Wimbledon
After a recent trip to Wimbledon I have decided that the special circumstances that apply here warrant a page all to themselves. Wimbledon is unique in that the tram stop is actually within a gated National Rail station which causes all kind of issues for Oyster PAYG users. Some of the tram specific issues have already been covered on the Trams and Buses page, so here I will concentrate on interchanging between modes at Wimbledon.
Oyster Readers at Wimbledon
First though, a brief explanation of the different readers. There are standard entry and exit readers on both gatelines at each end of the overbridge. Then there are two ‘tram boarding’ readers on platform 10 next to where the trams stop. These can be identified by the large green label on the front explaining that you need to touch in before boarding the tram. There are also two standard entry/exit validators facing platform 9. The side of the validators facing the footbridge on platforms 9 and 10 now have extra signage making it clearer which is used for each mode of transport. In the mini-concourse at the end of platforms 1-4 there are two pink route validators and at the beginning of each of platforms 1-4 are more entry/exit validators. Click on the image to see a plan of the station with the locations of the various types of reader.
Interchange where both journeys use Oyster
Next I’ll cover what to do when using Oyster for both incoming and outgoing journeys.
Arriving by Tram, leaving by National Rail or Tube
When you arrive on a tram and intend to continue your journey by rail or tube you need to touch in before doing so. This can be done at the two entry/exit validators facing platform 9. You need to do this even if you are travelling by South West Trains (platforms 5-8) as there are no validators on those platforms. If you are leaving by the District Line (platforms 1-4) then note that the pink route validators on the mini concourse should not be used because they do not record entry. You may use the yellow entry/exit validators on platforms 1-4 if you haven’t already used the ones on platform 9.
Arriving by National Rail or Tube, leaving by Tram
The tram boarding validators at Wimbledon have recently been specially programmed to end any valid open rail journey before deducting the tram fare. This means that you don’t need to touch on any other validators apart from the ones on platform 10. Don’t worry if you do touch out on either the entry/exit validators on platforms 1-4, or the ones on platform 9, because that will still work. Before boarding the tram you must touch in on the tram validators facing the tram on platform 10. As above, you should not use the pink validators on the mini concourse in front of platforms 1-4.
Arriving by National Rail, leaving by Tube, or vice-versa
In both these instances there is no need to touch in or out on any yellow validators. What you should do is touch on the pink route validators in the mini concourse next to platforms 1-4. This will ensure that you don’t get charged a higher fare if an alternative route would take you into zone 1.
Interchange where one journey uses paper tickets
Sometimes you may arrive at Wimbledon, or be intending to depart, using a paper ticket. Usually this will mean that your travel takes you beyond the Oyster area using South West Trains. In effect you are either starting or finishing your Oyster journey at Wimbledon without using the gates to enter or exit (as long as you already have the paper ticket when intending to leave). The following paragraphs describe how to start or end the Oyster journey and assume the opposite of arrival or departure is using paper tickets.
Departure by Tube or other National Rail
In both cases you need to touch in to start your Oyster journey. This can be done using the yellow validators on platforms 1-4 (if using the tube) or on platform 9 (if using FCC). Do not use either the pink validators in the concourse at the end of platforms 1-4 or the tram boarding validators on platform 10. If you are changing between two SWT services (platforms 5-8) then unfortunately you will need to use the overbridge and might as well exit and enter via the gateline.
Arrival by Tube or other National Rail
In both cases you need to touch out to end your Oyster journey. This can be done using the yellow validators on platforms 1-4 (if using the tube) or platform 9 (if using FCC). Do not use either the pink validators in the concourse at the end of platforms 1-4 or the tram boarding validators on platform 10. If you are changing between two SWT services (platforms 5-8) then unfortunately you will need to use the overbridge and might as well exit and enter via the gateline.
Departure by Tram
All you need to do is touch on the tram boarding validators on platform 10 before getting on the tram.
Arrival by Tram
This is the easiest one of all. You do not need to touch any Oyster readers. Just make your way to the SWT platforms and go.
This page updated 29 January 2012.
36 Responses
Well done.
Why could tfl not have sorted the Wimbledon issue out as plainly as you have done.
I think I followed the advice above and still got shafted.
I arrived by tram, having touched in at the start of my journey from Mitcham. I then touched the yellow card reader on platform 9 at Wimbo before changing onto a National Rail train to Kingston – arriving there I was charged the punitive maximum cash fare as an incomplete journey. I really don’t know what I did wrong!
