The Anonymous Widower

Contactless Cards For Travel In London Are Working

This article entitled Tube Record Smashed Again has just been published on Modern Railways. This is the last paragraph.

Numbers on both days were boosted by ‘MasterCard Fare Free Friday’, through which holders of contactless MasterCard debit or credit cards could use their card to travel for free within the capital, with over 270,000 journeys made on 28 November under this offer. Passengers have been able to use contactless bank cards to pay for Tube travel since September, with 18 million journeys made using contactless payment cards since that date and usage reported to be growing at a rate of 12% per week.

The most significant bit is that the use of contactless payment cards is growing at an unheard of rate for anything.

So if it is so popular in London, when will I be able to use my contactless credit card for travel on Nottingham, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester trains, the Newcastle Metro and local trains outside London? If these cities in the North want to rival London, they must give the passengers the easy ticketing system, they obviously like to use!

If any did bring in a contactless system for payment, I think it would be a long odds-on bet, that at least one of Mastercard, Visa and Amex would run a promotion to get people on the buses, trams and trains.

December 3, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Contactless Ticketing, Credit Cards, London Underground