More than 50 rail stations across the South-East will be converted to Pay As You Go ticketing by the end of the year, the Government announced on Tuesday.
This will deliver cheaper and simpler journeys for thousands of London commuters and is hoped will attract more passengers back to the railways.
A total of 53 stations were named in the first tranche – but more than 200 will be converted over the coming years.
Pay As You Go is already available at more than 350 stations inside Greater London and at stations including Reading, Gatwick airport and Luton Airport Parkway.
The announcement will see the further roll-out of the yellow card reader machines on lines including C2C, Southeastern, South Western Railway, London Northwestern and Chiltern.
Rail minister Huw Merriman said the expansion of Contactless travel – allowing passengers to use a bank card at the start and end of their journey rather than having to buy a ticket in advance or at a ticket office – would bring the railways in line with wider advances in cashless transactions.
He told the Standard: “It’s technology they will be well-used to using on many of their other transactions. You could say it’s the railways catching up with the way many customers currently transact.
“But ultimately the aim is to get more people on to the railway because they can see it’s simple, it’s straightforward and they understand the pricing mechanism.”
The new stations range from Basildon to Berkhamsted and Beaconsfield to Hemel Hempstead, Watford North and Windsor & Eton Riverside.
Mr Merriman said the move was not directly linked to an announcement – expected on Wednesday – on ticket office closures.
It is understood the chosen routes were based on passenger demand and operational factors, such as where the “passenger make-up” suggests the changes can help to attract more passengers.
There are no plans to introduce Pay As You Go on long-distance routes, such as the West Coast or East Coast main lines. Mr Merriman said that advance fares were likely to offer passengers a better deal.
Contactless travel has become commonplace on rail services operated by Transport for London, such as the London Overground and on the Elizabeth line, but availability on mainline commuter routes is variable.
Mr Merriman said the switch to Contactless – which allows passengers to benefit from daily and weekly fare capping – would provide “flexibility” in fares that mirrored post-pandemic work patterns. He said sales of annual season tickets were only at a third of pre-pandemic levels.
“If people are coming into work on a less predictable basis, we want to set up a system that can allow people to do that,” he said.
“It’s part of our aim and mission to get more people using rail – to make it simpler and more straightforward. We are really excited by rolling another 53 out. It’s a good news story for us.”
He said the use of Contactless and Oyster card travel – which was first introduced on the Tube 20 years ago – had revolutionised travel.
“Now everyone just taps in and taps out,” he said. “It’s like opening and closing a door. That is the type of mindset we want to get in on the wider part of the rail network, so that people have confidence, people are more likely to use it and we get a better passenger experience.”
The roll-out is being done for the Department for Transport by Transport for London under an initial £68.7m contract.
The DfT is also working with Great British Railways Transition Team to establish Pay As You Go pilots in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands by the end of the year.
Jacqueline Starr, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “The introduction of contactless, Pay As You Go payments is a significant step in the right direction.
“It eliminates the need to queue at ticket machines or pre-book paper tickets, allowing passengers to simply tap their contactless cards or devices to pay for their journey.”
Full list of stations which will have pay as you go technology by the end of this year:
Basildon |
West Horndon |
Sevenoaks |
Bletchley |
Benfleet |
Westcliff |
Shoreham (Kent) |
Bricket Wood |
Chalkwell |
Beaconsfield |
Ashford (Surrey) |
Cheddington |
East Tilbury |
Denham |
Datchet |
Garston |
Laindon |
Denham Golf Club |
Egham |
Hemel Hempstead |
Leigh-on-Sea |
Gerrards Cross |
Kempton Park |
How Wood |
Pitsea |
High Wycombe |
Shepperton |
Kings Langley |
Shoeburyness |
Seer Green & Jordans |
Staines |
Leighton Buzzard |
Southend Central |
Bat & Ball |
Sunbury |
Park Street |
Southend East |
Dunton Green |
Sunnymeads |
St Albans Abbey |
Stanford-le-Hope |
Eynsford |
Upper Halliford |
Tring |
Thorpe Bay |
Otford |
Virginia Water |
Watford North |
Tilbury Town |
Windsor & Eton Riverside |
Wraysbury |
Apsley |
Berkhamsted |