Hi James,
It looks like you did it right. What I suggest is viewing your journey history to see what the system thinks you did. I’d guess that the touch in at Wimbledon platform 9 didn’t work. If you can’t view your history (if you haven’t topped up online) then call the helpline and ask them what it says. If you explain what you did and roughly what times then they will arrange for a refund of the difference.
Please let us know how you get on.
James they got me at this station too which resulted in me getting charged the maximum cash fare.May I suggest you do what I did and complain via https://custserv.tfl.gov.uk/icss_csip/init.do and metion a refund like I did because I got a full refund for the maximum cash fare and an apology for the wrong charge even tho it was probably technically my fault for not touching somewhere I should have
Well I finally got the refund… but the monkeys at TFL don’t even know whether I should touch the reader on the Tram platform or not when transferring onto National Rail from the Tram.
This is what came on my statement
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/5071638041_f70e453a27_b.jpg
Thanks James,
From that journey statement I know exactly what went wrong. You touched on a tram reader on platform 10 rather than the entry/exit reader on platform 9. There was no charge made there because you were still within the 70 minutes after touching in at Mitcham Junction.
The tram boarding validators are all facing the tram when it is parked in platform 10. The entry/exit readers are all facing towards the rest of the station. Looking at it another way, if you are standing in front of a tram boarding validator looking at the screen then the tram will be behind you.
I hope that helps.
Mike
A similar problem arises at Mitcham Junction as there are tram oyster validators and rail validators, both yellow. I wonder if using the national rail validators at mitcham junction and wimbledon to travel between the two would be cheaper than the tram?
Maybe to avoid confusion the tram validators should be green?
In retrospect my journey between mitcham junction and Kingston would have been cheaper if I had touched in the rail read at the beginning and end without touching on the platform at Wimbledon.
Hi James,
While the tram boarding validators are yellow (just like valiadtors on buses) they do have a large green label on them. They’re also only on tram platforms (apart from the two special cases of Elmers End and Wimbledon). The LCD display says that it’s for tram boarding rather than entry or exit which is what the standalone rail validators say.
With hindsight though, maybe the bus and tram validators should be a different colour. Maybe one day they will be.
Turning to your other points, the tram fare is £1.20 each way while the rail fare from Mitcham Junction to Wimbledon is £2.20 peak and £1.70 off peak. This is because the direct train takes you via Sutton in zone 5. Even if you were able to travel via Streatham and change the two zone fare would still be more than the tram at £1.80/£1.50. In reality you’d be mad to take the train between those two points as it would certainly be slower than the tram and more expensive.
For your journey I agree that the off peak combination of £1.20+£2.00 is more expensive than the rail only fare of £2.20, BUT, if you did that and still used the tram then you would be liable for a penalty fare if stopped on the tram.
I’m so glad to find this website, having e-mailed TfL to clarify use of the yellow reader on platform 9. They referred me to the SWT station manager, who implies that it should be used as a route validator when changing between First Capital Connect and SWT trains. Surely this can’t be right, unless one is starting or ending a Prepay rail journey? Mike, can I forward you my correspondence, as I would like to take action to ensure that all readers on station platforms have clear instructions? I don’t know where to turn.
Hi David,
I guess they mean someone switching between a long distance SWT train and an FCC train. In that instance they are correct, but it’s not the only use. It is a mess.
What happens if you arrive at Wimbledon by National Rail (after having touched in at your starting station) and do NOT touch out on the yellow validators, and instead touch in on the Tram validator? I have been confused by this system for ages, and the staff at Wimbledon have told me that if I want to interchange at Wimbledon for the tram, I would need to leave the station at one of its normal exits, and then come back in again to be charged the correct fares.
Not touching out on the yellow validators within the station doesn’t seem to charge the maximum fare though, hence why I have been just touching in when first getting on a SWT to Wimbledon, and then touching in when boarding the tram…
OK. You certainly do not have to leave the station. My understanding is that you need to touch out on the yellow validators on platform 9 before touching on the tram boarding validator on platform 10. However, the tram boarding validators at Wimbledon are programmed differently to other tram boarding validators because they cancel the entry charge made when you enter the station via the gateline. It is possible that they are also set to end any valid open rail journey as well.
Do you have access to the journey history online? Can you send me a screen grab showing what it says after a trip through Wimbledon? Or can you request a journey statement via Oyster online? If I can see what they say I can hopefully work out what is happening. I’ll send you an email shortly so you have mine.
Thanks again to Amy who has confirmed that the tram boarding validators at Wimbledon will indeed end an open rail journey before deducting the tram fare. According to the Oyster helpdesk this must be a recent change because they were not aware of it.
