Paul Scott wrote:
"Mizter T" wrote in message
oups.com...

From the March '06 TfL press release about the new SWT franchise [1]:

"This means that from 2009, passengers on the on the South West Main
Line will be able to take Oyster ticketing [...]"

....and...

"The specification outlined demands that the successful bidder for the
franchise will:
* Provide Oyster validating or ITSO equipment at all stations on the
South West Main Line franchise by 2009"

However if you take a look at this May '06 TfL press release [2] you'll
see that there are moves to integrate the proprietary Oyster smart card
system with an ITSO system. This is from the end notes:

"The Department for Transport has agreed to fund for upgrades to
existing Oyster equipment in London to make Oyster gates and validators
on the Underground, at major rail termini and on the buses, accept
basic alternative Smartcard (ITSO) products. The expected cost is
around £19m."

Exactly how Oyster and ITSO smartcards will work together in practice
isn't clear - not least because it probably hasn't yet been worked out!

I think I've read that it is now do-able. There is an incentive for the
manufacturers to make it work; an Oyster gadget is only of use in
London, but an ITSO gadget could be sold nationally, and even
internationally, opening up a much bigger market of potential purchasers
to the gadget maker.

Sounds like much more convergence is happening then - in the latest SWT mag
they still simply refer to smartcards - I suspect that some negotiation will
take place and the name 'Oyster' will survive - a bit like Mr Hoover's
invention....

In London. Presuambly the names of other cards will also be used in
their own areas (Yorcard in south Yorkshire, etc). While the
compatibility issues does seem to get portrayed as evil TOCs conspiring
against cuddly Oysters out of pure malice, the desire of DfT and the
TOCs to have a national set of open standards rather than lots of
individual incompatible proprietary systems does strike me a good idea.
An awful lot of UK transport technology and planning seems to be a case
of "I wouldn't start from here", and getting a standardised system might
avoid another set of problems in the future.


--

Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK