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Chaos at London tube stations as many Oyster cards stop working

by Dave Keating | July 13, 2008 at 11:53 pm

689 views | 12 Recommendations | 6 comments

This morning there was chaos at many tube stations across London as a glitch in the computer system for Oyster Cards, the cards which you use to pay for the metro system in London, caused many of the cards to stop working over the weekend. I was caught in some of the chaos this morning.

Contrary to thise news article, I didn't see any extra staff at the station handing out replacement Oyster cards, they were just letting people through without swiping.

Thousands of London commuters may find their pre-paid Oyster cards do not work this morning, after a computer glitch disabled card readers across the capital's transport system.

The fault lasted for around five hours on Saturday, and tens of thousands of passengers were waved through the tube gates or onto buses without paying. Some cards used during that time later stopped working or incurred a fine. Transport for London is investigating.

Customers whose cards do not work will be able to replace them at Underground ticket offices. Other passengers overcharged will be automatically refunded from Tuesday. Some pensioners and young people using discount Oyster cards may also be affected. They will have to apply for new cards, but will be allowed on to transport until they are received.

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Caoimhin1

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 00:39 on July 14th, 2008

Dave Keating, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Beaulieu

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 01:10 on July 14th, 2008

Dave Keating, I like this story. I liked your comments. I didn't use my oyster card at the weekend, so wasn't affected.

Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 02:40 on July 14th, 2008

Dave Keating, I like this story. It's good stuff.

3.1 (not verified)

at 17:21 on July 14th, 2008

'Contrary to thise news article, I didn't see any extra staff at the station handing out replacement Oyster cards, they were just letting people through without swiping.'
As a member of station staff, I will put this to bed from the get go: The reason we have been letting people through is because staff on the gateline do not have the authority to issue replacement cards. We can only issue the forms with which details the card's contents, but only staff in the Ticket Office can actually issue cards and tickets, as stated in the actual news article and by staff. ('Customers whose cards do not work will be able to replace them at Underground ticket offices.')
As of start of traffic today (Tuesday 15th), staff on the gateline will no longer be permitted to allow those with regular Oyster cards to pass freely on a passenger's say-so/waving of a 'receipt' (which specifically states 'NOT FOR TRAVEL' anyway), as those passengers affected have already had two whole days grace to travel in order to see a Ticket Office to rectify the problem. The only people who will be allowed to pass will be those who's Oyster cards have special concessions that cannot be re-issued through the Ticket Office and only Oyster themselves (Student, Child Rate, Freedom Passes).