A limited-edition souvenir version of the Oyster card has gone on sale to mark its 20th anniversary.
The smartcard, which revolutionised travel in London by allowing passengers to ditch paper bus and Tube tickets, first entered use on June 30, 2003.
The souvenir edition – available from zone 1 Tube station ticket machines and costing £7 – follows in the wake of special Oysters marking the wedding of William and Kate, the 2012 Olympics, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the opening of the Elizabeth line.
The arrival of the Oyster, which was the brainchild of Transport for London’s former finance chief Jay Walder, was introduced in the wake of the success of the Octopus card in Hong Kong. Other names considered for the Oyster included Gem and Pulse.
More than 125 million people have used an Oyster card to travel around London – benefiting from quicker journeys and the ability to “load” credit onto the smartcard rather than having to use cash.
It heralded the “pay as you go” system and the eventual introduction of daily and weekly fare capping, meaning travellers always get the cheapest fares.
Daily fare capping was introduced in 2005, followed by weekly capping in 2021. In 2010 the Oyster network was expanded to include all commuter rail services within Greater London.
But its popularity has fallen as customers switched to Contactless bank cards – including those loaded onto smartphones and smartwatches. In the last 12 months, 16.7m Oyster cards have been used on the capital’s public transport system. TfL chose not to issue a souvenir Oyster for the coronation of King Charles.
Shashi Verma, chief technology officer at TfL, said: “Customers have loved the convenience of pay-as-you-go travel, and we are immensely proud to celebrate two decades of the Oyster card making travelling in London easier.
“It has cemented TfL’s reputation for being at the forefront of innovation and paved the way for the use of contactless payments on public transport – not only in London but across the world.”
Seb Dance, deputy mayor for transport, said: “When introduced in 2003, Oyster was a trailblazer for urban travel, streamlining journeys for millions of Londoners who no longer had to queue to buy a ticket for each journey.
“It is admired across the world, inspiring and setting the standard for world-class public transport networks.”
Michael Roberts, chief executive of passenger group London TravelWatch, said: “The Oyster card has become as synonymous with travel in London as the black cab or red bus.
“Oyster cards help people manage their finances as they can budget how much they top up and they enable railcards to be linked to them, often offering handy discounts.”
