ATOCS position on Oyster Pay-as-You-Go
All London train operators will be responding positively to Transport for Londons (TfL) proposal for Oyster pay-as-you-go (PAYG) and want to move forward with discussions aimed at implementing it on the railway in London.
This is of considerable interest to me because I actually live nearer to Streatham Hill BR station than to any Tube, and as I work part-time I am an avid PAYG user. This has acted as a disincentive to use trains - although, in reality, they were great when I worked next door to Victoria station, not so great being quite a distance.
In an ideal world, there would be no reason not to have PAYG on trains, but I know how long already it takes to clear the platform at Streatham Hill in the evening as people file two-by-two up two flights of stairs (don't even mention accessibility). If gates were installed I doubt it would be clear before the next train arrived fifteen minutes later, even non-gated readers will slow the process down. There's a photo on the up-platform at Streatham Hill of the station in 1906; it hasn't changed in that time and is inadequate for current needs. But I'm not sure that rebuilding a station is a priority for infrastructure, especially if it would mean closing it for an extended period of time.
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