I recently found myself in the latest cohort of MPs welcoming the arrival of contactless tap-in/tap-out ticketing to a station in my constituency. This is obviously a useful innovation – it makes journeys quicker, removes the need to queue for a ticket and reflects the way many people already travel around London. If someone is making a straightforward journey and paying the standard adult fare, the ability simply to tap in and tap out is obviously attractive.
Nevertheless, what has happened since has highlighted that this was not simply a change in how people pay. It has also affected what some people pay, when they can travel, which discounts they can access and whether long-established local arrangements still apply. I felt this was sufficiently disruptive for my constituents that the right thing to do was bring the issue to Westminster Hall for discussion.
There is a sense here that a change presented largely as a convenience measure has in practice had much wider consequences. I am not suggesting that operators deliberately concealed those consequences – but I do think it is fair to say that they were not explained with anything like enough clarity or urgency, and many passengers have been taken by surprise.
The clearest example is the first off-peak train of the day from Reigate into London. For many years, passengers had a settled understanding of which service marked the start of off-peak travel. That mattered to people planning appointments, family trips or a day out, not just commuters. Under the new contactless-linked fare structure, peak now runs until 9.30 am, and because Reigate’s timetable does not line up neatly with that change, the practical effect is that the first off-peak option is now much later than before. For some, that means travelling later. For others, it means paying more.
That is why I described this as a fare rise by stealth for some passengers. Ministers may say that not every fare has gone up – and that is true. For some travellers, especially those making simple journeys and paying the standard adult fare, contactless will be as cheap as, or cheaper than, buying a ticket on the day – but that is only part of the picture.
The people who seem most exposed to the downsides are often those least well placed to absorb them. Railcard discounts and child discounts do not fit neatly into the current contactless model, meaning that in many cases passengers must still navigate the old system to get the best deal. Families, older passengers, veterans and others with more complicated journeys can therefore find themselves worse off, or at the very least far more confused than they should be.
One example raised with me repeatedly is the family day out to London. A family travelling in from Reigate for museums, sightseeing or simply to spend time in the capital may now find that the day is squeezed at both ends. They may no longer be able to travel at the old familiar off-peak time in the morning, and they must also think carefully about the new restrictions affecting the journey home. That is hard to square with all the talk we hear about encouraging leisure travel, public transport use and access to cultural life.
There is also a basic fairness issue. My constituents look at neighbouring stations and ask why people making similar journeys are not always treated in the same way. A system intended to simplify ticketing should not create fresh local anomalies or encourage passengers to drive elsewhere to secure a better deal.
That cannot be the intention of a payment upgrade sold as simpler and fairer, and it is why I urged the minister to intervene now before confidence is damaged further.
I support simpler ticketing. I support modernisation. I support contactless. Modernisation though, must work for everyone, not just for the easiest category of passenger to design a system around. The Government should now look again at cases like Reigate, restore sensible flexibility where it has been lost, and do a much better job of explaining the real implications of these changes before more passengers are left paying more for less.
