Passengers across Essex – including those travelling from Romford heading towards Chelmsford, Southend or Stansted Airport – will soon benefit from simpler, faster journeys as contactless card “tap-in, tap-out” ticketing is expanded to 20 more Greater Anglia stations from Sunday 14 December.

The upgrade means that, for the first time, every London airport will support pay-as-you-go contactless travel, allowing passengers to use a bank card, phone, or smart device to touch in and out without buying a paper ticket. The change is expected to be especially helpful for the 6.7 million annual travellers using Stansted Airport, plus thousands heading to Southend Airport.

The rollout is part of a wider government-funded upgrade, with £18.7 million invested to introduce contactless ticketing at 50 stations across the South East. Transport for London has also supported the expansion as part of the move toward the future Great British Railways (GBR) model.

20 Greater Anglia Stations Are Going Contactless in December.

From 14 December, passengers will be able to tap in and out at the following Greater Anglia stations across Essex and Hertfordshire:

Billericay, Beaulieu Park, Bishop’s Stortford, Chelmsford, Harlow Mill, Harlow Town, Hatfield Peverel, Hockley, Ingatestone, Prittlewell, Rayleigh, Rochford, Roydon, Sawbridgeworth, Southend Victoria, Stansted Airport, Stansted Mountfitchet, Southend Airport, Wickford and Witham.

Meaning locally, you can just tap in with a contactless bank card, smartphone or smartwatch from the likes of Stratford, Romford or Shenfield and travel to major stations and towns such as Chelmsford, Billericay, Wickford, Rayleigh, Southend Victoria, and Ingatestone, including the newly opened Beaulieu Park station. – The same way you do using the Tube. 

Contactless starts in December.

Passengers can simply tap their card or device at the start and end of their journey from Sunday 14th December. Your contactless fare is capped at either a peak rate, off-peak rate or a Monday to Sunday rate – Remember to continue to touch in and out for every journey you make.

If you travel into London, then you can also benefit from daily and weekly caps on your journeys, ensure you use the same contactless card or device to pay for all your journeys throughout the week, For maximum benefit, start using your contactless card or device on a Monday to be eligible for the Monday to Sunday cap.

The changes will be particularly beneficial as it will include the Stansted Express train service from Stansted Airport to London Liverpool Street, and for visitors arriving at Southend Airport, who will now be able to travel into London with just a tap of their bank cards.

It’s part of a wider scheme

This forms part of a much larger rollout of contactless ticketing across the South East, joining c2c, South Western Railway, Thameslink, Southeastern, and London Northwestern Railway, who have already introduced contactless across parts or all of their networks earlier this year.

December will see with 50 stations, across 5 operators going partially contactless incuding:
– Chiltern Railways (Aylesbury Vale Parkway to London Marylebone)
– Great Northern (London King’s Cross,  Moorgate to Baldock)
– Greater Anglia (London to Stansted Airport, Witham and Southend Victoria)
– Thamslink (Harlington, Baldock and East Grinstead)
– Southern (London, Dorking, Riegate and East Grinstead)

As Transport for London operate the contactless scheme with National Rail operators, you can calculate the fare and manage your spending at the TfL Website: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/find-fares/single-fare-finder

Limitations With Contactless.

If you’re using a device, such as a smartphone, you need to ensure it has enough battery to complete the journey, or upon a ticket inspection, if your device doesn’t power up, you may be liable to pay a £100 penalty fare.

Like the TfL system, One contactless card, pays for one person, for multiple people a separate contactless card is required (E.g Physical Bank Card and a Smartphone count as two payment cards).
However, it maybe cheaper to buy tickets if multiple people are travelling – Especially if you have a railcard!

Railcards (and other discounts), it may be cheaper to buy a ticket for your journey, Currently discounts cannot be applied to pay as you go with contactless ‘tap in, tap out’ system.

You can still purchase tickets.

Of course, if you don’t want to use contactless, or want to take advantage of your Railcard discount, you can still purchase tickets at the train stations, use operators Smartcards or purchase in-app E-Tickets from the train operators apps and website. In some cases, you may find a cheaper fare if you book your ticket in advance of your journey.

Some Super Off-Peak tickets have been withdrawn, within the contactless areas – Operators say this is to keep the price of tickets and pay as you go with contactless as similar as possible.
Therefore, Super Off-Peak tickets are no longer available on journeys where pay as you go with contactless is available. You will either be charged a peak or off-peak fare instead.
In many cases, Off-peak fares have also been reduced to reflect the removal of Super Off-Peak tickets.

What about First Class? Contactless travel is only be used for Standard Class travel. Where First Class is available, you can still buy tickets to travel in First Class (Unless it has been declassified, check with the operator). 

Transport Industry Reaction

Rail Minister, Lord Peter Hendy, said the upgrade brings rail ticketing “into the 21st century,” adding that simplified fares will support passengers while boosting economic growth across the South East.

Martin Beable, Managing Director of Greater Anglia, said expanding contactless ticketing will make rail travel “quicker, easier and more flexible,” complementing the operator’s modern train fleet and station upgrades.

Alex Williams, Chief Customer and Strategy Officer at TfL, said the extension will make travelling into London “more flexible and convenient”, helping people avoid pre-purchased tickets or paper travelcards.

Stansted Airport Managing Director Gareth Powell called the news “great for passengers”, saying seamless travel into London will improve the airport experience and support inbound tourism.

For more see https://www.nationalrail.co.uk or the train operators website.