Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Finsbury Park Gates - Advice for Oyster Pay as You Go users
After being told conflicting things by the guards at Finsbury Park over the past few weeks, here is the official word from TFL on how to not get stuck with an incomplete journey fare if transferring from FCC to London Underground at Finsbury Park now that the new barriers are operational. Touch out at the National Rail gates, and remember to touch in again before hopping on the underground:
| Dear Malcolm I am writing to let you know about changes for Oyster pay as you go customers at Finsbury Park station. If you use National Rail platforms where new ticket gates have been installed, always touch in or out on the yellow Oyster reader on the gates. For connections to and from London Underground, touch one of the yellow Oyster validators in the subways as well. When using Oyster pay as you go, it is important to touch in and touch out to ensure you pay the correct fare. Yours Sincerely,  Julie Haley Oyster Customer Services |
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by British Transport Police on
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My colleagues on the Finsbury Park Hub Team tell me this has been a recurring problem since the gates were installed on the mainline platforms. This is due to be rectified in the next year or so with the proposed installation of gates on the Underground part of the station, although no dates have been set in stone as yet, as far as I am aware.
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Permalink Reply by Justin Johnson on
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Are the Oyster Card readers clever enough not to charge PAYG customers for two separate journeys?
If I touch in at Harringay overground, touch out at Finsbury Park overground, then touch in again (10 yards later) at Finsbury Park Underground, it feels like I'll be charged for two separate journeys.
Can any one reassure me?
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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TWO days ago, I received the same (circular) email from TFL. I guess it means we must check out and check in again if "transferring", though this is not entirely clear.
This business of "transferring" from the Underground to the Overground (which happens to be another organisation) goes against the point of the Oystercard, which is supposed to be simple, single, unified system.
I recently came from Heathrow to Harringay, touching in at Heathrow (Picadilly Line) and out at Harringay (railway), both times using of course the Oystercard. Shouldn't this be how the Oystercard is supposed to work?
I do not know how this charging is supposed to work. Have I made one journey or two journeys?
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Clive
It's purely a system issue until the gates are installed at Finsbury Park. It will be more obvious that you will need to touch twice at the same station; however, this is only the same as I and thousands of other commuters do every day at mainline stations such as Kings Cross or St Pancras. I have to touch to go through the mainline barriers and then again to enter to Underground.
It's two entries and two exits that the Oyster system collates as one journey. I promise.
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Thanks for your reply BTP; I accept that there is going to be extra faffing around while changing within Finsbury Park and other stations.
However, I do not accept that this is purely a system issue etc.
In a properly integrated transport system, it ought to be possible to change lines within a station – any kind of station – and not have to touch out and touch in again – inside the same station. This is an anomaly, as in most stations, with changes within the Underground, this is not needed.
This nonsense probably explains why it took so long to get Oyster card machines installed at all in Harringay, Hornsey and Alexandra Palace stations.
This issue is an impure compromise with a well-integrated system.
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One of Boris Johnson's first actions as mayor was to pull the funding for the scheme to partially rebuild the station, which would have enabled it to be gated as a single entity. This forced First Capital Connect to install their own gates in an awkward position (they have a franchise commitment to the government to ensure their major stations are gated), which is why we've ended up with this mess.
(I don't believe there's any imminent plan to install more gates or change the current system)
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I can.
It's the same system as the one currently in place at Kings Cross St Pancras while they work in the passageway connecting the sub-surface lines and the deep level ones. Although you touch twice, the system is clever enough to charge you once.
Don't forget, if you touch out at Finsbury Park mainline and then travel on the tube without a validated Oyster, you'll be committing fare evasion and if caught could be liable to a penalty fare or a fine of up to £1000.
Hope this clears it up. Don't forget you can check your journey history to make sure you haven't been double-charged. Check here for more information.
Regards
Matthew
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My son, a minor, uses the Harringay-Fin Park-Victoria line to Walthamstow and has no idea about this. He tells me that there are days/times when the gates at Fin Park overground are closed and oblige you to touch out and days when they are not and it is possible to exit (or enter) without even passing through them.
So if he touches in at Harringay and out at Walthamstow (or vice versa) - for what, exactly is he charged?
If he touches in at Harringay and out at Fin Park and then out again at Walthamstow (he has done this assuring me that the Fin Park overground touch was simply to operate the gate not to signal the end of his journey) - for what is he then charged?
This seems to me to be poorly arranged and even more poorly communicated to passengers.
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Mic
If your son doesn't touch in or out Finsbury Park, he should be charged the exact same amount as if he has touched - this is the point of the email received by Malcolm B at the start of this thread.
If the barriers had been installed at the entrance to the mainline and underground stations at the same time, then it would have been possible to avoid all this; however due to the layout and space available at Finsbury the barriers have been installed by the platforms on the mainline, meaning it is necessary to touch out and in again.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I really not convinced by this.
I travel every day from Harringay to Kings Cross, changing at Finsbury Park. I only use overground trains as I'm a tube-a-phobic.
Coming home I swipe in at Kings Cross overground and then often have to get off the northbound train at Finsbury Park on platform 3 (though God knows why it stops there) where there is no barrier and then cross to platform 6 and swipe in again to get on the platform for the Harringay train. I eventually swipe out at Harringay. This equals two swipe ins and 1 swipe out.
Apart from it being a totally idiotic arrangement at Finsbury Park, at rush hour there ends up with a significant crush of people at the top of, and sometimes backing down, the stairs trying to get on to platforms 5 and 6 which the staff respond to by pulling aside the barriers to prevent it getting even more dangerous. People literally spill through and don't swipe as they are slightly more interested in not getting squashed!
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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No you won't be charged twice it makes the adjustment. I travel Old St to Turnpike Lane changing at FP and though it looks like it's deducting £2.50 at FP then £2.90 at TP it doesn't, it just takes the £2.90 that the journey actually costs. No need to worry -provided you touch both in and out at FP.
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Permalink Reply by Trevor Ford on
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What is supposed to happen at Highbury & Islington, where you only have to cross the platform to transfer from National Rail to the Victoria Line? Should you touch the Oyster reader on the Victoria Line platform once, or twice, or not at all??
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