South East rail users hit by change to peak time ticketing

The expansion of contactless payments on trains has caused the price of travelling on some services to soar as they now require more expensive peak time tickets.

The change allows people to pay by tapping a bank card or contactless-enabled device on readers at stations, avoiding the need to manually purchase a ticket.

But Rebecca Paul, Conservative MP for Reigate, said the new rules – introduced to 30 more stations in the South East on 14 December – risked “pricing passengers out of rail altogether”.

Train operator Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) said the changes meant many passengers would save money and insisted the process was not designed to increase revenue.

The introduction of contactless payments to 30 more stations in south-east England forms part of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Project Oval.

However, changes to paper ticketing time restrictions to align with Transport for London’s contactless structure have meant some services that could previously be used with an off-peak ticket now require a more expensive peak ticket.

The first weekday London-bound Southern service from Reigate, Surrey, that can be boarded with an off-peak day travelcard ticket now departs at 09:28, compared with 08:58 previously.

But when the 08:58 train calls at Redhill just five minutes later, passengers are still able to board it with an off-peak ticket.

A day travelcard that can be used at any time from the stations costs £37.10 whereas an off-peak is £20.60.

There are also new restrictions on travel between 16:00 and 19:00.

One member of the Reigate, Redhill and District Rail Users’ Association described the situation as “ridiculous” and said he would cycle to Redhill to save money.

Meanwhile, Paul said a number of residents were “understandably frustrated” by the contactless expansion.

The MP added: “This change should make rail travel easier, not more expensive or confusing.”

The contactless rollout has also led to the cheapest super off-peak tickets being removed from some stations.

Analysis by lobby group Railfuture said passengers paying by contactless would be charged up to twice as much as those using paper tickets for some journeys.

This is because discounts for railcards or children cannot be registered with contactless.

A GTR spokesman said: “Peak and off-peak timing has to match with the TfL system…

“We understand how, for some people, this means fares will rise, but for many others they will fall.”

It pointed to a number of savings, such as Reigate passengers making a single journey at weekday off-peak times now paying £7.60 compared with £14.60 previously.

Commuters travelling before 06:30 and returning either before 16:00 or after 19:00 now save £11.60, it added.

The Department for Transport said: “Contactless ticketing means passengers are benefiting from simpler, more flexible travel and the majority of single tickets will be the same price or even lower.”