One Day Travelcard issued at a National Rail outlet

A Travelcard is an inter-modal ticket, valid for a period of time varying from one day to a year, for use on most public transport in London. The ticket is issued by Transport for London and National Rail outlets and can be used on the services of either. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1224x800, 222 KB) Summary Photo taken by myself on 2005/05/31, of a National Rail Day Travelcard valid for zones 1 and 2, bought at Loughborough Junction railway station on 2006/05/25. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1224x800, 222 KB) Summary Photo taken by myself on 2005/05/31, of a National Rail Day Travelcard valid for zones 1 and 2, bought at Loughborough Junction railway station on 2006/05/25. ... National Rail uses the BR double-arrow logo A typical National Rail station sign showing the double-arrow logo National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). ... Bangkok Skytrain. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Transport For London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system throughout Greater London in England. ... National Rail uses the BR double-arrow logo A typical National Rail station sign showing the double-arrow logo National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). ...

History

Prior to the introduction of the Travelcard, travellers in Greater London had to pay separately each time they changed between London Transport's bus and Underground services. This caused inconvenience as it led to delays while purchasing the next ticket after changing from one means of transport to the next. London Transport could mean: London Passenger Transport Board (1933-1948) London Transport Executive (1948-1963) London Transport Board (1963-1970) London Transport (1970-1984) - an agency within the Greater London Council London Regional Transport (1984-2000) Transport for London Transport in London History of transport in London (1933-2003) Category...

The introduction of an integrated ticket was one of the key promises made in 1981 by the newly-elected Labour administration of the Greater London Council, headed by council leader Ken Livingstone. The policy, marketed under the slogan "Just The Ticket", introduced an integrated ticket for London Transport bus and Underground services. The scheme was a considerable success and was extended during the 1980s and 1990s as new transport routes were opened in London. Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... Arms of the Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. ... Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945) is an English politician who became Mayor of London on the creation of the post in 2000. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ...

By 1985, there were two travelcards: the Travelcard itself, which covered only London Buses and the Underground, and the Capitalcard, which covered most bus, Underground and local British Rail (BR) services. The Travelcard (and its fares) replaced the original Capitalcard while including its greater availability at no extra cost around 1989.

The original zonal system was mainly contained by the boundary of Greater London. The zone designations used both letters and numbers for the outermost zones such that bus availability ignored the letter while BR and Underground availability depended also upon the letter(s) - e.g. a Travelcard or Capitalcard valid in zone 3a (but not 3b or 3c) was valid on buses in zones 3a, 3b and 3c but only in zone 3a when used on the railway services.

Transport modes

A Travelcard entitles the holder to use the following modes of transport within Greater London: Greater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. ...

• London Underground
• Docklands Light Railway
• National Rail
• London Buses
• Tramlink

Travelcards also entitle the holder to discounts on some London River Services. The London Underground is an underground railway system - also known as a rapid transit system - that serves a large part of Greater London, United Kingdom and some neighbouring areas. ... London Transport Portal The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is a light rail system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of East London, England. ... National Rail uses the BR double-arrow logo A typical National Rail station sign showing the double-arrow logo National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). ... An Enviro 400 bus, a modern interpretation of the famous London red double-decker. ... Tramlink (initially known as Croydon Tramlink) is a public transport tramway in south London, operated by FirstGroup on behalf of Transport for London. ... Logo of Thames Clipper London River Services is an arm of Transport for London, which manages public transport on the River Thames in London. ...

Periodic validity

Travelcards are issued for periods of one, three and seven days, or for any period from one month to one year. It is valid until any journey commencing before 04.30 on the day following its last marked day of validity.

One- and three-day Travelcards can be purchased in peak and off-peak variants. The peak variant can be used at any time, whilst the cheaper off-peak variant can be used at any time on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, but not before 09.30 on weekdays. Off-peak day Travelcards are typically 50% cheaper than peak Travelcards. Travelcards for seven days or longer allow travel at any time of day.

Paper and Oyster

Oyster Card

When bought at a Tube station or other Transport for London agent, one- and three-day Travelcards are sold on a paper ticket with a magnetic strip, and Travelcards lasting seven days or more are loaded on to an Oyster Card. Front of an Oyster Card - optimized small version. ... Front of an Oyster Card - optimized small version. ... Front and back of an early Oyster card. ...

