The end of Oyster? Tube to adopt contactless payment cards

 
Oyster revolution: Tube users will be able to use their bank cards to tap in, as Boris Johnson-backed modern Routemasters were seeing older models phased out
Barry Phillips/Evening Srandard

Millions of Tube passengers will soon be able to pay for their journeys by “touching in” with a debit or credit card, it was announced today.

Transport for London said “contactless” cards, introduced on buses in 2012, will be accepted from September 16.

Introduction of the cards, also known as wave and pay, on the Tube comes almost a year later than planned and after a trial with 3,000 passengers. About nine million TfL customers currently pay using an Oyster card.

By switching to contactless payment they will avoid having to monitor their balance and to top up on credit. TfL said it expects the move will save up to £80 million in the next five years by reducing payments to the firm providing Oyster, although it has no plans to phase that method out. Ahead of the contactless introduction, a campaign has been launched to warn passengers about the risk of “card clash”.

Commuters have been told not to keep two payment cards in their wallet as the wrong one could be charged when they touch in or out.

But TfL insists there is no risk of double charging for a journey.

It said: “This is the latest step in making life easier for our customers by using modern technology to offer the best service possible.”

All UK-issued contactless cards — including American Express, Visa and Mastercard — will be accepted and possibly mobile phone payments.

Contactless will work on the Tube, DLR and London Overground but is not yet available on other commuter rail routes into the capital.

As with Oyster, there will be a daily and weekly cap on the cost of journeys.

The UK Cards Association’s managing director Graham Peacop said: “This is a major step for contactless cards and their introduction across London’s transport network means we expect their surge to continue.”

I've tried it... and it works well

I began using a contactless card to pay for my daily Tube commute a couple of months ago as part of the TfL trial. You swipe in and out as with Oyster, but never have to worry about running out of pay-as-you-go credit.

I can also use the same card to swipe to pay for a coffee or sandwich without having to enter a PIN. At the end of the month a Barclaycard state- ment arrives saying how much I’ve spent on travel.

I will keep my old Oyster card with some credit on it and this has already come in handy one morning when I could not find my contactless card. So for me contactless has been a positive experience... I only wish they could do something about the high fares.

One of the last remaining Routemaster bus routes is being scarpped
  • Fears that the iconic Routemaster bus may soon be lost to London for ever rose today with the scrapping of one of its last surviving services — the “heritage” route 9 between Kensington High Street and Trafalgar Square. Routemasters now operate only on part of route 15, between Trafalgar Square and Tower Hill.

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