TfL style contactless touchpoints are arriving at Windsor and Eton station as contactless payments for train tickets, already valid on GWR and TfL Rail services between London Paddington and Reading are being extended onto the Henley and Windsor branch lines.
Just as on TfL services, any contactless payment including bank cards, Apple Pay and Android Pay can be used by touching the card or mobile device on the yellow reader located at ticket gatelines. Pay as you go with contactless was first introduced on London’s buses in 2012 and expanded to cover Tube and rail services across the capital in 2014.
Contactless pay as you go was already available on the GWR/TfL Rail services beyond London Zone 6 to the following stations:
- Iver
- Langley
- Slough
- Burnham
- Taplow
- Maidenhead
- Twyford
- Reading
Following the latest upgrade, contactless payments are live now on the Slough to Windsor & Eton, and the Tyford to Henley branch lines.
That adds the following stations to the service.
- Henley-on-Thames
- Shiplake
- Wargrave
- Windsor & Eton Central
The extension of a London travel payment to Windsor & Eton comes just ahead of the 140th anniversary of a short-lived London Underground service to Windsor that ran for 18 months between March 1883 to September 1884. So next year if you’re recreating that original London Underground service, you’ll be able to use a London Underground payment system.
Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer at Transport for London (TfL) said: “The popularity of convenient travel via pay as you go with contactless has seen it expand across London and the surrounding areas in recent years. We are delighted to bring this smartcard ticketing to these branch lines, which will help rail customers outside London travel more flexibly and conveniently and support the wider economic recovery through easier access to rail travel.”
Since it was introduced in early 2020, over 1.6m journeys have been made with Pay as you go with contactless between Reading and Paddington. Contactless services were introduced with the launch of TfL Rail between Paddington and Reading for the future Elizabeth line. Due to its older technology though, Oyster cards cannot be used beyond West Drayton, which is also where TFL’s classic zone 6 ends.
Out of Zone contactless is convenient for some, on peak time weekdays.
But if you have a railcard and the fare is above the weekday minimum fare (and most cards have no weekend minimum), then you would pay more to travel contactless vs. traditional ticketing.
(Some railcars discounts can be flagged onto traditional Oyster cards to be applied automatically in zone, some can’t and if the journey involves a NR stage then the alternatives need to be evaluated)
There should be a combined smart card that does Rail (including London Underground), Bus and have the option to add National Express if desired.
Why don’t you put these ideas forwards to the relevant Authorities
Wait what. Is it just me that thought these were everywhere already??