All I need to do now is check out Elmers End to see if the same happens there.
Hi Mike,
Although you say don’t use them,several times in the past I’ve come into Wimbledon on the District line and swiped the pink reader,then the tram reader,without encountering any problems. This was months/more than a year ago,so well before the tram readers were altered so that they close an open rail journey.
Hi Phil,
Maybe the programming on those readers is different, or that the tram readers have always ended a rail journey despite people saying otherwise. They must have to make the system as foolproof as possible. I’ll try some other combinations next time I go to Wimbledon. Any journey history scans which show how you have been treated would be interesting, if you can generate them.
How about adding a page on changing at Waterloo, another station where there are umpteen possible combinations of modes and it is easy to make a mistake? There is the main line station, the Tube, the Waterloo & City Line, and Waterloo East station, each with their own signing in/signing out arrangements. Plus it is possible to arrive at the main line station (or Waterloo East) from outside the Travelcard area with a paper ticket and then switch to using Oyster.
Hi Alan,
Thank you for your comments. Your suggestions may well be incorporated into new pages as and when I get a chance to research the content properly. I like the wider concept of the issues surrounding switching between paper tickets and Oyster at various locations.
Glad someone has taken the time to do that diagram and write this website. I frequently travel from Worcester park (SWT zone 4) to purley way Croydon on the tram, via an change at Wimbledon, and never got the answer from any other source as to what I am supposed to do! And often I had found on the rtn journey back to worcester park, when touching out, I was charged the max fare as opposed to what it should be.
This makes it clear for me. On the way, I only need to touch twice – once at Worctester park train station, and once on platform 10 to board the tram. I confirm this does work and end the train journey. On the way back, I touch to board the tram at Waddon Marsh, then touch a validator on platform 9, then touch out again at Worcester Park. I had tried a few things such as not touching at all at wimbledon on the rtn, and also touching the tram validator on plat 10 on way home, but bizarrely sometimes it seems to calulate correctly, and other times over charge. Odd.
Thanks for the feedback, Aaron. I’m not sure why touching the tram validator at the end of the tram journey at Wimbledon might sometimes work. I wouldn’t have thought that would be appropriate at all. They do try to make the system as foolproof as possible though. I might try and make further enquiries on that one when I get a chance.
Wimbledon is just mega-confusing and I stumbled upon this very helpful website when googling for a solution to having being stung for touching the wrong reader when changing from tram to National Rail recently.
I must say that it really isn’t obvious what the difference between the tram reader and entry/exit reader is on platforms 9/10. On closer examination you can see, but it really requires considerable thought and a more than basic understanding of the logic of the Oystercard system.
What I think is needed is two BIG signs over the platform 9/10 readers. The one over the entry/exit reader should say, “Oyster users continuing their journeys by tube or train must touch here” and the one over the tram reader should say, “Oyster users continuing their journeys by tram must touch here” or something to that effect.
I think platforms 5-8 could do with entry/exit readers to fully follow the Oyster logic through.
I couldn’t agree more.
What about changing from National Rail to National Rail. Such as arriving on platform 9 on First Capital Connect and leaving by South West Trains? I sometimes travel Haydons Road to Clapham Junction.
Hi Michael,
If you are making both legs of the journey using Oyster then there is no need to touch at all. It is just the same as changing between two trains anywhere else where you don’t need to leave the station.
Mike, thank you so much for your clarifications. My wife got charged an ‘incomplete’ for Wimbledon – St. James’s Park for a journey from Phipps Bridge (Morden Hall Park) where she touched in. It was evening rush hour at Wimbledon and she touched out at the only reader she could see. At St James’s Park, even though the jouney times corroborated her account, the ticket office simply couldn’t, wouldn’t explain what might have happened. Three e-mails to the Oyster Help centre later she got her refund. She works outside the UK and cannot call help lines M-F. Everytime we make a ‘multi-modal’ journey, particularly through Stratford we get the shivvers! But the most bizarre Oyster fare we’ve come across was on a journey we made from Willesden Junction to Queen’s Road Peckham £1.30!!!
