Oyster card?

This time is a little extra edition. The post is about the London Underground. 

The United Kingdom has the following cards. The card is called "Oyster card . " Speaking of oysters, yes, oyster shell. However, this is not a card to buy oysters.This card is a prepaid card for riding the London Underground.

Fig, 1 Oyster Card

##Buy Oyster Card! ##

          I bought a Oyster Card at Heathrow International Airport, London. From Heathrow Airport, the Piccadilly subway line is running into the city of London.  (You travelers can buy the card without any problems.) I bought the card by　the ticket vending machine at the Piccadilly line station under Heathrow Airport. 

          First, I did not know how can I buy the card. Then, a polite station employee who wear "UNDER GROUND" name plate told me how to buy the card. 

##Oyster Card## 

          The Oyster card is almost as same as SUICA card issued by JR Higashi-Nihon (East Japan Railway Company). It takes three pounds to purchase a card. If you rode the subway a few times, you could save the fare as same as the card. London Underground's zone is divided from 1 to 6 concentric zones. You can move in each zone, or move across the zones, rates have been determined by it. 

Oyster card deals 

          For example, it takes usually four pounds to move from a station up to a station within Zone 1. It takes usually 3.5 pounds to move from zone 2 to 4. If the exchange rate is 125 yen to the pound, 4 pounds are about 500 yen. And 3.5 pounds are about 440 yen. They are both not cheap. However, if you use an Oyster card,it takes 1.8 pounds (about 225 yen)  to move within the zone. The cost moving from zone 2 to zone 4 is significantly discounted, 1.3 pounds (about 162 yen). Riding on the subway a few times, you can get back the expense of the card. 

Smoothly in the Oyster card

　The merit of the card is not just it. In London, such as morning and evening rush hour, ticket vending machines is pretty crowded. But, if you have this card oyster, you are not bothered by every column of the vending machine. You can master the subway.

Fig. 2 The Riverside of Thames, with Oyster Card
A Ferris Wheel in the Distance is "London Eye "

Anyway, the card of JR East SUICA means water melon in Japanese. And the card of subway of London is the oyster means oyster shell. Both cards are named after the food, why. . .