Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the merits of the decision not to extend TfL Oyster fare zones to Berkshire stations beyond West Drayton once the Elizabeth Line is open.
This was a decision made by TfL; however, the Oyster system, developed nearly 20 years ago, cannot accommodate additional fare zones. The DfT has recently worked with TfL to extend pay-as-you-go (PAYG) to Luton Airport and Welwyn Garden City, and in both cases the extensions involved TfL’s Contactless system but not Oyster. We are exploring with TfL how to extend the benefits of PAYG to those who receive concessionary or discounted travel, but in the meantime these passengers can continue to buy discounted tickets in advance of travel.