Jordan Waite

You No Longer Need A Nominated Station When You Top Up Your Oyster Card

Copyright TfL

You'll no longer need to have a 'nominated station' when you top up your Oyster card online, as TfL makes some changes to the payment system.

Passengers can now collect their purchases from any tube or rail station, tram stop or river bus pier — and they'll be ready in as little as 30 minutes, rather than the previous 24 hours. By the end of autumn you'll be able to collect top-ups directly from all 9,000 London buses too.

TfL is also launching its own app. From next month, you'll be able to see your Oyster balance, top up your card with pay-as-you-go credit and buy Travelcards while you're on the move, meaning no more wrestling with tourists at the ticket machines.

The app will send you low balance alerts when you're running low on credit, in a subtle hint to send TfL more money.

Further enhancements to the Oyster system are due throughout 2017 and 2018, including an extension of the 'Hopper fare' to allow unlimited journeys on buses and trams within the hour (it's just two, at the moment). There are also plans to introduce weekly capping on Oyster, bringing it in line with contactless payment systems.