The Transport for London
Oyster card system suffered a second technical problem in under
two weeks this morning (25 July 2008).
Gates to all London Underground systems were left open after
Oyster pay-as-you-go customers were again charged the maximum
fare for their journeys.
The system enables passengers to use the swipe cards on most of
the capital's public transport.
London Underground said the problem was due to "incorrect data
tables being sent out by our contractor, Transys". The company said
it was the same problem as last time, when around
60,000 cards were corrupted by a software failure.
A London Underground spokesman said no cards were corrupted by
this morning's failure and anyone charged the maximum fare would
get an automatic refund.
The company said in a statement, "The technical problem which
affected Oyster readers at London Underground stations has now been
resolved and all stations are fully functional. The problem
affected pay-as-you-go users only.
"Steps are being taken to ensure that this does not happen again
and we will undertake a full root cause analysis. TranSys regrets
any inconvenience caused to Transport for London Ís customers.
"As Transport for London has made clear, Oyster cards are not
being disabled and automatic refunds will be made to any customers
charged maximum fares as a result of not being able to touch in and
out at the beginning and end of their journeys. Oyster card holders
need take no further action."