The Advantage Of Properly Integrated Systems
I don’t use an Oyster Card for my meanderings around London, as I have a Freedom Pass, which gives me everything except the cable-car free.
But this advert on the Overground caught my eye.
Oyster Advert On The Overground
When I used an Oyster Card, I suspect, I didn’t always touch out, so it probably cost me a few pounds in total.
So if I read this correctly, if you don’t touch out and you’ve registered the card, you will be told you’ve got a refund. That in itself, will probably mean that you will probably be more careful about touching out.
Remember that Oyster is one of the main ways, that Transport for London, determine the real journeys done by passengers. So removing the touch out error, means they will have better data to plan the network.
This looks like a classic application of the nudge principle.
A Pretty Well Organised Tourist City
On arriving in the centre of Geneva, I needed to find my way to the hotel, I’d booked at a very good rate.
The tourist office was a short walk towards the river and I got one of the best free maps, I’ve ever got from such a place. I’ve even be charged for an awful map in some places.
I actually walked to my hotel in the Old City, which wasn’t that far. One of the reasons for walking was that I knew hotels were supposed to give you a free travel ticket, for whilst you were in the city.
It was a bit cold, but a pleasant walk and I crossed one of the many bridges of the Rhone.
The Rhone At Geneva
Admittedly, I had to climb up to the hotel, but despite my problems, I managed it well. I took this picture from the top on the Saturday morning.
The Climb To The Hotel
This shows the advantage of travelling light, as I always do.
Note however the maps and signposts grouped together. Geneva is a well-mapped city and others could do worse, than follow Geneva’s example.
Incidentally the first thing I got from reception in the hotel along with the room key, was a Geneva Transport Card, valid from Friday until Sunday. You even get them if you are camping, rather than in a five star hotel as I was!
Here’s what the Visit Geneva web site says.
When you stay in a hotel, a youth hostel or at a campsite, you receive free of charge a Geneva Transport Card. Taking the tram, the bus and the train on Geneva territory will not cost you a penny. You even can cross the lake with the yellow taxi-boats for free.
This personal and non-transferable card is offered to you at arrival. During your stay in Geneva, you can use the entire Geneva transport network (UNIRESO: bus and tram (TPG), train (CFF) and taxi-boats (Mouettes Genevoises).
If you arrive at Geneva International Airport, you can get a 80-minute ticket free of charge for a ride to the place of your accommodation. The ticket machine is in the luggage retrieval hall.
The map I have, also points out the location of some of the large free museums in the city.
My First Encounter With Swiss Trains
Arriving at Geneva Airport, I found it difficult to find the information for the trains to the City. I eventually found the station and bought a ticket that I hoped would take me to the centre.
But finding the right platform was difficult, and eventually,a whole party of us, led by a Russian translator from Chelyabinsk, where the recent meteor landed, got on a train to the city.
Incidentally, she’d managed to get a free ticket, as opposed to my one, which cost three or so Swiss francs.
More information or someone to ask, would have helped. Gatwick, for instance isn’t perfect, but at least there are a few staff to help. Remember I can make myself understandable in French and can read it pretty well, except in Montreal. But that is another story.
Behimd all of this was my worry, that I’d heard that Swiss ticket inspectors, were rather hard in dealing with supposed fare dodgers. They don’t use the approach I found on Southern.
Buying British Rail Tickets From Outside The UK
I just bought a ticket on Southern Railway. As ever, I will pick up the ticket from an automatic machine, before I travel.
I noticed that it said on the site that the method I chose was the preferred one for UK and Overseas customers.
If this is true and I’ve no reason to doubt it isn’t, then say an Australian booking a ticket in the UK, should do the following.
1. Ascertain the train company, who handle the route he wants to travel. The National Rail Enquiries web site, tells you this, when you check train times.
2. Go to that company’s web site and book your ticket, paying for it with a debit/credit card. Note that the actual company seems to always give the best price and often, you’ll find a special deal. Using an intermediate company is inevitably more expensive and they all seem to be generators of unwanted e-mails to your Inbox.
3. When booking, elect to pick up the ticket, any time before you start your journey. you need to chose a station, but it’s not important as tickets can be picked up at any station with a machine.
4. Make certain, you note the 8-character booking reference, the card you used and the journey you booked.
5. As you can pick up the tickets two hours after booking, probably by the time you arrive in the UK, that limit will have expired, so perhaps it’s a good idea to go and get all your tickets at a quiet time soon after arriving. Even if the company you specifically want doesn’t accept foreign credit cards, it certainly looks that some do.
There Would Appear To Be Good Connections At Clapham Junction
One of my gripes with Clapham Junction station, is that if you arrive on the Overground like I do, you have to exit the barriers to either purchase or pick up a ticket for your onward journey.
I did think it might be likely, that the obvious place for a machine, the refurbished pedestrian bridge, didn’t have proper network connections!
Cashpoints At Clapham Junction
But it’s got these two cashpoints, so that can’t be the reason!
As it was today, I was changing for Redhill and missed my train by a minute or so, because I was delayed by having to walk a long way to get the ticket.
Onto The DLR At Tower Gateway
This picture shows the entrance to the DLR at Tower Gateway station.
Onto The DLR At Tower Gateway
Sensibly, the signage mentions that Travelcards are welcome.
A Fare Oddity In London
This story turned up in one of my news filters. Here’s an extract about travelling between Highbury and Islington and Clapham Junction stations .
TfL is kind enough to assume that you have been the ‘Zone 2 only’ way round. So whichever way you go , you’ll be charged just £1.50 (off-peak) instead of the £2.10 you’d expect to pay for travelling through Zone 1. Bizarrely, this means that it’s cheaper to travel through the 17 stations from Clapham Junction to Highbury, than it is to make the five stop journey from Shoreditch to Highbury along the same tracks.
I don’t think that the sixty pence that Transport for London gives away is going to make much difference. As I do it for nothing on my Freedom Pass, I’m not bothered either.
I would always go the long Overground way round from, where I am near Highbury to Clapham Junction, as the journey is easier, without changes and is more interesting. It just takes a few minutes longer. It’s also very easy with a heavy case or even a bicycle.
The Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games
I’ve now got four tickets for each of the sessions on the 25th, 26th and 27th of July.
It was fairly painless and except for a wait on the first access, probably because all the world and his wife were trying, it didn’t take too long either.
In some ways, I wish I’d bought some more tickets. I suspect the touts have, as they always have needs. But then I’m not in any need of making money that way!
But I do want to enjoy the athletics at the Olympic Stadium
German Rail Ticket Machines
These were excellent and worked in most common languages.
German Rail Ticket Machines
There were also lots of them and the queues were fairly minimal.
A Ticket To Ride Out Of Budapest
I hadn’t bought my ticket before I left London and it was the right thing to do. The reason, I say that was that I enjoyed Budapest a lot and if it hadn’t been so cold, I might have stayed another day.
But I almost regretted it, as buying a ticket was a bit of an obstacle course.
In the first place, there was no automatic machine.
You first had to get the time of the train, by getting a numbered ticket to go and ask what the times were. I had an idea that the train left at 15:25. Eventually I got this confirmed and then got another numbered ticket from the machine so that I could actually buy my ticket to Bratislava.
A Ticket To Ride Out Of Budapest
As you can see, the ticket was like an old-fashioned airline ticket of forty years ago.
I would advise that if you’re taking an international train out of Budapest, that you give yourself plenty of time. You can buy them before the date of travel, so if you’re going on the 25th and you’re there on the 23rd, it would not be a bad idea to purchase the ticket early.
The ticket I had, was valid on any train on the day I travelled.
The Anonymous Widower 