When is TFL Peak and Off Peak

[mangyiscute]

This is something I've never been too sure on - on the TFL website it states for most journeys that peak is 06:30 - 09:30 and 16:00 - 19:00. Does this mean that if you tap on or out during this time frame it counts as peak. And I'm assuming that, say for example, tapping in at 6am and out at 10am would also be treated as peak (assuming you haven't exceeded the maximum journey time for the route)

 

[JonathanH]

Does this mean that if you tap on or out during this time frame it counts as peak.

Yes, but only the first tap.

And I'm assuming that, say for example, tapping in at 6am and out at 10am would also be treated as peak (assuming you haven't exceeded the maximum journey time for the route)

No, it is purely based on the time of touching in at the first station. Before 06.30 is off-peak regardless of the journey length. The 06.30 to 09.30 is peak, regardless of when the journey ends.

If you touch in at somewhere like Dartford at 18.55, then travel to Reading, the peak fare will be charged despite the fact you are passing through Zone 1 around 8pm. (This, despite the fact that a Dartford to Zone 1 journey is charged at the off-peak rate in the evening peak, and a journey from Paddington to Reading would be off-peak after 7pm)

 

[James H]

Though there is a grace period of 3-5 minutes at each end of the peak period which sees the lower fare applied

 

[Watershed]

If you touch in at somewhere like Dartford at 18.55, then travel to Reading, the peak fare will be charged despite the fact you are passing through Zone 1 around 8pm. (This, despite the fact that a Dartford to Zone 1 journey is charged at the off-peak rate in the evening peak, and a journey from Paddington to Reading would be off-peak after 7pm)

And therefore it can often be cheaper to break the OSI by using separate Oyster/contactless cards (even different forms of the same contactless card will do, e.g. the physical card and the Apple/Google Pay version). Or by tapping in on a bus and then getting straight back off.

 

[plugwash]

Something to be aware of is that the London terminals have long OSI times for tube to rail (presumablly because the services can be relatively infrequent and the waiting areas are outside the gateline). This can lead to what passengers would reasonablly consider two seperate journeys being linked together.