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January 2nd will mark new Oyster card era
25 Nov 2009

The contactless smart card system used by much of Greater London, the Oyster card, will have a greater reach as of January 2nd 2010.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis have announced that the technology will be available to use on National Rail and Thames Clipper River services within the city from that date.

Oyster pay-as-you-go will soon be able to be used on services in the area that are operated by Chiltern, National Express East Anglia, London Midland, First Great Western, First Capital Connect, Southern, Southeastern and South West Trains.

Additionally, they will be accepted on c2c services in Greater London, as well as stations in Grays, Chafford Hundred, Purfleet and Ockendon.

Mr Adonis remarked: "Oyster pay-as-you-go will transform travel in London as for the first time passengers will be able to travel seamlessly across the network and switch between underground and all overground rail services."

The man behind the Oyster card, American Jay Walder, has indicated that he would like a similar system installed in New York, where he has just become chairman and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.