The rise of Oyster on National Rail journeys shows the future of commuter train travel in this country.
The unexpectedly big jump in the number of people using the smart card system on the capital’s overground trains shows that regular travellers really value the convenience and special features of the system.
Other systems are available around the country, but few others are as integrated. Competition has helped foster innovation, but in the long term, it is standardisation which will benefit the public – a huge raft of different services on different forms of public transport will virtually nullify the convenience.
The more work done on this now, the less of a headache it will be in the future.
