Fares from zone 6 to zone 1 on National Rail

[ChrisFlynn18]

I'm really confused about fares. I used to have an annual season ticket, but same old story - now my work is more flexible, I'm now keen to understand how fares work. And it's complicated! I've been using a Gen1 Oyster card out of habit


From Purley to London Bridge, my experience is that it's £7 each way, but capped at £13.50, which I understand is the Oyster daily cap for zone 6. However National Rail says an Anytime Day Single is £7.80, so I'm not sure where £7 is coming from.

Furthermore, I travelled from my other local zone 6 station the other day; Riddlesdown to Victoria. Same card, some zones (6 to 1) but setting off in the afternoon and the evening. This charged me £4.30 each way!

So I recognise the £13.50 as the daily price cap for Oyster... but where do £4.30 and £7.00 come from?! I've looked all over the TFL and Southern websites but just can't fathom it. I presume I'm not being under-charged, but how can I make sense of this?

 

[alistairlees]

Pay as You Go (PAYG) fares from both Riddlesdown and Purley to London Victoria and London Bridge are
- £7.00 "peak"
- £4.30 "off-peak"

So if you are using Oyster or contactless then you will be charged these fares. These fares are set by TfL, but they are perfectly valid on the train.

If you buy a ticket then the Anytime Day Single fare from Riddlesdown (or Purley) to London is £7.80. But you're not buying a ticket, so you don't get charged this when you use Oyster (or contactless). There isn't an Off-Peak Single fare from Riddlesdown (or Purley) to London. This fare is set by Southern Railway.

 

[CheapAndNerdy]

£7 is the Oyster/Contactless peak fare, while £4.30 is the off-peak fare.
Check out https://oysterfares.com/fare-finder/ (developed by forum member @MikeWh )

 

[ChrisFlynn18]

Aha, thank you both! I'm mystified as to why the Oyster fares only available on a 3rd party site, and not on TFL's own website. But that's a great resource to have, appreciate the speedy answers!

 

[James H]

The pay as you go fares ARE available on the TfL website - the Single Fare Finder is the tool you need

Single fare finder

Find fares between any two stations in London

tfl.gov.uk

 

[higthomas]

Aha, thank you both! I'm mystified as to why the Oyster fares only available on a 3rd party site, and not on TFL's own website. But that's a great resource to have, appreciate the speedy answers!

TFL do have the fates available on their website at https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/tube-and-rail-fares/single-fare-finder

 

[ChrisFlynn18]

TFL Single Fare Finder shows Purley>London Bridge off peak as being £5.80, not £4.30.

 

[alistairlees]

TFL Single Fare Finder shows Purley>London Bridge off peak as being £5.80, not £4.30.

That’s to London Bridge underground station. You are getting the train to London Bridge rail station. You need to select that. It’s not exactly obvious though.

 

[ChrisFlynn18]

Aha! That's it. Makes perfect sense now, thank you

 

[MikeWh]

That’s to London Bridge underground station. You are getting the train to London Bridge rail station. You need to select that. It’s not exactly obvious though.

An advantage of my fare finder is that I do warn about that just above the entry form.