Tap-in tap-out comes to more stations near London

Ticketless travel will be available from almost half of main line stations in and around London from September 23, as the government pushes on with its £20 million Project Oval scheme.

Another 47 pay-as-you go stations have been added to the 53 available when the ‘tap-in tap-out’ system was launched on December 3 last year. The scheme will eventually be rolled out at a total of 230 locations.

Project Oval is aimed at allowing passengers to easily change trains at main line stations, as well as to use the Underground, London Trams to Croydon, and TfL-managed buses. Prices will vary during the day.

The latest expansion is just for newer bankcard-based contactless payments, and does not include Oyster cards. This policy is already in place on the Elizabeth line’s extension to Reading, where Oyster only works as far as the edge of Zone 6.

The abolition of the Super Off-Peak pricing tier in the Project Oval area also means higher fares for those travelling into the capital from further away who are unable to take advantage of current discounts.

There are plans to develop similar schemes in the East Midlands and Manchester.