That fare does seem a bit odd. The single fare finder lists it as £1.50/£1.90 which looks right as you need to change in zone 3. Perhaps the system thinks the South London link from Clapham Junction to Surrey Quays is already open.
i came from college yesterday. and i got in wimbeldon station at 3:35 pm. when i tried to get through the gate, that time was a fire alarm test. so, the gates were open and the ticket inspector said it is ok, if you are touch in. but because i want to go by tram, he said when i get in platform just tab on tram platform. which i did. when i tab my oyster i saw it charge me. then i came upstairs and talked with the inspecter. he told me which platform did you tab your oyster, i said there were two platfroms, which both were same and close to each other, one was on the left and second was on the right. i tab the one on the left. he said that is why you got charged!
it is ridiculous. and i do not know what to do, if ring tfl it is gonna cost me more than that. now i just wonder what to do?
Hi Javed,
I don’t think that the call should last that long, but if you are kept waiting in the queue then ask for something towards the phone call. It is ridiculous that the signage on platforms 9/10 doesn’t make it clear the difference between the two sets of validators, but at least you now know.
Hello Mike, thanks for the solution to the Wimbledon conundrum. Great explanation + diagram. Shame TFL can’t explain it as well as you. I echo all the comments here as we recced the Wimbledon to Kingston route last week, for my son who start Uni at Kingston next week. We traveled from from Ampere Way tram station. Of course, we failed the test! …hence me searching for an explanation and finding your pearls of wisdom.
Now what about this one? I had to travel up to Heathrow Terminal 1, from Liverpool St last week. My Gold card is only zones 1-5, so I knew I’d have to pay to get into zone 6. But, it cost me a massive £8, for a 1 stop return, Hatton Cross to Heathrow T1. The pay booth chap told me if I had an Oyster season ticket, it would have been far cheaper. But, alas my Gold Card is just a card – aka cellulose! But, I’m not sure why possessing an Oyster season ticket should matter. After all, isn’t a season ticket a season ticket, plastic or paper? Any insight on this is gratefully received?
Hi Leo,
Basically, if the season is on the Oyster card then it knows what you’ve got and only charges you for what you need, in this case a zone 6 single. If the season is on paper then the Oyster system doesn’t know what you’ve got. When you link a Gold Card to an Oyster card it just sets a switch; it doesn’t record what the season is and it could just be a point-to-point ticket which wouldn’t help with a London to Heathrow journey.
I’m not sure whether it’s possible to exchange your paper ticket for the Oyster version but it might be worth asking. If it isn’t then make sure you get it on Oyster next time.
Thanks for then reply Mike. Another question if I may. I wish to go to Kingston from Wallington via Clapham Jct. Wallington is zone 5, Kingston zone 6 but Clapham Jct zone 2. Will my Oyster be valid if I go to Kingston (zone 6) from Wall’ton (zone 5) via Clapham Jct. Would this journey be a normal part of a monthly season ticket or do I need to use a validater (pink) at Clapham Jct, when I change. Thanks!
Oh, an addendum to that question: “my son is a student and has a student card. So, I expect he will get a small fare reduction.”
Hi Leo,
The default route for Wallington to Kingston is via Sutton and Wimbledon, however, there is no alternative listed for via Clapham Junction so you can go that way without worrying about touching on pink validators. And the 16+ and 18+ student cards do not give any discount on national rail journeys, unfortunately.
Is the above advice (under “Interchange where one journey uses paper tickets”)valid for Barking station? (I.e. to end the Oyster journey on the London Underground to Barking without having to go to the gateline, then leaving Barking on an already held paper ticket on the c2c service outside the Oyster validity area. As they have cross-platform interchange).
Hi Joe,
Yes, Barking works in a similar way as long as you use the validators on the platforms to start/end your Oyster journey.
I have just found this information after a frantic phone call from my daughter from Wimbledon station where she had arrived by tram from East Croydon and was going to Surbiton, she was totally baffled by the procedure of touching in, touching out, which way to go and where to put your Oyster. I told her to ask a member of staff, but she said she could not see one! I believe she touched her oyster on the board tram validator instead of the touch out one, but who can blame her? What a palaver, I think anyone travelling the route for the first time would need a degree to work it all out, therefore, they are probably raking in the cash at TFL, I shall write to Boris Ha Ha.
Hi Angela,
Sorry to hear your tale. If you (your daughter) call the helpdesk tomorrow they will be able to see what has happened. If she did touch the tram validator at Wimbledon then it’s likely that she will have incurred an incomplete journey charge at Surbiton. The helpdesk will be able to correct this so that a credit is applied back to the card. You’ll need to nominate a station or tramstop to pick the credit up from.
Unless it’s a matter of cost,it would be faster to go East Croydon-Clapham Junction-Surbiton on the train and forget the tram altogether,there are trains from Clapham where Surbiton is the first stop,journey time ten minutes.
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