Mike Bristow ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying :

Why not? Ticket inspectors already have hand-held Oyster wands.

That may not be sufficent for the more complex problems[1]. Y'know,
the ones the machines can't cope with, and that a person at a ticket
office needs to resolve.

The ones a person needs to resolve? Yeh, I'd reckon that could be
arranged. All you'd need to do is have a person holding the wand, and
have a wand with sufficient software. Shouldn't be difficult. Build a
cheap PDA into it.

And how is the PDA + wand etc going to talk to the oyster system
in real time? Not the card; the databases and stuff in the bowels
of 55 Broadway.

Genuine question - Why would that be needed?

Oh, and you're underground, so wireless will be problematic.

Radio...? Most people wandering around on the underground seem to manage to
have comms.

Perhaps a bit of cable? In which case, you're pretty fixed. You
might as well give the chap(ess) carrying the device a comfy chair
next to the socket. And put them in a box so that they the risk
to them (and the money!) is reduced.

We could call these things a ticket office.

grin