Beginning a week on Sunday (14 December 2025), passengers in South East England will be able to pay their fares using contactless pay-as-you-go at thirty more stations. This follows 21 stations ‘going live’ with the technology in the region last month.
Those passengers able to take advantage of this facility will no longer need to queue at ticket machines or ticket offices, but instead can tap a contactless card or device on the ticket gate.
However, the introduction of the technology at twenty more stations has been delayed until next summer.
In South East England, train companies’ fares have to be fully integrated with Transport for London’s fare system in order for contactless payment to work. Testing revealed problems with achieving this on Greater Anglia stations, which means that further work is necessary before contactless pay-as-you-go can ‘go live’ on the stations affected.
As a result, the Rail Delivery Group has announced that the introduction of the technology at twenty Greater Anglia stations, which include Stansted and Southend airports, will now take place next summer rather than this year as previously announced. It has promised to update passengers ahead of the revised launch date.
Contactless pay-as-you-go makes it simpler for passengers who are using different modes of transport to reach their destination, as it incorporates mainline trains, London Underground, London Buses and trams. It also operates fare capping, meaning that passengers pay the cheapest adult fare for the journeys that they make. The cap operates on both a daily and a weekly (Monday to Sunday) basis.
The Rail Delivery Group reports that passengers have made 5.6 million journeys using contactless pay-as-you-go since June 2024. It adds that this is part of the efforts being made by operators to make paying for fares simpler and more convenient for passengers. Other measures being introduced by train operators include personalised options such as Flexi Season tickets and single-leg pricing. Operators are also running trials of simpler fare structures.
In Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, the rail industry is looking to extend pay-as-you-go to operate across different modes of transport. It is working with the local transport authorities in these areas.
Responses
Hopefully as a result there will also be more on train ticket checks …including in 1st class accommodation. & Those without the correct travel documentation will be either Penalty Fared or given MG11 fare evasion is costing money with genuine fare payers have to subsidise .