Oyster card holders overcharged by �2million at Islington stations
TUBE and rail travellers in Islington were overcharged by nearly �2million in 2010 when using their Oyster cards.
Passengers were stung to the tune of �400,000 at Old Street station alone, while the figure was �309,000 at Angel – and thousands more at every stop in the borough.
The total rises above �3million if stations just over Islington’s borders, such as King’s Cross, are taken into account. King’s Cross was the fifth worst in London, at over �1million.
Caroline Pidgeon AM, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the London Assembly, branded the levels “unacceptable”.
She added: “People using rail and Tube stations in and around Islington were overcharged by more than �2million in 2010 – one of the highest figures across the capital – when using their Oyster cards. Some passengers using these stations may have forgotten to touch in and out, but such a huge level of overcharging clearly demonstrates that there are some structural problems with how Oyster is operating.”
Oyster users are charged the maximum single fare of �7.40 when they fail to register their cards at both ends of their journeys.
TfL said the figures cited were not overcharges – because they include the amounts that would have been paid anyway if people had touched in and out.
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A spokeswoman said: “Maximum fares are not overcharges. We have maximum fares in place to ensure customers validate their journeys or we would be open to widespread fare evasion across our network. If a customer fails to touch in or out they are charged a maximum fare however up to 80 per cent of those maximum fares would have been payable had passengers touched out correctly.”
Top five worst stations for overcharging in Islington
Old Street �400,000
Angel �309,000
Farringdon �306,000
Highbury & Islington �271,000
Finsbury Park �248,000
