First Great Western has announced that it will be working with Transport for London to accept Oyster Pay As You Go (PAYG) in the London area, with a start date of 2009.

"We know that accepting Oyster PAYG is something our customers want, and we have considered Transport for London's offer and believe we can make this work," said Tom Stables, Commercial Director of First Great Western. "We will be investing heavily ourselves in additional operating costs as well as the new systems required to operate Pay As You Go."

Oyster Travelcards are already accepted across the London fares area, depending on the validity of the Travelcard.

First Great Western will be working very closely with Transport for London over the coming months and customers will be able to use Oyster PAYG from 2009.

"We look forward to working with Transport for London on the next stage of the process and securing an early implementation of Oyster PAYG across our network," concluded Tom Stables.