The existing Oyster charging zones 7, 8 and 9 need extending to surround London, beyond Zone 6 to the areas left unserved for several years.  So ALL London's suburban commuters benefit from Oyster services equally.  This great city should have joined up transport system w/o random or artificial boundaries. One city, one system, one vision. The majority of London's commuters and visitors should not be subsidising Northern Oyster discounts, nor should millions suffer the daily disruption and time wasting imposed on us under the current patchwork charging regime, demographically arbitrary and avoidable systems versus obvious travel logic. And all very easy to change when it suits the providers, as clearly evidenced below.

This is not even hard. When the transport companies choose to enforce Oyster on the buses, outside their Zones, with no detectable "consultation", that was easy for TfL/Oyster/GLC. Not when it's for passenger's benefit, though. Protests about costs are very unimaginative. If you extend it, they will come. Because they then can.

1. FACT: The Home countries have enjoyed Oyster use well beyond everyone else, outside the GLC, by the simple working fact of established zones 7,8 and 9, for years. The fares are set and the services are easily deliverable elsewhere, but arbitrarilly denied to the rest of London's commuting population by the rail companies and TfL/Oyster as too difficult. 

2. Oyster use was proven easy to deliver and enforce, in fact and at once, on more complex bus routes with multiple carriers outside the GLC, w/o any real consultation. When it suited TfL and the transport companies.  London trains have far fewer routes and stops outside the GLC. Some train stations outside Zone 6 even have Oyster machines. What's the problem?

3. It is simply ludicrous that the disadvantaged Oyster users must be forced by the train companies to break their journeys, swipe out with Oyster, buy another ticket, then wait 30 minutes for the next train to go one stop or more further.  Or not use Oyster at all when most of their journey is inside zone 6. Or drive into Zone 6 to commute when they could walk to their closer local stations in zones 7, 8 and 9.   Or take the chance to save 30 minutes to travel 2 more stations and get a criminal record. This is unacceptable behaviour by the train companies who create this ludicrous situation they can then police, yet our politicians and their officials do nothing to demand  the service providers remedy this situation ASAP.

One card or one ticket for one "London" journey must be the rule. At least inside the M25, a real dividing line that most are aware of, although some high number Zones are already outside the M25? This applies equally to branch lines that end a few stations beyond zone 6, like mine in Shepperton, or to through routes such as Staines.  BUT, this a systematic injustice, imposed on millions of travellers all around London, not a route specific  injustice. Campaigning to extend Zone 6 to a local halt misses the bigger picture entirely. We need everything, for everyone, all the time.

SUMMARY: This arbitrary post code service anomaly for Londoners needs resolving ASAP.  It's certainly discriminatory against a large section of London's commuting population, and wholly unjustifiable and illogical on the facts of what already exists and can be done. The abuse is highlighted by the imposition of Oyster on the buses outside the GLC and Zone 6.  This is not a GLC boundary issue.

Oyster is already working elsewhere on rail services outside the GLC and is clearly easily deliverable over a much greater area on rail services with minimal new development. The only real restraint is those in charge allowing the rest of us to have it.

This discriminatory denial of service to parts of London's population needs to be ended ASAP.

Please have the courage to work for all the people of London, and get on with fixing this dysfunctional injustice that lesser politicians have allowed their officials /service providers to impose on us, passing the buck whenever challenged.  This blatant anomaly has lasted far too long, with nothing done to remedy the situation, while choosing to highlight and rub in the injustice by arbitrarily imposing Oyster  where it wasn't wanted, on bus journeys entirely outside the Oyster Zone where Oyster was not even used by travellers, when it suited the "service providers".  Overtly, this system puts the train and bus companies' profits and official convenience first, certainly before the travelling public's. Time for a change - to putting the needs of the travelling public first? This would be a welcome culture shift.

Brian RL Catt   CPhys, CEng, MBA