Wimbledon Oyster Users Over-Charged
Many SW19 passengers are paying extra
Oyster card users at Wimbledon were overcharged last year by £825,000, according to new figures.
Wimbledon is eighth on a list of the top 10 stations in London where the most passengers were mis-charged the maximum single fare of £7.40 in 2010.
The figures have been obtained by Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group leader, who says passengers across the capital are being over-charged by £1 million a week.
Since Oyster cards became accepted on national rail stations at the beginning of 2010, rail passengers have been overcharged by £25.8 million. Passengers using the London Underground were overcharged even more – £30.1 million. Just £10 million was refunded to customers.
The list of the worst stations for over-charging is topped by London Waterloo - a station used daily by thousands of Wimbledon commuters. The full list is:
Waterloo National Rail (NR): £2,452,000
London Bridge (NR): £2,300,000
Liverpool Street (NR): £1,615,000
Bank London Underground: £1,339,000
King’s Cross London Underground: £1,073,000
Victoria London Underground: £982,000
Stratford (NR): £877 ,000
Wimbledon (NR): £825,000
Oxford Circus London Underground: £862,000
Liverpool Street London Underground: £670,000.
Caroline Pidgeon said: "This level of overcharging is totally unacceptable. There is something very seriously wrong when each and every week of the year Londoners are ripped off by more than £1 million.
"Of course in some cases passengers might forget to touch in and touch out, but such huge levels of overcharging clearly demonstrate that there are some structural problems with how Oyster is operating. It is clear that not enough is being done to ensure the machines and the technology are working properly.
"TfL also need to take immediate steps to make it far easier for people to be able to claim a refund when they have been overcharged.
"Above all else the levels of overcharging occurring need to be regularly published at every station, so that passengers are alerted to this serious problem."
The list for over-charging in all stations in Merton is:
* Colliers Wood tube station £55,000
* Morden tube station £85,000
* South Wimbledon tube station £31,000
* Wimbledon Park tube station £47,000
* Wimbledon station & tube station £825,000
* Tooting £20,000
* Haydons Road £7,000
* Wimbledon Chase £5,000
* South Merton £3,000
* Morden South £2,000
* St Helier £4,000
* Mitcham Junction £12,000
* Mitcham Eastfields £16,000
* Raynes Park £61,000
* Motspur Park £13,000.
In a written response to Liberal Democrat questions, London Mayor Boris Johnson, said: "Maximum fares are not overcharges. The terms of pay as you go make it quite clear users must touch in and out to obtain the best fare.
"Maximum fares are charged to deter fraud and ensure users validate their cards properly. In principle, customers who do not touch in at the start of their journey are at risk of a maximum fare because they are travelling without a valid ticket.
"TfL calculates between 60 and 80 per cent of the revenue raised through maximum fares would have been spent by customers if their Oyster card were validated correctly."
He said refunds were available from the Oyster help-line and London Underground stations.
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February 27, 2011