Card fault hits London transport
12.07.2008 13:35 Technology - Source: BBC Technology
The Oyster system on London's public transport network has suffered a fault, rendering the electronic cards inoperable for about four hours. The cards are used as a form of payment across the city on the Tube, buses, trams and the Docklands Light Railway. But a fault lasting from about 0530 BST to 0930 BST on Saturday meant card readers did not work and ticket barriers had to be left open. Transport for London apologised and said Oyster faults were "very rare".
It said a problem of this nature had not occurred since March 2006. Passengers touch the electronic card on the reader on entry or exit to a station, or when entering a bus. A spokeswoman said: "Due to a technical problem with the Oystercard computer system, card readers across the network have not been accepting cards. "Ticket barriers have been left open so that passengers can pass through therefore journeys have not been adversely affected by this problem." Transport success She added: "We apologise to any passengers who may have been inconvenienced by the problem.'' Machines used to place funds on the cards were also affected by the fault. In May London's transport commissioner Peter Hendy said 17m cards had been issued since the introduction of the Oyster system in 2003, arguing that it had successfully sped up journeys and reduced queues on the city's public transport network. Passengers can currently use Oyster cards only as a travel card - to cover fares for periods from one week to one year, for travel to London destinations including overground stations. It recently emerged that commuters within London travelling on First Great Western (FGW) trains will be able to use pay-as-you-go Oyster cards from September.
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