The Rise and Fall of London's Oyster Card

I like Oyster cards but I think the best idea is to get rid of them and phase them out in favour of a new card similar to oyster but with better features like the ones you mentioned (plus can be added to a phone). On top of that, it would also use a new system that updates continuously and can be used on stations that are currently contactless only. A lot of people in the comments crying about people using contactless and how it slows others down but that's mainly because a lot of london commuters live outside of london, and their stations might be contactless only but not oyster.

Or what if we go bigger. The Great British Railways are coming in. What if they had their own smartcard that can be used across the country, including London and on top of that they make it PAYG as well. Then, there would be no reason to keep Oyster cards as this new card would be essentially oyster card if it operated in the whole country. Also GBR would have to pay TfL a certain amount (say 10% of their sales. Maybe even more) for every card people buy to compensate for TfL losing money from people buying Oyster cards.

I wish oyster cards allow us to add Freedom pass cards.

Very informative video. Good stuff.

I have to say as a train fan, I really like to keep these contactless payments cards of cities and countries as a souvenir. Even when tap and go with a debit or credit card is more convenient for the masses. 😊

As a tourist I like using my oyster card I've had mine at least 6 years. Maybe because I'm an older tourist I like keeping my tube/bus payment separate from my credit card

9:11 TfL is usually quite ahead of the game, so I'm actually shocked they don't have this already. Where I live in the US you've been able to do this for years.

Well done.

Honestly this solution sounds like common sense 😅 I'm a driver but recently started using public transport again. I downloaded the TfL app thinking that after all these years the technology would have reached the stage of generating a digital/virtual card and to my pleasant surprise this feature was not available 😢 its March 2026 and I'm still processing this....😂

Yes it does

What about 60+ Oystercards?

I still use the Oyster card... sure I can use a regular contactless or phone but it is significantly slower... especially in peak times, I can't count how many times people have to futz around with the phone or card because the gate isn't responding...

Those shitty gates barely work with an oyster as is let alone anything else... so I just prefer to top it up, it's just the fastest to respond.

People say using contactless is more efficient and modern but I think it's more prone to breaking because it relies on more dependencies to work, specifically your bank. It would be better if you could just link your card/payment method to your oyster and have the final payment negotiation done later...

Best of all it could work without needing a live connection to the Internet all the time... just log the oyster card tap and push the data back to the data center when the connection resumes, then do the payment at the end of the day.

I still remember getting my first Oyster card when I was younger, I was very excited.

VERY SOON YOU WILL NEED AN ID TO GET AN OSYTER CARD!!!😮😅😊😢

I'm not a Londoner! But visit from time to time. I have several regular Oyster cards, 2 are for my under 16 daughters as, whilst they have bank accounts with a bank card, they take advantage of concessionary fares, they don't seem to be able too with a bank card (this seems to "default" to an adult fare). I used to simply buy one of those day tickets whenever I visited but (10 years ago) this was around £12/day. When I went on a Stag-Do a few years ago in central London, the best man who was a Londoner! took us around to various places, jumping on and off buses, tube, etc. So I followed his advice and got an Oyster Card I only spent a £10 for the entire weekend, so have been using one ever since! What I also like about it, is the system remembers you even after 11 months so your unused balance is still there as is my daughter's under-16 concession! I think the Oyster Card needs to stay, perhaps evolve it so that it can be added to a digital wallet....as others have said, losing your Oyster is the lesser of two evils when compared with losing your Bank Card!

Don't understand why a digital Oyster card isn't a thing yet. It's a no brainer.

A crazy idea I thought of is integrating the Oyster card more into London eg:

Bottle bins/collectors that you can tap your oyster on and gain 20p on your oyster per bottle, or integrating the oyster with cycle hire schemes/apps like the Boris Bikes or Lime Bikes

I'm not so sure about that.
I had the 'tap' facility on my debit card stopped as it can register uncontrollably if you're not very careful, and before you know what you're paying.!!!
So, if you want to stop Oyster cards, you'll have to introduce a normal insert-&-pin keyboard for people's debit cards, just like in any normal retail outlet .

Slighty off topic, Nathan, I did a search of which London boroughs do not have TfL rail services like DLR, Overground, tram, Elizabeth Line or underground? Internet search returned Bexley (my borough), Bromley even though the trams run from Beckenham, Kingston and Sutton.
You need to do a little video and highlight the internet search error. Interestingly Abbey Wood station is right on the boundary of Greenwich and Bexley, but originally was completely on the Greenwich side. I still think of it as Greenwich and not Bexley.

Before the oyster card, if things were tight, you could cut out numbers from the paper ticket to stick it on another card to update the expiry date.

Nah, you don't really automatically get the best deal because there's no monthly cap.

Whoa nostalgia I had that 2012 Olympics Oyster card- I also lost it years ago : (

Nathan you all are living in the past the system to replace this is called location based ticketing. This technology tracks you as you enter the station and charges you as you leave the station at your destination. According to the transport minister it is going to bring train travel into the modern era and improve customer travel experience.

It's the railcard that does it for me! Only time I'm in London is for work three days per week, I'd be quite happy using my regular contactless card if it wasn't for the 1/3 saving.

