The introduction of Oystercards starts on Monday at local stations. So is everything in place for this momentous event?

Not really.

Many passengers will expect, not unreasonably, to be able to update Oyster and Travelcards at the station. They can't do this because stations have yet to be equipped with ticket machines to carry out this task. This is a fairly amazing state of affairs considering the authorities have been discussing the introduction of Oyster at suburban stations for 2/3 years. Of course, passengers can buy and update cards at many local newsagents but is it really too much to ask that railway stations supply and update their own tickets? How would you react if you went to a cinema or theatre and found that you couldn't buy a ticket on the door?

Many passengers will also hold, and want to continue to hold, paper "station to station" Travelcards. These allow journeys from, for example, FH to LB but exclude the Underground. I'd bet that most people with such cards will fully expect to be able to swap these paper tickets for plastic Oystercards when their existing card expires. But they won't be able to do this: station to station tickets will continue to be offered only as paper tickets and not incorporated into the Oystercard system. Many regular commuters -those wishing to travel to LB or CX, for example - without using additional buses or the Underground will not be able to join the "Oyster revolution" which has been promised. This is going to be a very significant percentage of local passengers.

I think that we should expect many passengers turning up at local stations tomorrow to react with total bafflement if not anger to the "arrangements" which are on offer for the introduction of Oyster.