Save even more money when you travel in London

If you are travelling within London, you can either buy a printed paper ticket from a station, or you can purchase an Oyster smart card. The Oyster system was introduced by Transport for London to make it easier both for people to pay for their journeys and move quickly through the public transport network. An Oyster card can be loaded with a Season Ticket or topped up with credit to pay for individual journeys – this is known as Pay As You Go.

Customers using Oyster Pay As You Go generally pay less than they would if they were to buy a traditional printed ticket. Until this year, Pay As You Go fares were available on Transport for London services, and only on some National Rail services. This has now changed. Thanks to improvements made by Train Companies and Transport for London, people can now use Pay As You Go on all National Rail Services in Greater London.

Disabled Persons Railcard holders using Oyster Pay As You Go get 1/3 off the cheaper Off-Peak Pay As You Go fares. And if they make multiple journeys in one day they will never pay more than they would have done if they had purchased an Off-Peak Day Travelcard with a Railcard discount. In other words, the amount of money a Pay As You Go user will pay for one day’s travel is capped relevant to the zones they travel in.

Getting started
To get discounts on Pay As You Go, Disabled Persons Railcard holders need to go to an Underground station to register their Railcard on their Oyster card. Once they have registered they must carry their Railcard with them together with their Oyster card on every journey, making sure they touch in and out on the card readers at stations at the beginning and end of their trip.

Differences between Pay As You Go and printed tickets
Because Oyster Pay As You Go operates differently to printed tickets, there are some differences in the way you can use it.

Peak restrictions - Railcard holders will not be able to get discounted Oyster Pay As You Go fares at peak times (that is between 06.30hrs and 09.30hrs, and between 16.00hrs and 19.00hrs Monday to Friday).

Railcard holders can only get discounts during peak times if they purchase printed tickets. So Railcard holders travelling before 09.30hrs should not use their Oyster cards.

After 09.30 all Pay As You Go journeys contribute towards the Off-Peak Day Travelcard price cap, so customers making multiple journeys throughout one day should still save money even when travelling between 16.00hrs and 19.00hrs.



Customers who are only making a single journey during a peak time are likely to find it cheaper to buy a discounted printed ticket from station staff or a ticket vending machine. This is because there are no peak restrictions on using a Disabled Persons Railcard to purchase printed tickets for National Rail journeys. If in doubt, customers are advised to ask rail staff about the cheapest way to pay for their journeys.

Companion discounts - Disabled Persons Railcard holders who travel with a companion after 09.30hrs, and use Pay as You Go, must purchase a printed Off Peak Child rate Travelcard for their companion. This only costs £2. Companions must travel with the Railcard holder at all times for their Child rate Off-Peak Day Travelcard to be valid.

Don’t forget!
If you're travelling around London and don’t wish to have an Oyster card, you can still get a discount on the Zones 1-6 Off-Peak Day Travelcard, Anytime Single and Anytime Return tickets.