South West Trains Oyster Card snub exposed

South West Trains (SWT) has been revealed as the only train company in London refusing to allow passengers to top up their Oyster cards at its stations, despite pressure from Transport for London (TfL).

All national rail operators in London agreed to accept Oyster cards for pay-as-you-go journeys in January, and the association of train operating companies said the most of the 237 additional stations currently or would soon also allow customers to buy or top up their Oyster cards.

But South West Trains will not introduce this technology at its stations, having said it was not part of its franchise agreement with the Department for Transport, forcing passengers to go to nearby newsagents to top up.

22:16, 23 Mar 2010 by Matthew Rees