London Underground Rail Replacement Buses & Oyster PAYG

[whole diary]

[Brucey]

Are there any official rules on what Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) PAYG^▸ (Pay as you go) customers should do when travelling on a LUL^▸ (London Underground Ltd) rail replacement bus?

Today I travelled from West Ruislip to South Ruislip.  The station had the front shutters closed up most of the way, with just a small enough gap to display a poster about buses and a map of the bus stop.  The posters both had "^80 penalty fare or prosecution.  You must have a valid ticket for your entire journey or a validated smartcard." and "Normal Underground fares apply".  But there was no guidance on where to touch in/out.  There were no staff.

The bus (an Arriva Home Counties bus in green/teal colours) had the usual London Buses poster (no alcohol, no smoking, ^80 penalty fare or prosecution, etc) on display in the window.

I asked the driver where I should touch in, his response "I don't have an Oyster reader, it doesn't matter, just jump on".  I currently have a Travelcard, so it didn't matter anyway, I was more concerned about my journey next weekend when I won't have such a ticket.

But what are the officials rules if I were travelling on PAYG?  Should I have slid in through a small gap in the shutter at West Ruislip, touched in (the barriers were closed) and left the barrier open.  Then on arrival at South Ruislip, walk down the road to the station and then reach over a barrier to touch out?

(Note also the wording has now changed to "validated smartcard" from "validated Oyster card", perhaps in preparation for the acceptance of contactless cards and ITSO across the network)

[ChrisB]

If you are unable to validate a journey - that is your protection. You can't. It is TfL^» (Transport for London - about)'s job to supply LT buses with validators or you get a free trip in circumstances like this.

If you tweet, you might ask TfL that way....