I'm just pleased to see some sort of progress at last. I'm curious to
know what strong arm tactics have been employed to get this deal
through.

A film clip on the news last night had Ken claiming that failure to
co-operate with Oyster would result in franchises not being renewed -
although quite what clout he has to back that up is not entirely clear to
me.

On a slightly different tack, there is one part of this little saga that
has received little attention in the press:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05...tcard_shelved/

(TfL abandons plans to add e-payments for parking and goods to Oyster).

I wonder if that was a sweetener to help get the TOCs onside?

Its definitely for the best that National Rail acceptance of pay as you go
comes before e-money. It would have been an absurd and confusing situation
if you could buy a newspaper or cup of coffee with an Oyster Card at
Waterloo but not pay for your journey to Clapham Junction.