London Transport has promoted the Oyster Card on the Tube and Buses, but not with the agreement of all the train companies serving London (about 15). Hence customers get a hard time from some of the train companies and have to buy tickets even when they have credit on their Oyster Card. Because of the costs involved some train companies don’t have swipe machines at all stations and this causes problems, since all customers are expected to swipe their card at the start and end of their journey.
It’s a very good idea and may be expanded to cover low value shopping, like your breakfast or lunch set at £10 max (about US$20.00) and leave enough for your paper or magazine or pay for stamps or postage. The banks are very keen to get involved, since the customer base is over 10 million and growing weekly. There has been a lot of tinkering with the fares and deals offered and people are getting annoyed, but it’s a more robust choice than the cardboard tickets and therefore saves London Transport a fortune. Other large cities for this reason, will soon follow. See Oyster Card website for more information.
Eric Sutherland, London, UK based Writer