TfL faces big fight to keep Oyster name

Tube bosses face a fierce battle to keep the Oyster card name in a legal dispute which could cost millions of pounds.

Transport for London has sacked private sector contractor TranSys from the £100million-a-year Oyster card deal after two major failures allowed hundreds of thousands of passengers to travel free.

TfL is using a "break" clause to terminate the 17-year contract in 2010.

But TfL wants to retain the Oyster brand name, owned by TranSys - and the sacked company does not appear to be giving it up willingly. It could force TfL to issue new cards to the current six million holders.

Senior sources have told the Standard the legal battle could cost "tens of millions of pounds".

A TfL spokesman confirmed: "Tran-Sys owns the Oyster name. We intend that Oyster will continue, including in name. We are confident that we will get better value for money out of the contracts." He added: "There won't be any discernible changes for card holders."

A source at TranSys said: "If we can't come to an arrangement with TfL they will have to issue a complete set of new cards."