Research published yesterday claimed that public trust in the Oyster card could be ‘undermined unless changes are made’.
The research was prompted by concern about the large number of ‘incomplete journeys’ being made on Oyster Pay As You Go cards, resulting in passengers paying up to £60 million to transport companies in 2010 after not touching in or out at stations. A substantial proportion of this – up to 40% – is, effectively, an overpayment.
Commenting on the latest London TravelWatch Oyster research, a spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies said:
“Train companies welcome the research, will study the recommendations closely and will continue to work with London TravelWatch to ensure that passengers get the service they expect and deserve.
“The vast majority of passengers touch in and out correctly. To make sure people get the best fare, passengers must always touch in and out at the start and end of every journey.
“There is advertising and regular announcements to stress the importance of touching in and out and every station in London without ticket barriers has Oyster validators near entrances and exits.
“The roll-out of Oyster pay as you go on National Rail has made public transport around the capital easier and cheaper for many thousands of passengers every day.”
I think the Oyster fare processing software needs to be more savvy about when it decides that an incomplete journey is being made. For instance, My wife and I touched in at our local ungated station only to find all local trains calling at out station had been cancelled due to signal failure between Earlsfield and Waterloo. We tend exited the station by touching out and took a bus to a bigger station that were running trains albeit with delays. On the TfL operated bus we boarded shortly after touching out at the station, we touched and then touched in and out again first at Surbiton then Waterloo.
Although the software charged us correctly for the bus and revised journey from Surbiton, it further charged us for an incomplete journey when we first touched in and out at Berrylands, our local station. A time-consuming call to the very helpful TFL Oyster Card call centre followed to get our money back. How many people in these situations don’t bother and pay for the incomplete journeys?