The zones

Travelcards provide travel within six numbered concentric zones, with Zone 1 (which includes the central areas of The City and the West End) at the middle and Zone 6 (which includes London Heathrow Airport and places such as Uxbridge, Upminster and Orpington) at the outer edge (Travelcard zones map on TfL website). Concentric objects share the same center, axis or origin with one inside the other. ... Travelcard Zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for Londons zonal system used for calculating co-ordinated inter-modal Travelcard fares within London. ... Motto: Domine dirige nos Latin: Lord, guide us Shown within Greater London Sovereign state Constituent country Region Greater London Status City and Ceremonial County Admin HQ Guildhall Government  - Leadership see text  - Mayor John Stuttard  - MP Mark Field  - London Assembly John Biggs Area  - City  1. ... The interior of Covent Garden Market in the West End The West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the citys major tourist attractions, businesses, and administrative headquarters. ... Travelcard Zone 6 is the sixth outward concentric zone of the Transport for London zonal system used for calculating co-ordinated inter-modal Travelcard fares within Greater London. ... Heathrow redirects here. ... For other places with the same name, see Uxbridge (disambiguation). ... Upminster is a place in the London Borough of Havering. ... , // Orpington Town Sign Station Road Car Park Demolition The High Street and adjacent Walnuts Shopping Centre contain a wide selection of high-street shops. ...

The zones are used in different ways on each mode of transport, such that:

• On the London Underground, the Docklands Light Railway, and National Rail, the Travelcard is valid only within the zones indicated on the ticket;
• On London Buses, any Travelcard can be used for any journey within Greater London, irrespective of the zones indicated on the ticket;
• On Tramlink, any Travelcard valid in one or more of zones 3, 4, 5, and 6 can be used.

Zone combinations

Travelcards are sold in a limited number of combinations of adjacent zones with different combinations available depending on time and length of validity. Travelcards for only one zone are not sold.

Currently (as of August 2007), the peak and off-peak three-day Travelcards for zones 1-6 are priced at exactly three times the cost of a corresponding one-day Travelcard. Other than time spent in ticket queues, they do not offer any saving.

Beyond the fringes

There are circumstances in which Travelcards can be used outside Greater London. These are:

• The London Underground Central Line includes five stations outside Greater London within the Epping Forest district of Essex (and two on the boundary), which are included for the Underground only (not *most* buses, although some operate outside of Greater London, and serve areas such as Loughton), in zones 4, 5 or 6;

• The London Underground Metropolitan Line includes seven stations outside Greater London. These stations are in four further zones (A, B, C and D), according to their distance from Central London;

• There are 14 National Rail stations just outside Greater London, such as Elstree & Borehamwood and Thames Ditton, which are included in zones 5 and 6;

• There are some bus services that cross the Greater London boundary on which Travelcards are valid for the whole route including the sections outside Greater London;

• Travelcards can also be bought for travel between any National Rail station outside Greater London and a Travelcard zone within Greater London. Such Travelcards can only be bought from National Rail stations, and are not issued in three-day format. These Travelcards combine a Travelcard for use within the zonal area with a rail day return (for one-day Travelcards) or season (for longer validities) ticket from the nominated station to the travelcard zone boundary, and are valid in the same way as if such a combination was issued separately. One-day Travelcards that include validity on National Rail routes outside Greater London are valid for only one journey in each direction on the rail route. Once the return part of the rail journey is completed the Travelcard ceases to be valid.

London Transport Portal The Central Line is a line of the London Underground and coloured red on the tube map. ... Epping Forest is a local government district of the county of Essex, England. ... For other meanings of Essex, see Essex (disambiguation). ... For other places with the same name, see Loughton (disambiguation). ... London Transport Portal The Metropolitan Line is part of the London Underground, coloured maroon on the Tube map. ... National Rail uses the BR double-arrow logo A typical National Rail station sign showing the double-arrow logo National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). ... Elstree & Borehamwood railway station is in the Hertsmere district of Hertfordshire. ... Thames Ditton railway station serves Thames Ditton in the Elmbridge district of Surrey, England. ...

