Oyster cards too complicated and 'overcharge' passengers, says watchdog

 
11 July 2013

The Oyster payment system is too complicated and is leading to overcharging of passengers, London’s public transport watchdog said today.

London Travelwatch was particularly critical in its report of the dual system of Oyster reader machines at stations, saying almost no one they interviewed understood how they worked.

The confusion surrounds the system of yellow readers at Tube stations and pink readers at London Overground.

If passengers joining the Overground from the Tube do not use the pink card readers at Overground stations, Transport for London computers may assume they have reached their destination not via the orbital rail link but by using the Tube though central London, which is in expensive Zone 1.

A trip from Camden Road to Feltham would cost £7.20 (peak) or £4.90 (off peak) via Zone 1, but if a pink reader is used it would cost £3.80 (peak) or £2.40 (off peak).

West Ham to Crystal Palace costs £4.60 (peak) or £3.60 (off peak) via Zone 1, but just £1.60 (peak) or £1.50 (off peak) if a pink validator is used, while Bounds Green to Stratford costs £3.20 (peak) or £2.70 (off peak), but £1.60 (peak) or £1.50 (off peak) with the validator.

Tim Bellenger, director of policy and investigations, said: “People don’t know how Oyster works and it needs to be more transparent so they can work out what they are being charged. It feeds into the feeling that fares don’t give value for money.

“If operators, including TfL, make charging Oyster more transparent it would give passengers more confidence they are paying the right fares and getting value for money. Virtually nobody in the focus groups could tell us the purpose of the pink readers and there needs to be better communication on how they work.”

London Travelwatch also criticised national rail services for failing to embrace Oyster. It said few national rail machines allowed Oyster users to check their payment history and top up cards. Southeastern Trains, which runs services to Kent, came under fire for withdrawing the facility to top up Oyster at its ticket offices. Mayor Boris Johnson recently failed in his bid to take over the Southeastern franchise.

Currently, Oyster operates at all stations in Zones 1-6 and some sections of C2C and Greater Anglia, but the Department for Transport is considering a nationwide version.

Shashi Verma, director of customer experience at TfL, said: “Pink Oyster validators are located in interchange stations to ensure passengers pay the lowest possible fare for their journey. We provide clear information in stations and on our website, but any customers with queries about the fare they’ve paid are encouraged to get in touch with us so we can help.”

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