London TravelWatch calls for Oyster Extension Permits to be scrapped

London’s passenger watchdog has condemned the new Oyster Extension Permits, which allow Oyster Pay As You Go to be used on national rail services, for being “difficult to understand” and has called for them to be scrapped.

Sharon Grant, Chair of London TravelWatch, says the watchdog is concerned “that passengers will be liable for penalty fares or fines as the permits are difficult to understand and difficult to buy. Oyster PAYG is a useful, convenient way of getting around London, but these permits are the reverse of useful and convenient.”

According to the body, some train operators have decided not to enforce the permits “as they are so utterly bewildering for passengers.”

Grant said the permit scheme “was a bad idea which is unnecessarily complicated, and it should be dumped as soon as possible.”