Key commuter towns such as Harlow, Bishop’s Stortford, Luton and Leatherhead will be included in the next roll-out of Contactless train ticketing.
The Department for Transport said a further tranche of 45 stations across the Home Counties will have their ticket barriers upgraded next year to avoid the need for passengers to buy paper or digital tickets in advance.
This comes on top of 47 other stations outside London, such as Basildon, Berkhamsted, Southend Central and Sevenoaks, joining the Contactless network from September 22.
Passengers using Contactless tickets also stand to benefit by price “capping” if they continue their journey within the capital on Tube or TfL bus services.
The 45 stations are served by Chiltern, Greater Anglia or GoVia Thameslink Railway services, the latter which includes Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern trains.
This £27m roll-out will also include Stansted airport and the Stansted Express, and comes after numerous cases of passengers being fined for failing to realise that Contactless cards cannot be used for trains from Liverpool Street or Tottenham Hale to the Essex airport.
GTR said it wants to upgrade its stations “as quickly as possible” but Greater Anglia said it was working towards the “second half of 2025”. Chiltern said the timing was a matter for the DfT.
Full list of 45 stations going Contactless in 2025
The Chiltern stations are: Aylesbury, Aylesbury Vale Parkway, Great Missenden, Little Kimble, Monks Risborough, Princes Risborough, Saunderton, Stoke Mandeville and Wendover.
The Greater Anglia stations are: Billericay, Bishop's Stortford, Chelmsford, Harlow Mill, Harlow Town, Hatfield Peverel, Hockley, Ingatestone, Prittlewell, Rayleigh, Rochford, Roydon, Sawbridgeworth, Southend Victoria, Southend Airport, Stansted Airport, Stansted Mountfitchet, Wickford and Witham.
The GTR stations are: Ashtead, Box Hill & Westhumble, Dorking (Main), Dormans, East Grinstead, Harlington, Hurst Green, Knebworth, Leagrave, Leatherhead, Lingfield, Luton, Oxted, Reigate, Watton-at-Stone, Welwyn North and Woldingham.
A GTR spokesperson said: “We're in the process of establishing the rollout programme with industry partners. However, we're eager to do this as quickly as possible because it will be welcomed by passengers.”A Greater Anglia spokesperson said: “We are working towards the introduction of contactless travel between London Liverpool Street and a number of our stations in the second half of 2025.”
It came as GTR launched an app allowing its passengers to buy digital season tickets for the first time.
Weekly, monthly and annual season tickets are available as bar-coded “sTickets”. These are scanned from a smartphone at the ticket barrier.
GTR had previously been unable to sell season tickets because the barcodes could be easily shared, opening the floodgates to ticket fraud.
New technology has been incorporated into the new apps that creates a unique barcode for every journey taken.
GTR customer services director Jenny Saunders said: “For some time, our customers have been able to instantly buy and store single and return barcode eTickets on their phone. Now they can do the same with our hugely discounted season tickets, making it quick and easy to save money.
“Our new apps deliver instant eTickets and sTickets on a wide range of routes with no booking fees, as well as personalised service updates and even digital railcards that save 1/3 on many other journeys.”
