Douglas Alexander (the new transport secretary) and Ken have announced
that Oyster equipment is to be rolled out to all Greater London National
Rail stations starting this year. TfL will pay for the equipment
(including the readers and the back-office equipment) which will be
installed by the TOCs.

Meanwhile, the DfT will fund a £19m upgrade of TfL's Oyster readers to
accept ITSO-standard smartcards too.

The press release says that PAYG could be available at National Rail
stations during 2008.


I wonder if they will give priority to certain lines eg South London.

I would imagine stations that already have barriers with Oyster readers in
place, that are currently only used for season ticket validation, would be
first. I wonder if they will let these stations go-live before the
equipment has been installed at the intermediate stations. It will be a
challenge to effectively communicate where pay as you go can be used as the
roll-out continues. Users find it difficult enough to grasp the current
static situation.