HUGHES DEMANDS URGENT INVESTIGATION INTO OYSTERCARD 'CODE 24' GLITCH

10.05.31am GMT Fri 23rd Jan 2004

Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate Simon Hughes MP has today written to Mayor Livingstone to demand an urgent and public investigation into a glitch that has struck the Transport for London Oystercard.

The glitch, which has hit the card since the introduction of pre-pay, has caused chaos to passengers and staff alike. The glitch has become significantly worse since the Prestige computer system that runs the Oystercard crashed last week.

Passengers can spot their card has fallen victim to the glitch when the barrier lights up with 'seek assistance' and a '24' in the bottom left hand corner of the reader is displayed.

According to London Underground front line staff, Prestige, the private consortium that runs the Oystercard, is now recalling some of the cards to discover how they can rectify the problem.

Simon Hughes MP said:

"The Oystercard idea is a welcome addition to improving the way London Underground has worked and has provided greater convenience for passengers.

"However, if there are bugs in the system which operates the pre pay and weekly travelcard that cause misery for customers and staff then serious questions must be asked about the timetable and testing that was used to implement the card.

"It seems that new technology has been hastily introduced without a full period of testing. This is now causing disruption, hassle and inconvenience to passengers in a way that is still happening with Capita and congestion charge.

"I hope that the Mayor will not cover up this problem and admit that the introduction of the pre pay part of Oystercard has caused problems.

"Passengers need this sorted now so that they can have the easy payment system they were promised."

ENDS

Notes to editors

A copy of the letter is found below

23rd January 2004

Mayor Livingstone

City Hall

The Queen's Walk

London SE1 2AA

Dear Mayor Livingstone

I am writing to ask you to conduct an urgent and public investigation into the 'code 24' bug that has hit the Oystercard since the introduction of Pre pay earlier this year.

The Oystercard has been a welcome addition to improving the way London Underground has worked and has provided greater convenience for passengers.

However, if there are bugs in the system which operates the pre pay and weekly travelcard that cause misery for customers and staff then serious questions must be asked about the timetable and testing that was used to implement the card.

My major concern is that new technology has been hastily introduced without a full period of testing that now may cause disruption, hassle and inconvenience to passengers that could have been avoided.

I hope that the you will not cover up this problem and admit that the pre pay part of Oystercard has caused problems to the system so that passengers can find ways to make their journey to work as easy as possible.

Regards

SIMON HUGHES

Liberal Democrat Candidate for London Mayor

4 Cowley Street

London

SW1P 3NB

In 1998, Transport for London (TfL) appointed a consortium, TranSys, to deliver the new smartcard system.

TranSys brought together four companies from the transport and technology sectors - Electronic Data System Ltd (EDS), Cubic Corporation, Fujitsu and WS Atkins.

These companies joined forces to fund and deliver the 17-year 'Prestige' project - the name given to the scheme to introduce Oyster to London. The venture is one of the largest Public Transport Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects ever to be undertaken in the UK.