Exceptions

A few public transport routes in London do not accept the Travelcard. The most significant is the Heathrow Express fast rail shuttle to Heathrow Airport, which is not part of the Travelcard scheme despite operating wholly within the zonal boundaries. Travelcards are accepted between Paddington and Hayes and Harlington on the slower Heathrow Connect service, but not between Hayes and Heathrow. Heathrow Express is a train service from Heathrow Airport to Paddington in central London operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority—a wholly owned subsidiary of BAA. The service is not part of the National Rail system, despite part of its journey sharing track with National Rail trains and terminating... London Heathrow Airport (IATA airport code: LHR, ICAO airport code: EGLL, and often simply Heathrow) is the United Kingdoms busiest and best-connected airport. ... For other places with the same name, see Paddington (disambiguation). ... Hayes and Harlington could be the former Hayes and Harlington Urban District Hayes and Harlington (UK Parliament constituency) Hayes and Harlington railway station This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Heathrow Connect is a train service in London, connecting Heathrow Airport with Paddington station. ...

Thames riverboat services, notably the commuter service operated by Thames Clippers, are not fully integrated into the Travelcard scheme. However, they do offer substantial discounts (usually a third off the normal price) for Travelcard holders. This article is about the River Thames in southern England. ... Thames Clippers are a water-bus service operating in London on the River Thames. ...

Extensions

When travelling beyond the zonal validity of a paper travelcard on the London Underground an extension ticket can be purchased. When the Travelcard is charged to an Oyster Card the relevant fare, slightly discounted, is automatically deducted from the pre-pay balance on the card.

When travelling on the rail network beyond the zonal validity of a Travelcard or outside London, Travelcard holders can buy 'ticket extensions', slightly cheaper than a ticket to cover the whole distance, since the Travelcard already covers the journey as far as the edge of the zone. Such tickets state 'Boundary Zone N' as the departure station. These tickets are not available from machines, and Travelcard holders may need to show their original ticket in order to buy an extension. They are available, sometimes with some difficulty, from National Rail ticket offices outside of the London Zones. Note that while single and return tickets originating from a boundary are available, tickets with the destination as a boundary are not.

When buying ticket extensions on-line, or from machines which do not offer tickets based on the zone boundraries, it is also considered acceptable to buy a ticket based on the first station passed (with or without stopping) within the Travelcard zones covered. This will have the same price as the boundary based ticket and be considered equivalent. For example: If a traveller has a Zone 1-3 Travelcard and wishes to purchase a ticket from Guildford to London Waterloo they need only buy a ticket from Guildford to Wimbledon as Wimbledon is the first station on this route which is within Zone 3. This is valid even if the train does not actually stop at Wimbledon.^{[citation needed]} Guildford railway station is a railway station in the town of Guildford in Surrey in England. ... Facade of Waterloo Station, London Waterloo is a major train station and transport interchange located in the Waterloo district of London, which was itself named after the Battle of Waterloo in which Napoleon was defeated near Brussels. ... Wimbledon station is a National Rail, London Underground and Tramlink station located in Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. ...

Photocards

Photocards are plastic cards containing a photograph of the ticket holder. When certain tickets are purchased they are "linked" to the photocards so they can only be used by that person. They are required only for Travelcards of seven days or more that include travel on the National Rail network outside London, or Travelcards of a month or more's validity issued on a paper ticket by a National Rail station. Weekly Travelcards issued on paper from National Rail stations no longer require photocards,(within the 1-6 London travelcard zones) though most self-service ticket machines have not yet been updated to reflect this change in policy. When purchasing a weekly Travelcard from self-service ticket machines the purchaser may be asked to input their photocard number - passengers can simply enter a combination such as "00000" to work around this. National Rail uses the BR double-arrow logo A typical National Rail station sign showing the double-arrow logo National Rail is a brand name of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). ...

Special photocards are issued to those who receive a discount, such as students.

Performance discounts

Travelcards of a month or more sold by a National Rail operator, depending on the operator issuing the card, attract discounts due to poor service when renewed. There are two performance monitors, the number of trains cancelled and the number of trains running to time, and if one or other of these monitors falls below a certain threshold a discount of 5% (or 10% if both monitors are below the threshold) applies to all renewed season tickets (including Travelcards) with a month or more's validity.

Sources

• Transport for London Fares and Tickets Guide (545KB PDF), valid from September 2007.

“PDF” redirects here. ...

See also

• Carte orange similar to Travelcard, used in Île de France
• Creditrans similar to Travelcard, used in the Greater Bilbao region.