I've been testing the extremities of my new 60+ Oyster card.
The most northerly station you can reach with a 60+ Oyster card: CHESHAM
The far end of the Metropolitan line is the furthest north you can get by train on a TfL service, hence the northernmost point my 60+ card will take me for nothing. At 25 miles from central London, that's a very long way. This Buckinghamshire market town is a small delight, as I well know because I've been many times but I can go more often now. The joy starts as you rattle off down the single track spur from Chalfont & Latimer, a gap in the foliage opening up Betjemanesque views across the rolling Chess valley. I did however make the mistake of arriving just after school chucking-out time so the platform was awash with Dr Challoners' homegoers, clogging up the ticket gates and jumping into Daddy's car. Next time I'll come at a quieter time, stay longer and maybe head off for a Chilterny walk, what a treat.
The next five: Cheshunt, Epping, Theobalds Grove, Crews Hill, Amersham
What are the chances that TfL's two most northerly stations would both start with 'Chesh'? Chesham only marginally beats Cheshunt by a few hundred metres with Epping not that far behind. Before 1994 North Weald would have been an easy winner, and before 1981 Blake Hall, but obviously they didn't have 60+ Oyster cards back then.
The most easterly station you can reach with a 60+ Oyster card: SHENFIELD
The far end of the Elizabeth line is the farthest east you can get by train on a TfL service, hence the easternmost point my 60+ card will take me for nothing. Importantly you can only travel free on a purple train, anything Greater Anglian is only valid as far as Harold Wood. I was still surprised that the ticket barrier rejected me with a code 57, 'Location not covered', but that's because it turns out staff have to let you out manually, which they did with a nod and a smile. Outside the station is a very Essex high street with multiple refreshment options, beauty parlours and a tanning studio, plus a line of taxis waiting to whisk away any rare residents without cars. I suspect I'll be exiting at Brentwood more often, but perhaps using Shenfield as a bridgehead for cheaper fares into Suffolk and Norfolk.
The next five: Brentwood, Upminster, Dartford, Upminster Bridge, Harold Wood
I did the journey between Chesham and Shenfield in one trip, on two trains, changing conveniently at Farringdon. I believe this journey has TfL's largest maximum journey time, i.e. the period you're allowed to spend between touching in and out before they thwack you with a maximum fare. Officially it's a 20-zone journey, this because you count every zone once on the way in and once on the way out (in this case 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-A-B-C). The permitted time allocation on a weekday is 4 hours 20 minutes, which was once specified on the TfL website but alas they've since simplified the page and hidden it. I did it in 2 hours 5 minutes, amazingly, which just goes to show how generous these maximum journey time allocations are.
The most southerly station you can reach with a 60+ Oyster card: CATERHAM
TfL don't have any stations south of West Croydon but a 60+ card allows you to head beyond on National Rail services, well into Surrey. The actual boundary is the edge of zone 6, a ticketing fiefdom that kindly spreads beyond the edge of London up four specific branch lines. Most southerly of all is the terminus at Caterham, a lengthy off-piste wiggle down a dry valley from Purley. Trains pull into a set of buffers beside a Waitrose, generally every half an hour, serving a central platform brightened by wild flowers, daffodils and a bright iron canopy. Egress is past the inevitable coffee indent, then out into a high street bustling with florists, off licences and a well hidden Morrisons. The town in the valley is younger than the historic hub up the hill, aided and abetted by commutability, and although you can get to both by red bus it's much faster to nip to the edge of the North Downs by train.
The next five: Tadworth, Kingswood, Whyteleafe South, Tattenham Corner, Upper Warlingham
All five of these stations are in Surrey, mostly on the wilfully sinuous Tattenham Corner line which I look forward to exploring more closely. It takes until ninth place before the first Greater London station appears, which is Coulsdon South at the foot of gorgeous Farthing Downs. Normally I'd say it's pretty stupid to go to Chesham, Shenfield and Caterham in 24 hours flat, just because I can, but I had good reason to be this far south because the number 60 bus terminates in the vicinity and I've also managed to fit that in too. It's about time.
The most westerly station you can reach with a 60+ Oyster card: CHESHAM
If you have a Freedom Pass you're allowed all the way to Reading, and that's 15 miles further west than this. But with a 60+ card the edge of validity is only West Drayton so the Metropolitan line wins again westward speaking. The tube map might suggest Amersham is further west but in reality Chesham (just) edges it, which is great because I've already been there. To test the extremities of a 60+ Oyster card you only need visit three stations, and I already have.
The next five: Amersham, Chalfont & Latimer, Chorleywood, Heathrow T5, Uxbridge
