Please can you advise what is the official procedure for your staff to follow if a passenger wants to use a National Rail service at a London Underground station that does not have a National Rail TVM and their required ticket is not available on the London Underground TVMs. I know your London Underground TVMs do sell some National Rail tickets but it is quite limited and not all tickets are available and not all destinations are available. I am specifically referring to your following stations: • Amersham (Arriva Chiltern Railways) • Canada Water (Arriva London Overground) • Chalfont & Latimer (Arriva Chiltern Railways) • Chesham (Arriva Chiltern Railways) • Chorleywood (Arriva Chiltern Railways) • Greenford (First Great Western Railway) • Kentish Town (Govia Thameslink) • Harrow On The Hill (Arriva Chiltern Railways) • Highbury & Islington (Arriva London Overground and Govia Great Northern) • Moorgate (Govia Great Northern) • Old Street (Govia Great Northern) • Rickmansworth (Arriva Chiltern Railways) • West Ham (C2C Railways) • Whitechapel (Arriva London Overground) So i am wanting to know what the offical rules and procedures are. Are your staff required to let the passenger through the ticket barriers without a ticket and allow them to buy their ticket at their destination.

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Dear

TfL Ref: FOI-0787-1819

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 21 June 2018.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm we do hold the information you require. You asked:

Please can you advise what is the official procedure for your staff to follow if a passenger wants to use a National Rail service at a London Underground station that does not have a National Rail TVM and their required ticket is not available on the London Underground TVMs.

So I am wanting to know what the official rules and procedures are. Are your staff required to let the passenger through the ticket barriers without a ticket and allow them to buy their ticket at their destination.

Staff are instructed to advise customers to buy their ticket from the ticket machine, buy the nearest equivalent ticket or a ticket to the interchange station and re-book there. Also (and this applies particularly at the stations you mentioned where you can get a train for your whole National Rail journey) they are told to buy a ticket to complete their journey as soon as it is reasonably practicable.

London Underground ticket machines sell tickets to a wide range of National Rail destinations and over the years we have made improvements to the range and the type of ticket. These tickets are valid for the day and customers may be better off buying online/in advance. It has long been the case that customers should either buy the next best ticket (closest to the one they want), buy a ticket on the train or buy at their end destination if they can’t buy what they want at their start station. This has been standard railway practice for many years. It does mean that customers may have to be let through the gates. If they want a Railcard discounted ticket and we don’t sell it, then they should  buy the full price one and claim the discount (i.e. get a refund on the difference) at their end destination.

At present on London Overground there are very few tickets that can’t be purchased from the machines as they are capable of selling fares everywhere on National Rail. However, in the unusual circumstance of this not being possible, the same procedure would apply of the customer buying the closest appropriate ticket and seeking a refund later if necessary, with a backstop position of the staff at the station issuing an authority to travel at their discretion.

Please note this is covered by the National Rail Condition of Travel. Please see the relevant clauses below.

6.1. You must have a valid Ticket to travel before you board a train where there was the

opportunity to buy one unless one of the following circumstances applies:

6.1.1. At the station where you start your journey, there is no means of purchasing a Ticket, either because there is no Ticket office open or self-service Ticket machine in working order; and where notices indicate that you are in a Penalty Fares area you purchase a Permit to Travel if there is a working Permit to Travel issuing machine at the station where you start your journey – see Condition 10 for more information about Penalty Fares; or

6.1.2. Where you are specifically permitted to board a train service by an authorised member of staff or notice of the Train  Company whose service you intend to board; or

6.1.3. You have a disability and Ticket purchasing arrangements at the station you are departing from are not suitably accessible.

In these cases, you must, as soon as you are reasonably able, buy an appropriate Ticket to complete your journey. The price of the Ticket you purchase will be the same as if you had bought a Ticket at the station from which you first departed.

INFORMATION: This means that you should buy a ticket from the conductor on the train if there is one available; at an interchange station provided there is sufficient time before your connecting service; or, if neither of these is possible, at your destination

6.2. Tickets can be purchased at staffed Ticket offices or through self-service Ticket machines at many stations, and can also be purchased from a range of Train Companies and other Licensed Retailers online and by telephone. You may also purchase a Ticket through use of a smartcard or registered payment card in areas where such schemes apply.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

Please can you advise what is the official procedure for your staff to follow if a passenger wants to use a National Rail service at a London Underground station that does not have a National Rail TVM and their required ticket is not available on the London Underground TVMs.

I know your London Underground TVMs do sell some National Rail tickets but it is quite limited and not all tickets are available and not all destinations are available.

I am specifically referring to your following stations:

• Amersham (Arriva Chiltern Railways)

• Canada Water (Arriva London Overground)

• Chalfont & Latimer (Arriva Chiltern Railways)

• Chesham (Arriva Chiltern Railways)

• Chorleywood (Arriva Chiltern Railways)

• Greenford (First Great Western Railway)

• Kentish Town (Govia Thameslink)

• Harrow On The Hill (Arriva Chiltern Railways)

• Highbury & Islington (Arriva London Overground and Govia Great Northern)

• Moorgate (Govia Great Northern)

• Old Street (Govia Great Northern)

• Rickmansworth (Arriva Chiltern Railways)

• West Ham (C2C Railways)

• Whitechapel (Arriva London Overground)

So i am wanting to know what the offical rules and procedures are. Are your staff required to let the passenger through the ticket barriers without a ticket and allow them to buy their ticket at their destination.

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