Oyster problems

[TV-VCR 15]

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/13/oyster-crash-threatens

LONDON COMMUTERS may wake up to travel chaos today [Monday 14^th] after a glitch caused the capital’s Oyster electronic payment card system to collapse.

The servers went down for roughly five hours on Saturday morning. This meant that passengers on London’s Tube, tram and Docklands Light Railways were allowed to travel for free.

The situation was more confused on London’s buses as some drivers had left the garage before the problem was identified. Only later did they start letting passengers on for free.

One driver told the INQ he knew of several colleagues who kept accepting Oyster cards way after the official deadline.

However, the glitch may have rendered certain cards inoperable. The cards' data may become corrupted or they fail to work.

"A small number of Freedom Pass and Young Persons Oyster card holders may have been affected," a spokesperson for Transport for London (TFL) said.

These cards will be accepted until their owners have had time to swap them for working cards.

In the meantime, those passengers who believe their Oyster cards were overcharged while the problem persisted are being urged to visits their local transport office to ask for a refund.

Given that Monday morning is always a busy day for passengers buying weekly tickets, the situation could well lead to large queues at London Underground stations.

TranSys is the EDS-led consortium responsible for delivering the Oyster system for TFL but it hasn’t commented officially at this time.quote>

[toxicpiano 125]

Well I'm going into town today so I'll see if mine still works

[Easy Bakes 253]

Wow not nearly what i expected reading a  thread titled Oyster Problems.

To me Oyster=Mollusk or Expensive watch.

[toxicpiano 125]

Well I had no problems.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Wow not nearly what i expected reading a  thread titled Oyster Problems.

quote>

Same here, EB.  I live near the Chesapeake Bay and oyster problems usually refer to some new type of algae or fish that is endangering the local oyster population.

So these things are electronic passes that are used on the subway and buses?   A problem with them could certainly snarl the commute.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Wow not nearly what i expected reading a  thread titled Oyster Problems.

quote>

Same here, EB.  I live near the Chesapeake Bay and oyster problems usually refer to some new type of algae or fish that is endangering the local oyster population.

So these things are electronic passes that are used on the subway and buses?   A problem with them could certainly snarl the commute. quote>

 

Seems they did the right thing though and just let everyone ride free till the system got back up.

[toxicpiano 125]

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Wow not nearly what i expected reading a  thread titled Oyster Problems.

quote>

Same here, EB.  I live near the Chesapeake Bay and oyster problems usually refer to some new type of algae or fish that is endangering the local oyster population.

So these things are electronic passes that are used on the subway and buses?   A problem with them could certainly snarl the commute. quote>

There are still paper tickets available (but it's cheaper with oyster). All day travelcards, etc.

[belfastuniguy 18]

Doesn't seem to have been that big a problem really. Things seem to be getting back to normal.

Extra staff tackle Oyster failure

The fault occurred on Saturday

Extra London Underground staff were drafted in after a breakdown in the Oyster card system left thousands of people needing replacement cards.

About 65,000 cards were corrupted and stopped working when they were swiped during technical problems on Saturday.

Tube workers handed out replacement cards and to prevent long queues some passengers travelled free of charge.

Transport for London (TfL) said by lunchtime on Monday more than 30,000 affected cards had been replaced.

Automatic refund

A TfL spokesman said: "The vast majority of passengers have travelled without any disruption this morning and London Underground staff have minimised the delay to passengers with cards that are not working.

"We are replacing affected cards and there are now less than 35,000 cards that need to be replaced.

"Ticket offices are well stocked and we advise those passengers who have not yet replaced their cards to go to their nearest LU ticket office throughout today."

The Oyster card system was inoperable for at least five hours on Saturday and some 65,000 cards used during that time stopped working or incurred a fine.

All passengers who incurred a maximum fare or fine as a result of the fault will be given an automatic refund from Tuesday.

The cards are used as payment on buses, Tube, tram and the Docklands Light Railway.

Passengers touch the electronic card on the reader on entry or exit to a station, or when entering a bus.

An investigation has been launched into the problem and TfL is expected to release a statement later this week. quote>

[ILL Tonkso 1,239]

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Wow not nearly what i expected reading a  thread titled Oyster Problems.

quote>

Same here, EB.  I live near the Chesapeake Bay and oyster problems usually refer to some new type of algae or fish that is endangering the local oyster population.

So these things are electronic passes that are used on the subway and buses?   A problem with them could certainly snarl the commute. quote>

The oyster card is basically a debit card. You top it up every so often and swipe it to pay for London Busses, Docklands Light Rail, London Underground, London Overground, Tramlink, or Riverbus. It's an easy way to pay for a ride on anything run by Transport for London, I don't know if it works for non-TFL trains in London though, it probably does considering tha accounts for 2/3 of the network.

[belfastuniguy 18]

Yeah it can be used on some national rail routes as well

[toxicpiano 125]

Originally posted by: belfastuniguy Yeah it can be used on some national rail routes as well

quote>

I don't know what these routes are but they don't apply to me. I don't think any of the surburban rail franchises use oyster. Seriously to go on the train from Sutton to Kingston on the train it costs £5.10 and on the bus it is free atm (or a 1/5 of that if you pay). This is just travelling to the next borough. All london surburban network routes shoud be made part of the overground network.

[Simfan34 11]

Even I knew that this Oyster was not any shellfish...

[screamingman12 30]

Seems there problems aren't over yet...
However this one is pay-as-you-go cards

quote>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7524754.stm

[coolotter88 2]

I don't see why anyone should complain, everyone likes free stuff!

[Duke87 1,070]

It's basically exactly like New York's MetroCard.

Except the fare structure is much more complicated.

[coolotter88 2]

I thought the metrocard was a magnetic stripe type card while the oyster card was smarter as in it has a chip and all.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: coolotter88 I thought the metrocard was a magnetic stripe type card while the oyster card was smarter as in it has a chip and all.quote>

Well, that's an accurate description of the MetroCard. I've never been to London and I don't claim to know what sort of technology they're using over there.

But I meant they were the same in the sense that you put money on one, deduct money off of it as you ride, and can then put more money on it.

i.e., it's a pay as you go system.

[krbe 193]

It's a standard RFID (chip / contactless) card. It might be interesting to know that since it's a RFID card it may be hacked at a distance. And complicated fare structure? Maybe, but probably not the same way it's going to be in Denmark if they're able to complete their Rejsekortet ("Travelcard") scheme (same technology as the Oyster cards), which is a single common card for all buses, Metro trains, S-trains, and long distance trains throughout the country.