Interesting video ! I still use my Oyster card because it allows me to track (no pun intended) how much I'm spending, rather than use my debit card sporadically. I also still withdraw cash from an ATM & go to the corner shop to top-up. And on days where I'm pressed for time, I'll just top-up online before leaving the house. Otherwise - I never use my debit card to pay for bus or Tube. Ever. And I don't think I ever have to be honest. And to echo what everyone else has said already i.e. being overcharged, fussy contactless, phone not working or being snatched etc. I still use my special edition Liz line card as well, & have a spare one I keep as a collector's item. PS, you should ask TfL to make you a special one (the same design) since you already cover so much TfL stuff on your channel !! 👍

Nonsense video

Thank you for sharing this video, it was very interesting. I live in Hertfordshire, but where I live the town itself is in an Oyster Card Area (Zone 11). Depending on where I'm going I usually use my Oyster Card to travel (only within the Oyster Card Zones) and I find the Oyster Card very convenient. It is best to keep the Oyster Card separate from both smartphone & bank cards, because you could get a situation where your phone or card could get stolen. I always keep my Oyster Card in my wallet & only take it out when it's required.

Never mind Oyster , you still need to use an old card ticket if you need to transfer by tube on a through train journey via London. The alternative rebooking at a busy London train terminal is expensive and a deterrent from making the journey at all !

Sorry about your loss! Love my Lizzie Oyster card, it's still worth the hassle to use it in off peak because I have my railcard on it for discounted fare

I've got a 60+ Oyster card, the yearly subscription has gone up from £10 to £20 but it's still a huge cost saving. This research was very interesting. Keep doing what you're doing. Sorry you lost your Elizabeth Osyter card, damn. Look forward to your next video.

You can get an Oyster Card cushion, very cute but would not like to try tapping that on the card readers 😂

Regarding people cutting the chip out: I remember one guy who cut it out and stuck it on the end of a 'magic wand'. Really pretty cool!

PS why are you apparently saying that Oyster isn't contactless? It clearly is 🙂

PPS I've had a Freedom Pass for years but still carry an Oystercard. Maybe once every six months for some reason I don't understand my FP doesn't work.

I remember when my primary school helped us apply for Zip cards around Year 5 or 6, and we saw it as a sign of being a grown up and being able to use public transport without being accompanied by our families. Shortly afterwards we would start secondary school, so the timing felt right to ease us into a different phrase of growing up and feeling more responsible for yourself.

But, the main appeal was the fact that I use public transport for free. Things started to change when I started college and had to use the 16+ Zip, which wasn't free anymore. But the main issue, was how I had to top off my card. I don't know how much has changed since then, but I had to transfer money from my bank account to my TFL account. But I still had to activate it, which could only be done by tapping it at a train station or certain shops that can do it for you. I chose a college that was walking distance from my house and the only parts of London I travelled to at that point only needed a bus, so I rarely used a train plus I would have to pay double to tap in and out. Also I already knew I was autistic, so talking to people even to use services made me anxious. And after one shopkeeper refused to do so, I was scared to ask ever again. At this point I already had a contactless bank card, which had the same price of using public transport with Oyster, plus I just to tap it and that was it. So once I started uni and travelled much further into London, I didn't renew my Oyster and have used contactless ever since.

While I don't know how much has changed since then, I don't want to go back to Oyster because of how much I associate it in my memory with my formative years. And that's why I think the Zip card at least, still has a purpose: It's appearance and age range can appeal to children desires of something that could eventually obtain. Having it signals to them changes in their life, and they must start learning to be responsible for themselves. Plus it lowers the chances of them using contactless cards outside of TFL, to buy something expensive or irresponsible.

Gosh, ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE 1980s. When they grow up they will rapidly realise that 45 years is shorter interval than realised. Not a lot changes, I suppose, but it would be so nice if they sometimes realise that it was our generation that first used the web, mobiles, audio downloads and not some spotty kid on YouTube.

TFL are in cahoots with the CC companies;
they want all of us to use CCs for everything!
so i've been told by a TFL employee...

Lagos, Nigeria has a similar system called the Cowry Card. Works on the Metro, BRT, City Boats/ferries. SImilar card design to the Oyster.

I have 2 Oyster cards with money on them, years later and I don’t live in the UK!

Oyster Card should stay and TfL should release more special editions.

It is important to have an Oyster Card. I have had hundred of pounds of refunds due to overcharge. You need to have an online account to manage your card.

I had a special edition Queen's Jubilee. A thief stole my wallet and took it. I hope that thief falls on the escalator a thousand times!

I used the oyster card for ages and at some point the contact less bank card. Since I know what to do for getting a disability freedom pass I can travel for free. It works like an oyster card. Taking it away would be awful. It is so convenient using an oyster card or freedom pass and not buying those paper tickets anymore especially when you are in a hurry. If you register all your oyster cards online it is much easier to find out if you have been overcharged and then dispute it. You can also look up the oyster card number and report it as lost and get the money back that might be left on it plus your initial payment.

Oyster are just behind and outdated since it was launched.
Hong Kong has the Octopus Card that does what London does but beyond it such using it for convenience stores, shops and restaurants, and it's uses is smoothly flawless that having contactless banking payment to do it is almost unnecessary being an optional choice.

thanks for making such a great video I was wondering about this!

Knowledge is a premium. Thanks for the information oyster. I didn't know the hard shell moto.good one bro

I still use my Physical Oyster card. Its much quicker than using my phone. Also it works as a budget for me when going to work and topping it up every month. I know I can have it on the phone also. But if something happens to my phone like loosing it or gets stolen or goes out of charge? I realised one day when I didn't carry my bank cards I couldn't withdraw any money from anywhere nor can I pay on my phone after a certain limit. I like to stay old school has long as possible.

I've noticed the queues are now forming behind people who's smart phone apps won't connect with TFL's.

We never vote for the oyster card
But the oyster card is compulsory it is mandatory