Monthly London Travelcard Question

Hi all - I plan on purchasing a monthly travelcard once we move to London so my commute into work will be cheaper (slightly? lol) and easier. I will be using the Underground mainly. Question is though, does the monthly also include the over land tram service and/or British Rail? I know it covers buses and the underground but was unsure of the rest.

Thanks
Kelly

It covers overground trains, buses and I think the commuter boats as well.

It depends on the zones you've got it for - you'll get what's in your zones, excepting national rail and boats. You can use oyster on the boat and a travelcard gives a third off, but the other two thirds will still need to be PAYG.

That said, I'm not sure if the trams count as buses or not - I never go down south, except to Dulwich.

Actually the monthly travelcard DOES include National Rail services within the zones you pay for (eg on Southeastern, Southern trains). I believe next year you will also be able to use Oyster PAYG on national rail in London.

If you're working M-F, 9-5, then probably a monthly travelcard will be cheaper than PAYG. The only thing I would check is if you are working not too far from home and could take a bus relatively painlessly, you would save a lot of money just getting a monthly bus pass and adding some PAYG for the occasional tube ride.

Oh my, seriously?

That'll make my life a lot easier. I always thought NR travelcards were different from TfL travelcards. Wow.

Thanks!

My travelcard worked on buses, overland trains, the tube and the trams (like in Croydon near Ikea)

Monthly travel card covers all rail, boat, buses and the trolly. Oyster offers PAYG as well but it excludes some rail.. example south london stations have some exclusions, I have monthly/week/daily travel cards and it covers everything however PAYG (pay as you go) works in Central London but not East Croydon train station. If you are getting a Travelcard you will be fine for all the zones you are traveling in and if you get an extension (say you have to go to a zone outside your travelcard one day) it only costs a small fee instead of buying a separate daily travel card

It was my understanding that as of 4 January 2010, that pay-as-you-go Oysters would be good on any rail service within the London zones. (including national rail services).

for complete oyster info:https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do

Thanks all for your replies! Glad to know I will be covered

Jenx - Clarification please...when you say "travelcard DOES include National Rail services within the zones you pay for"...what if your origin city isn't in a zone? For example, Bishops Stortford is in East Hertfordshire/close to Essex but has a National Rail line going from the town straight to Liverpool Street. Does that mean I pay for just zones 1-6, or is it 1-9? The National Rail website doesn't seem to give specific information on this; it just states you can buy an annual travelcard whereas I want to buy a monthly?

Jenx - Clarification please...when you say "travelcard DOES include National Rail services within the zones you pay for"...what if your origin city isn't in a zone? For example, Bishops Stortford is in East Hertfordshire/close to Essex but has a National Rail line going from the town straight to Liverpool Street. Does that mean I pay for just zones 1-6, or is it 1-9? The National Rail website doesn't seem to give specific information on this; it just states you can buy an annual travelcard whereas I want to buy a monthly?

You can get a season ticket from Bishops Stortford to Liverpool Street with a London Zones 1-6 travel card included, for £97.00 weekly £372.50 monthly £3880.00 yearly. You can use it 7 days a week, so if you planned weekend trips to London or needed to travel beyond Liverpool Street it could be an advantage. Also if you wanted to go to (say) Brighton you would just have to pay the fare from the Zone 6 boundary.

Or you can just get a plain season ticket from Bishops Stortford to Liverpool Street for £80.80 weekly, £310.30 monthly, £3232.00 yearly.

You can use a season ticket 7 days a week and make trips to, from, or between intermediate stations.

West Anglia Trains Season Ticket prices (valid until 01/01/2010)

http://www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com/travel_information/ticket_options/season_tickets/season_ticket_prices/west_anglia_season_ticket_prices

Tremula -- thanks for answering this, I would have no idea! My only experience with NRail is within zones 1-4.

I think a number of the lines are having big ticket increases this year (not sure about West Anglia) so may be worth checking the prices again after New year's...

I think you can get a smaller number of zones than 1 to 6 added on to your season ticket if you didn't need all of them. You can't get one for just Zone 1 alone, you have to get 1-2, 1-3, 1-4 or 1-5, or you can get a card for various adjacent zones not including 1, e.g. 2-3, 3-5, etc.

Since a monthly Zone 1-6 travelcard is £182.80 at the moment, having it on your season ticket for £62.20 seems like a bargain, if you are able to get the use out of it. Otherwise fewer zones would be the way to go.

Incidentally, regarding Zones 7, 8, and 9.

Some London Underground and London Overground* services extend outside the boundary of the Transport for London area, into adjacent adminstrative areas. If those area's councils had agreed to join the London fare scheme, then they would be included in Zone 6. However, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire have not agreed, so special "ancillary zones" 7, 8 and 9 were created, and the fares to or from those stations are higher. Unless you have a special need to go to places like Watford, Amersham, etc, these zones are not really necessary. A look at TfL's zone map will make it clear.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/lon_con.pdf

I note that the West Anglia travelcard added to the season ticket that I described above, is described as an "All-Zone" travelcard. If it truly does include 7,8 and 9 then that could be useful. An enquiry at your local station will clarify.

*Some people use the term "Overground" to refer to all and any above-ground rail services in London. This may mislead because  Transport for London operate certain rail services under the "London Overground" brand.

Thanks Tremula for the information! I was totally confused before, lol.