Travelcard

The Travelcard is an inter-modal travel ticket for unlimited use on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway, Tramlink, London Buses and National Rail services in the Greater London area. Travelcards can be purchased for a period of time varying from one day to a year, from Transport for London, National Rail and their agents. Depending on where it is purchased, and the length of validity, a Travelcard is either printed on a paper ticket with a magnetic stripe or encoded onto a reusable contactless electronic smart card, known as an Oyster card. The cost of a Travelcard is determined by the area it covers and, for this purpose, London is divided into a number of fare zones. The Travelcard season ticket for unlimited travel on London Buses and the London Underground was launched on 22 May 1983 by London Transport. One Day Travelcards and validity on other transport modes were added from 1984 onwards. The introduction of the Travelcard caused an increase in patronage and reduced the number of tickets that needed to be purchased by passengers.

History
Before the introduction of the Travelcard, tickets for the London Underground were purchased on a 'point-to-point' basis between two stations, either as a single, return or season ticket; and were priced according to distance travelled. Tickets for travel on London Buses and British Rail were purchased separately. The Travelcard was introduced as the third in a series of major fare revisions that had started in 1981. The introduction of the Travelcard was intended to increase patronage on London Underground and London Buses, particularly during less busy times and to speed up the boarding of bus services.

On 4 October 1981, following the Greater London Council election, the incoming Labour administration simplified fares in Greater London by introducing four new bus fare zones and two central London Underground zones, named City and West End, where flat fares applied for the first time. This was accompanied by a cut in prices of about a third and was marketed as the Fares Fair campaign. Following successful legal action against it, on 21 March 1982 London Buses fares were doubled and London Underground fares increased by 91%. The two central area zones were retained and the fares to all other stations were restructured to be graduated at three mile intervals; and thus grouping those stations within three miles of the central zones in an 'inner zone'.

In 1983, a third revision of fares was undertaken, and a new inter-modal Travelcard season ticket was launched covering five new numbered zones; representing an overall cut in prices of around 25%. The One Day Travelcard was launched in 1984 and on weekdays was only sold for travel after 09.30. In January 1985 the Capitalcard season ticket was launched, offering validity on British Rail services as well as London Underground and London Buses. It was priced around 10-15% higher than the Travelcard. In June 1986 the One Day Capitalcard was launched. The Capitalcard brand ended in January 1989 when the Travelcard gained validity on British Rail. In January 1991 Zone 5 was split to create a new Zone 6.

In January 2002 a peak version of the One Day Travelcard was introduced on weekdays, which allows travel between 04.30 and 09.30 and in 2005 a 3-day version of the Travelcard was launched (they were discontinued in 2010). Travelcard season tickets were made available on electronic smart cards, known as Oyster cards, from 2003 and by 2005 Transport for London ceased to sell season tickets on paper tickets, although they continue to be available from National Rail stations.

Operation
A Travelcard entitles the holder to unlimited travel in Greater London on London Buses, Tramlink, London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and National Rail services. Travelcards are issued for periods of one or seven days, or for any period from one month to one year. They provide travel within six numbered concentric zones, with Zone 1 (which includes the central areas of The City and the West End) at the middle and Zone 6 (which includes London Heathrow Airport and outlying suburbs such as Uxbridge, Upminster and Orpington) at the outer edge. On the London Underground, London Overground, DLR and National Rail, the Travelcard is only valid within the zones indicated on the ticket. On London Buses any Travelcard can be used on any route. On Tramlink any Travelcard valid in zones 3, 4, 5, or 6 can be used on any tram route. Travelcards are sold in a limited number of combinations of adjacent zones with different combinations available depending on the length of validity. Travelcards for only one zone are not sold and the central Zone 1 is charged more expensively than the others.

Travelcards are valid for any journey commencing before 04.30 on the day after it is due to expire. One day Travelcards can be purchased in Anytime and Off-Peak variants. The Anytime Travelcard can be used at any time from 04:30 on the day it becomes valid; and the cheaper Off-Peak Travelcard cannot be used from 04.30 to 09.30 on weekdays. Off-Peak Travelcards are typically 50% cheaper than Anytime Travelcards. Travelcards for seven days or longer are known as season tickets and allow travel at any time of day. When bought at a London Underground station or other Transport for London agent, one day Travelcards are sold on a paper ticket with a magnetic stripe and Travelcards lasting seven days or more are loaded on to an Oyster Card.

Services outside Greater London
There are various services outside Greater London on which Travelcards can be used. These are six Central Line stations in the Epping Forest district of Essex (and two on the boundary) that are included in zones 4, 5 and 6; seven Metropolitan Line stations in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire that are included in local ancillary zones 7, 8 and 9; three London Overground stations in Hertfordshire, included in local ancillary zones 7 and 8; and fourteen National Rail stations just outside Greater London that are included in zones 5 and 6. Additionally, on some London Buses services that cross the Greater London boundary, Travelcards are valid for the whole route. From outside Greater London, National Rail tickets can be purchased combining a day return ticket with a one day Travelcard. These include one return journey to and from the edge of the Travelcard area and standard Travelcard validity within the Travelcard Zones. Additionally, National Rail season tickets from outside Greater London can include Travelcard validity within London.

Exceptions
Although locally in Zone 6, travel on the BAA rail link to Heathrow Central, Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal 5 is not included. Watford Junction is served by London Overground, but is not within any of the Travelcard zones, so is not included. Travel on the High Speed rail link between St Pancras and Stratford International is also not included.

Additional benefits
Travelcards entitle the holder to a 33% discount on scheduled London River Services.