Transport chiefs today called for contactless payments to be accepted across the UK rail network as they revealed conventional tickets were “on the verge of obsolescence” in London.
Contactless accounts for a third of Tube fares income and Transport for London hopes to “eliminate” paper tickets and the Oyster card in “five to 10 years”.
The use of contactless bank cards to pay for travel has soared since its launch in the capital in 2014 and now accounts for about 60 million journeys a month on TfL buses, Tubes and trains.
Over the same period, use of Oyster cards has declined from more than 200 million trips a month to about 125 million, while paper tickets have fallen under 15 million trips a month.
TfL is now urging national rail operators to adopt contactless payments to simplify ticketing, ensure passengers pay the cheapest fares and to keep pace with the smartphone revolution.
TfL commissioner Mike Brown said: “Fare payment in London has been revolutionised over the last 15 years with the development of Oyster pay-as-you-go and growth of contactless.
“Rail users outside London have not shared in this revolution and the underlying structure of rail fares has become more complex.”
He said many of these rail users are confused by ticketing options and are “uncertain that they are getting best value for money”.
TfL says the use of Oyster pay-as-you-go has been falling as quickly as the use of printed tickets, and there has been a “dramatic rise” in contactless bank cards and in smartphones using Apple pay and Android pay.
Read More
“In London today, and potentially across the UK, ticketing and ticket retailing are now on the verge of obsolescence,” TfL said.
“Rail customers should be able to simply turn up and present their contactless card or phone at the station in order to tap in and out, with a guarantee that they will get the right fare for their journey.”
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents the UK rail industry, received about 20,000 responses to a consultation this summer on a “root and branch” review of the £10 billion-a-year rail fares system.
There are more than 55 million different fares and the rail industry recognises government ticket regulations fail to keep pace with the rise of smartphone technology and changing work and travel patterns.
A formal request to the Government to ease ticketing regulations is due to be submitted by the RDG by the end of the year. In its response to the RDG consultation, TfL called for “single-leg pricing” to ensure that two single tickets are not undercut by return fares.
It also backed “distance-based fares” to prevent customers being charged more for one ticket for the whole of their journey than if they buy tickets for each part.
Mr Brown said: “In our view, contactless PAYG could be extended from London to operate across the whole of the National Rail network and on local bus and metro systems as well.”
