London transport to get contactless payment

Millions of customers are set for easier and more convenient journeys from 16 September, when Transport for London (TfL) will introduce contactless payments for all pay as you go customers on the Tube, London Overground, DLR and trams in addition to the capital's buses. The new option means that passengers will no longer be any need to top up Oyster card balances because fares are charged directly to payment card accounts. Contactless payments - credit, debit, charge or pre-paid cards or devices - work i
July 28, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

Millions of customers are set for easier and more convenient journeys from 16 September, when 1466 Transport for London (TfL) will introduce contactless payments for all pay as you go customers on the Tube, London Overground, 6782 DLR and trams in addition to the capital's buses.

The new option means that passengers will no longer be any need to top up Oyster card balances because fares are charged directly to payment card accounts. Contactless payments - credit, debit, charge or pre-paid cards or devices - work in the same way as Oyster, charging the pay as you go fare by touching in and out on the readers at the start and end of every journey.

In addition to daily capping, a new Monday to Sunday cap will also apply for customers using the contactless payment option, as TfL's advanced system will automatically calculate the best value contactless fare over the course of the week.

Contactless payments have operated on the capital's bus network since December 2012, and have been used by around 825,000 customers for 17 million journeys.

Around 65,000 journeys a day are being made using a contactless payment card. A pilot of the system on the London Underground and rail network which began in April involving around 3,000 customers has been successful. 

Customer feedback has been used to improve the service, including making the online accounts easier to use. Ahead of the launch on 16 September, TfL is continuing to remind customers that it is imperative that they only touch one card to the reader to avoid 'card clash'.

This simple measure will ensure customers avoid paying with a card they did not intend to use. It will also avoid gates not opening or not giving a green light to proceed. An extensive customer campaign has been running since February to reduce the incidents of card clash and this will be enhanced further ahead of the September launch.

TfL and National Rail will continue to work together to develop the programme to expand the system to the suburban rail routes where Oyster is currently accepted.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Another payment option for TransLink users
    January 13, 2023
    Riders can now use Canada's Interac and no longer need a pre-paid Compass card
    Read More
  • Largest open transit fare system in the US launches in Chicago
    June 28, 2013
    Cubic Transportation Systems, MasterCard and Money Network are to partner in a program to launch what is said to be the largest open transit fare payment system (OSFS) in the US. The Ventra card is about to make its debut with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and suburban bus operator Pace, giving customers two new options to pay for train and bus rides. The Ventra card features two accounts - a closed-loop account for transit payments and an optional reloadable prepaid card that can be used for everyday
    Read More
  • Cubic completes Sydney Opal Card rollout early
    December 12, 2014
    Cubic Transportation Systems has completed the roll out of Sydney’s Opal contactless smartcard ticketing system across all transport modes and connecting multiple operators and commenced operation and maintenance of the Opal system under the ten-year services agreement that is part of the original contract. The contract to build the new electronic ticketing system (ETS) – later branded as the Opal Card – was awarded to the Cubic-led Pearl consortium in 2010.
    Read More
  • Milestone for Cubic and Vancouver’s contactless card
    July 21, 2016
    More than one million Compass Cards are now in use for Metro Vancouver’s public transit users since its launch in 2015. Compass Card is the contactless smart card payment system designed and integrated by Cubic for the region’s transportation authority, TransLink. The system is also processing more than 42 million card ’taps’ each month. Compass links all of TransLink’s services and fare products in Metro Vancouver to a single payment system, including West Coast Express, SkyTrain, SeaBus and buses, r
    Read More

Highlighted Content