The rail minister has promised that the Oyster system will be extended by the end of 2018.

Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps and Hertsmere MP Oliver Dowden met rail minister Claire Perry MP to discuss extending the Oyster card to their constituencies.

Over the last few months, both MPs have been working together to lobby the Department for Transport and Transport for London (TfL). There have been talks about extending the Oyster service beyond London since 2010, when former mayor of London Boris Johnson met with rail company bosses.

At the meeting, which was held on Monday, July 11 and was also attended by TfL’s chief technology officer Shashi Verma, Mrs Perry promised that Welwyn Garden City and Potters Bar are two of the top four priority stations for the extension of Oyster.

The process of introducing the Oyster system will be in two parts. The first stage is the introduction of software that will properly calculate fares, which will be introduced as part of the Crossrail project to provide a new railway for London and the south east.

Mrs Perry has said that this stage is expected to be completed by the end of 2018 at the latest.

The second stage will be to determine the exact fare levels.

At the meeting Mrs Perry said it has been a committed obligation for Oyster to be extended to a number of stations in Hertfordshire, and that she was disappointed that this has not been delivered upon so far.