TfL's offer to the National Rail (NR) Train Operating Companies (TOCs) to
fund the £20 million cost of installing equipment to allow Oyster
Pay-as-you-go (PAYG, a.k.a. Pre-Pay) isn't open ended, and the deadline -
the 31st of January - is fast approaching. It would appear the Mayor is keen
to bounce the TOCs into signing up to the deal.

See this TfL press release:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-cent....asp?prID=1037

Selected excerpts follow:

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The main gap in payments on Oyster card remains on surface rail where the
train operating companies are yet to accept Oyster pre-pay. This affects
180,000 passengers a day.

In May 2006, the Mayor offered a funding package of £20m to the train
operators, which will finance the technology to accept the pay as you go
system to be bought and installed at every station in Zones 1-6.
The companies have until the 31 January to accept this offer.

[...]

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said: "Around three quarters of
journeys on London's buses and Underground are now paid for by Oyster card
compared to only five per cent by cash - bringing huge time savings to
passengers and the transport system.

"Ten million Oyster cards have now been taken out by the public.


"But most of the train operating companies still continue to deprive their
passengers of the benefits of Oyster payment for single journeys with
pre-pay.

"With the introduction of a zone system for rail fares in London, and my
offer to train operators to pay them £20m to install Oyster equipment, there
is no reason why the train operating companies cannot sign up to our
proposals by 31st January.

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I wasn't aware there was a deadline to the Mayor's offer to pay for
installation of the Oyster kit, at least not such an immediate one. I'm sure
there are a number of reasons why TOCs might be wary of Oyster PAYG. However
two of the TOCs strongest arguments against getting involved have now been
largely nixed.

One reason the TOCs were diffident - that they'd lose the opportunity to set
their own fares - no longer exists, as the DfT decreed that from the 2
January just gone all London rail fares were be zonally priced. Another
possible reason for the TOCs objection, that of fraud, has largely been
neutered by the fact that passengers using Oyster PAYG (on the Tube and the
few participating NR routes) are now penalised if they don't touch-in *and*
touch-out for each and every journey they make - thus providing a very
strong incentive for them to pay the right fare, and a strong disincentive
to anyone attempting to abuse the system. There are other arguments, but I
don't think any of them are really that convincing, especially when weighed
against the advantages that rail passengers would benefit from.

It remains to be seen whether the Mayor's brinkmanship will win over the
TOCs - we shall see.