London Transit
Transport for London (TfL) and Oysters

At your first London tube station (at Heathrow if you arrive there), buy an Oyster. It’s £5 (a great, reusable, cheap souvenir). Put £30 pay-as-you-go cash value on it. You can purchase it at one of the machines or from the station attendant. The Oyster is a smart card that ensures you always pay the lowest fare for single trips or for all trips during the day or week. See <https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/> for details. For example, peak fare from Heathrow terminal tube station to Paddington is £5.30, off-peak is £3.30, and cash is £6.00.

Register your Oyster to save 33% on TfL off-peak travel by tube, overground, busses, and trams. It’s free.

You’ll need both your railcard (see seminar UK Train page for railcard info) and your Oyster to get the discount concession. Register at a tube station ticket office. There’s a handy visitor services ticket office dedicated to such tasks at St. Pancras tube station (before you go down the stairs to the tube ticket stalls and entry turnstiles). Ask for an “Oyster Registration” form (not available online). Complete this form and hand it to the ticket agent along with your Oyster card. Once your Oyster is registered, it is protected from theft or loss, and you’ll get the discount! See <https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/national-railcard-discount?intcmp=54723>.

As well as a 1/3 discount on off-peak, pay-as-you-go, fares and daily caps, you can also buy discounted off-peak Day Travelcards to travel at any time on weekends and public holidays and after 10:00am, Monday-Friday or after 09:30am, Monday-Friday during July and August.

Topping up. If you need to add more money to your Oyster, there are machines in tube stations where you can determine your balance and add fare using a credit/debit card or cash. Or you can see the ticket agent, but there are usually long lines.

For vital, up-to-date information on planning a journey, fares, status updates, maps, railcard discounts, major works and events, in addition to other useful information go to Transport for London’s website <https://tfl.gov.uk/>.

Prevent embarrassment and over charging! Read Transport for London’s Card Clash info at <https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets-and-oyster/pay-as-you-go/card-clash>. Hint: Keep your Oyster separate from other touch cards.

Public health. As expected, wearing a mask is required on all public transportation. The fine for not wearing a mask is currently £200!

Additional TfL Pricing Info

Underground, DLR, Overground travel. With your Railcard discount on your Oyster the daily cap for tube, DLR, and overground travel in zones 1–2 is £7.40 at peak times, £4.90 off-peak. If you’re not going to use it every day, putting the £30 in pay-as-you-go value on the Oyster is probably less expensive and more flexible (no time limit) than a 7-day Travel Card for Zones 1–2 (£37.00). In zones 1–2 a single off-peak tube trip is £2.50; with Railcard discount off-peak, 1.65; peak, £3.00; cash, £5.50.

Tap your Oyster on the yellow disc on the turnstile BOTH as you enter and as you exit. If you only tap once, you will be charged the maximum for the day.

If you travel across London, but not through Zone 1, you will need to: (1) touch in on yellow card reader at journey beginning; (2) touch pink reader when you change trains; then (3) touch out on yellow card reader at journey’s end.

Bus and tram trips are £1.55 regardless of zone or time, with a daily cap of £4.65. You need an Oyster or Travel Card to ride the bus—no cash fares are accepted. You must have the Railcard with you when you travel.

Tap your Oyster on the yellow disc ONLY when you board the bus. Do NOT tap again when getting off, or you’ll be charged for another bus trip.

Emirates Airline. Oyster pay-as-you-go single fare is £4.00. Flights between North Greenwich and the Royal Docks have a journey time of less than 10 minutes. Emirates Airline provides easy access to the Crystal, North Greenwich Arena, ExCel Centre, and Thames Barrier. The terminals are also close to the tube, DLR, busses, and river boat services. You will not be able to top up your Oyster at the Emirate Airlines, so be sure you have sufficient funds on your Oyster before you queue for your trip which does not count towards the daily cap.

River boat services. Use your Oyster pay-as-you-go. You will not be able to top up your Oyster at river boat service docks, so be sure you have sufficient funds on your Oyster before you queue for your trip. Your journey will not count towards your daily cap. For fares see <https://www.thamesclippers.com/>.

You will have to tap both in and out when river boat crews instruct you (so they can monitor each tap in/out).