Oyster card for national rail services...?

Question

Can I use my oyster card (that has a week travel card) to go from London liverpool street to Cambridge, and vice versa??? Or do I have to purchase a seperate ticket for the rail?? I'm scared that if I try it, someone will ask me for a ticket while I'm on the rail, and if I give them my oyster and they say they don't take it, I'm fined £500.

Answer 1

The Oyster card only works on the London underground and buses. You can get a young persons rail card to get a discount but short of this you have to pay the whole fee of a ticket.

Answer 2

Oyster will be accepted on National Rail from 2009. But only within the London Zones (1-6)

It will NOT be valid for a journey to Cambridge as Oyster is London only.

There will be a National Rail equivilent being trialed in the next 2-3 years.

Answer 3

Oyster is not valid on overground services outside of Zone 6. Also some TOC's do not accept Oyster within the zones. Best to check with the TOC concerned if they allow Oyster, if they do all you need is an extension from Zone 6 to Cambridge, otherwise it is a full fare ticket.

And Oyster will not be accepted on Rail services from 2009. It may well be on a limited London service (possibly Silverlink, some SWT, Southern, SouthEastern, C2C and One services but these will be extremley limitied) due to the cost, infrastructure requirements, training, etc.

Answer 4

you need to buy a seperate ticket for all mainline train journeys.  Sucks doesnt it?

Answer 5

u cant have it the easy wayyah

Answer 6

According to the the National Rail Enquiries website, travelcards on Oyster are valid on any National Rail service within the London 1-6 zones.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fare...

However, as it also says on that website, Oyster card pre-pay  / pay as you go isn't valid on most National Rail services.

Cambridge isn't within those zones, though, so you will need a traditional ticket to Cambridge.