater London:

Travelcards also entitle the holder to discounts on some London River Services.

[edit] Periodic validity

Travelcards are issued for periods of one, three and seven days, or for any period from one month to one year. It is valid until any journey commencing before 04.30 on the day following its last marked day of validity.

One- and three-day Travelcards can be purchased in peak and off-peak variants. The peak variant can be used at any time, whilst the cheaper off-peak variant can be used at any time on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, but not before 09.30 on weekdays. Off-peak day Travelcards are typically 50% cheaper than peak Travelcards. Travelcards for seven days or longer allow travel at any time of day.

[edit] Paper and Oyster

When bought at a Tube station or other Transport for London agent, one- and three-day Travelcards are sold on a paper ticket with a magnetic strip, and Travelcards lasting seven days or more are loaded on to an Oyster Card.

[edit] The zones

Travelcards provide travel within six numbered concentric zones, with Zone 1 (which includes the central areas of The City and the West End) at the middle and Zone 6 (which includes London Heathrow Airport and places such as Uxbridge, Upminster and Orpington) at the outer edge (Travelcard zones map on TfL website).

The zones are used in different ways on each mode of transport, such that:

Mode Validity
London Underground only within the zones indicated on the ticket
DLR
National Rail
London Buses any travelcard, on any route
Tramlink any travelcard valid in zones 3, 4, 5, or 6, on any route

[edit] Zone combinations

Travelcards are sold in a limited number of combinations of adjacent zones with different combinations available depending on time and length of validity. Travelcards for only one zone are not sold.

Validity Peak combinations Off-peak combinations
1 day 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-9, 2-6, 2-9 1-2, 1-4, 1-6, 1-9, 2-6, 2-9
3 days 1-2, 1-6 1-6
Weekly and longer 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, 1-8, 1-9, 2-3, 2-4, 2-5,
2-6, 2-7, 2-9, 3-4, 3-5, 3-6, 4-5, 4-6, 4-7, 4-9, 5-6		 n/a

[edit] Exceptions

A few public transport routes in London do not accept the Travelcard. The most significant is the Heathrow Express fast rail shuttle to Heathrow Airport, which is not part of the Travelcard scheme despite operating wholly within the zonal boundaries. Travelcards are accepted between Paddington and Hayes and Harlington on the slower Heathrow Connect service, but not between Hayes and Heathrow.

Thames riverboat services, notably the commuter service operated by Thames Clippers, are not fully integrated into the Travelcard scheme. However, they do offer substantial discounts (usually a third off the normal price) for Travelcard holders.

[edit] Outside Greater London

[edit] Travelcards

There are various services outside Greater London on which travelcards can be used. These are:

Exception Fare charging
Six Central Line stations in the Epping Forest district of Essex[1] (and two on the boundary)[2] included in zones 4, 5 and 6
Seven Metropolitan Line stations in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire included in local ancillary zones 7, 8 and 9[3][4]
Three London Overground stations in Hertfordshire included in local ancillary zones 7 and 8[3][4]
Fourteen National Rail stations just outside Greater London included in zones 5 and 6
Some London Buses services that cross the Greater London boundary[5] all travelcards are valid for the whole route

[edit] Combined tickets

From outside Greater London, National Rail tickets can be purchased combining a day return ticket with a one-day travelcard. These include one journey to and from London and standard travelcard validity within London. There is some confusion over whether the Travelcard portion remains valid after returning from London. The National Fares Manual simply states passengers may "retain their tickets for travel on permitted London bus services that operate outside the London Fare Zones area"[6], but offers no indication about other services. Another part of the manual says the ticket is valid "throughout the selected Travelcard Zones [...] for any journey that starts before 0430 on the following day"[7].

Additionally, National Rail season tickets can include Travelcard validity.

[edit] Extensions

When travelling beyond the zonal validity of a paper travelcard on the London Underground an extension ticket can be purchased. When the Travelcard is charged to an Oyster Card the relevant fare, slightly discounted, is automatically deducted from the pre-pay balance on the card.

When travelling on the rail network beyond the zonal validity of a Travelcard or outside London, Travelcard holders can buy 'ticket extensions', slightly cheaper than a ticket to cover the whole distance, since the Travelcard already covers the journey as far as the edge of the zone. Such tickets state 'Boundary Zone N' as the departure station. These tickets are not available from machines, and Travelcard holders may need to show their original ticket in order to buy an extension. They are available, sometimes with some difficulty, from National Rail ticket offices outside of the London Zones. Note that while single and return tickets with a boundary as the origin are available, tickets with a boundary as the destination are not.

A special exception is made for a Travelcard season tickets (7 days or longer) which allows the user to buy a train ticket (though not another season ticket) based on the first station covered by the Travelcard, regardless of whether the train stops there. For example: If a traveller has a Zone 1-3 Travelcard and wishes to purchase a ticket from Guildford to London Waterloo they need only buy a ticket from Guildford to Wimbledon as Wimbledon is the first station on this route which is within Zone 3. This is valid even if the train does not actually stop at Wimbledon.[8]

[edit] Photocards

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Photocards are plastic cards containing a photograph of the ticket holder. When certain tickets are purchased they are "linked" to the photocards so they can only be used by that person. They are required only for Travelcards of seven days or more that include travel on the National Rail network outside London, or Travelcards of a month or more's validity issued on a paper ticket by a National Rail station. Weekly Travelcards issued on paper from National Rail stations no longer require photocards,(within the 1-6 London travelcard zones)[citation needed] though most self-service ticket machines have not yet been updated to reflect this change in policy. When purchasing a weekly Travelcard from self-service ticket machines the purchaser may be asked to input their photocard number - passengers can simply enter a combination such as "00000" to work around this.

Special photocards are issued to those who receive a discount, such as students.

[edit] Performance discounts

Travelcards of a month or more sold by a National Rail operator, depending on the operator issuing the card, attract discounts due to poor service when renewed. There are two performance monitors, the number of trains cancelled and the number of trains running to time, and if one or other of these monitors falls below a certain threshold a discount of 5% (or 10% if both monitors are below the threshold) applies to all renewed season tickets (including Travelcards) with a month or more's validity.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Epping Forest District Council - London Underground - The Tube
  2. ^ Office of Public Sector Information - The Essex and Greater London (County and London Borough Boundaries) (No.2) Order 1993
  3. ^ a b Transport for London - London Connections Map
  4. ^ a b Transport for London - Your guide to fares and tickets. 2 January 2008
  5. ^ Transport for London - Your guide to using tickets and Oyster to pay as you go on buses outside the Greater London area
  6. ^ Association of Train Operating Companies - National Rail Fares Manual Section K
  7. ^ Association of Train Operating Companies - National Rail Fares Manual Section E
  8. ^ National Rail - Conditions of Carriage


London Travelcard Zones

Zone 1 | Zone 2 | Zone 3 | Zone 4 | Zone 5 | Zone 6 | Zone 7 | Zone 8 | Zone 9