LONDONERS about to feel the pinch from bus and Underground fares shooting up on Saturday get a sweetener to help swallow the pill when Oyster pay-as-you-go cards are extended on the same day. Oysters are being accepted on all commuter rail services within the M25 from January 2

By Mike Brooke

LONDONERS about to feel the pinch from bus and Underground fares shooting up on Saturday get a sweetener to help swallow the pill when Oyster pay-as-you-go cards are extended on the same day.

Oysters are being accepted on all commuter rail services within the M25 from January 2, the day fares are up by as much as a fifth on single bus journeys and 13 per cent on average, while Tube fares are up four per cent.

The �1 Oyster bus fares go up to �1.20, while a seven-day pass is up from �13.80 to �16.60.

On the Tube, Zone 1 Oyster fares are up from �1.60 to �1.80.

The Oyster ticket extension is aimed at commuters outside the London Underground network, including parts of north-east and south London where they are not accepted on most rail services.

Passengers from Saturday can use the 'cheap rate' tickets on National Express East Anglia into Liverpool Street and c2c into Fenchurch Street, as well as on London Midland, Chiltern, First Great Western, First Capital Connect, Southern, Southeastern and South West.

Fenchurch Street commuters can also use Oysters from Grays, Chafford Hundred, Purfleet and Ockendon in south Essex, just outside Greater London but within the M25.

Oysters are also being extended to clipper boat services on the Thames for the first time, which will benefit East London commuters using the river into the City.