Rail firms will roll out Oyster
COMMUTERS will be able to touch in and out using their Oyster card across Greater London on the City’s overland rail by early next year, London Mayor Boris Johnson said yesterday.
The £40m investment is set to revolutionise London travel, and allow passengers to use the Oyster card across the tube, bus, river boat Thames Clipper and rail network.
The rail agreement applies to all Greater London services operated by Chiltern, National Express East Anglia, London Midland, First Great Western, First Capital Connect, Southern, Southeastern and South West Trains. It also extends to c2c services in Greater London.
Boris Johnson said: “I am delighted to be able to announce that the Oysterisation of all London’s commuter rail services is to become a reality.”
But there is concern that passengers will be charged more if they use an overground service instead of a tube. The mayor’s transport adviser Kulveer Ranger, said final details were being checked.
Meanwhile, it emerged that the underground’s Circle line is to undergo a radical overhaul – which will change the shape of it altogether to let anti-clockwise travellers continue their journey from Edgware Road.