The contractor which has been running Transport for London’s Oyster and other contactless payment systems has been replaced, less than two years since a major cyber attack in September 2024 in which the names and contact details of up to 5000 TfL customers were reported to have been compromised.

The attack also delayed the introduction of pay-as-you-go contactless systems at 47 stations in south east England which had been due that month, and all 27.000 TfL staff had their identities checked in a rare security precaution, although there was no suggestion that contractor Cubic Transportation Systems had been to blame for the data leaks.

Cubic will now give way to Indra Group, which has won a seven-year contract with an option to extend it by a further three years, and then two further one-year extensions.

TfL said more than 90 per cent of journeys on the Underground and buses are now made using a contactless or Oyster card, and the contactless network is to be expanded further to more stations in the south east this year.

TfL said the contract had been competitively tendered, and Indra will also work with TfL on further improvements to the system, including the possibility that Oyster cards may be uploadable on to a mobile phone in future.

A number of Cubic Transportation Systems staff working under the current contract will also transfer to Indra as part of a transition period.

TfL’s director of technology strategy and revenue Shashi Verma said: ‘Millions of journeys are made on our public transport system every day, and it is vital that customers can trust the ticketing system to ensure they are charged the correct fare. We look forward to working with Indra group on the next evolution of our Oyster and contactless ticketing system.

‘I also want to thank everyone at Cubic Transportation Systems for their work and innovation in delivering, maintaining and improving the Oyster and contactless system over the past decades. The hard work and innovation by Cubic helped make the system as instantly recognisable and successful as it is.’

What do you think? Click here to let us know.