Tuesday, 9 February 2016

Labyrinth 1-31 : Oyster record


When I started planning it, I realised that I had to be careful using my Oyster on the Labyrinth Full Network Challenge. Because of getting off a train, finding and photographing the labyrinth and waiting for the next train, you have to be aware of the "maximum journey time". You can be charged a maximum fare if the time between touching in and touching out exceeds the maximum journey time. To complicate things further, the maximum time depends on the number of zones you pass through and whether it is peak or off-peak.

So, I made a note of whether the labyrinth was inside or outside of the ticket gateline and made sure that I'd have enough time even allowing for minor delays. The only unnecessary, precautionary touch out/in was at Watford. Otherwise my journey would have been from Zone 7 Moor Park to Zone 5 North Harrow, but heading further into Zone 7 before turning around, so I decided to split it up.

I made one mistake at Sudbury Town. I knew that the labyrinth was inside the station, but I hadn't realised that there is a gateline on both platforms. So, arriving on the southbound platform, I had to touch out, go over to the northbound platform and touch in again to get to the labyrinth. There are issues with touching in and out at the same station without making a journey, so I headed back to Sudbury Hill before turning around and continuing to Alperton.

Links:
http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk (this is your best guide to the Oyster fares system)

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