Lib Dem Councillor for Stroud Green, Richard Wilson, reports on his blog this week the good news that Oyster pre-pay in finally working at Harringay (And therefore we can assume Hornsey).
But there's a sting in the tail for folks who want to use the facility to travel out beyond Zone 3.
I don't believe it is cheaper (I just checked my journey history online): if I touch out at Harringay instead of Finsbury Park (or Highbury & Islington, for that matter) I get hit with an extra zone and the National Rail surcharge traveling to Victoria. That means £2.60 extra every day for a return journey that is one more stop / 2 minutes further. I had hoped it would be only the extra zone charge (around 60p more), which I'd happily pay since it isn't extortionate.
If you travel by train into zone 1, for instance from Hornsey to Kings Cross it is cheaper (£2.60 peak single compared with £2.70 by tube from Turnpike Lane)
However if you make a journey into zone 1 that involves both tube and train you have to pay an extra £1.10 per journey for the privilege.
Ah, this is interesting. So it is not about taking NR specifically into Zone 1 -- if I change at Highbury & Islington (Zone 2) and use the Tube to get to Victoria, it still attracts the £1.10 surcharge.
So daily price capping is unaffected; what we're talking about are just single journey fares (mind you, my return journey pretty much takes me up to the daily cap now!). TfL is being very vague about it; the best I could find was their "Using Oyster on National Rail" page at which says:
Cheaper fares avoiding Zone 1
If you avoid Zone 1 when using pay as you go on National Rail you'll usually save more money.
Daily price capping on National Rail
If you make lots of journeys in one day using Oyster pay as you go you won't pay more than the price of a Day Travelcard. This is called daily price capping. Price capping applies from 04:30 until 04:30 the following day.