Oyster Cards

What are Oyster cards? Oyster cards are electronic tickets – they’re bright blue and the size of a credit card. They are the cheapest way of travelling around the capital. The card can hold up to £90 of stored credit for pay-as-you-go journeys, plus travelcards (such as weekly, monthly or annual) and bus/tram passes.

The card was designed to limit the number of cash transactions (and therefore queues) at stations and also to limit the amount of paper tickets being distributed, as Oyster cards are simply touched over yellow sensors when entering and leaving the transport system.

Currently, Oyster can be used on buses, trams, the DLR, the tube, London Overground and some (not yet all) National Rail stations within London.

How do I get an Oyster card?

You will need a £3 refundable deposit for your Oyster card.

• at Oyster online
• at Tube station ticket offices
• at London Overground ticket offices
• at some National Rail ticket offices
• at 6 London Travel Information Centres across London
• by phone on 0845 330 9876
• at Oyster Ticket Stops

Auto-top-up for pay-as-you-go travellers 

For pay-as-you-go customers, you can register online and set up ‘auto-top-up’ which ensures that if you touch your card over a yellow sensor and it has less than £5 left on it, the system will auto-top-up your account from the card details that you’ve already provided, with either £20 or £40 – whichever you’ve selected.

Maximum cash fares 

Touching in and out is extremely important with Oyster. By touching in and out, we mean, holding your card over the yellow sensor at  both the start and end of your journey. When you touch in, your card is automatically charged £6.50 which is the maximum fare possible for the day. If you fail to touch out, you will be charged £6.50. However, if you touch both in and out, the system will adjust and calculate to charge your Oyster card the cheapest fare possible for the route you’ve just taken.

For further details, including ticket prices and fare finders, please visit https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do