Transport for London has announced that half of all Tube and rail pay as you go journeys are now regularly made using contactless payment cards of mobile devices.

The easy to use payment method launched on buses in December 2012 and soon made its way to Tube and rail services in London, launching in September 2014. It is now being used to make around 17 million journeys a week across London. Since launch, more than 1.7 billion journeys have been made across the capital.

Half of all Tube and rail pay as you go journeys are now regularly made using contactless payment cards or mobile devices, the latest figures from Transport for London (TfL) reveal.

Other key figures released today by TfL include:

• A number of stations, including Blackfriars, Shoreditch High Street, Canary Wharf and Clapham Common, are consistently seeing more than 60 percent of all pay as you go journeys made using contactless.
• Close to half a million contactless pay as you go journeys are made from Oxford Circus every week – the equivalent of 50 cards touching in every minute.

What did the officials say?

Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer at TfL said:

`Contactless ticketing has made travelling in and around London and the South East by bus, Tube or rail quick, convenient and affordable. We’re delighted with how popular this innovation has become and, with the future extension of this technology across the Elizabeth line, even more customers will benefit in the future. We are also now working with other world cities to share our experience and knowledge to help them introduce a similar ticketing system in the coming years.’

Richard Koch, Director of Cards at UK Finance, said:

`Contactless payments have transformed public transport in the capital, making millions of journeys each week quicker and easier. Passengers no longer have to waste time queuing for paper tickets and can enjoy the benefit of weekly capped fares. Building on this success, UK Finance has developed the Contactless Transit Framework to support the expansion of contactless ticketing to cities and bus routes across the country.’

Steve Chambers, Public Transport Campaigner at Campaign for Better Transport, said:

‘Cashless ticketing is a simple, effective, way for commuters to pay for their journey while making travelling across London’s transport networks easier and more flexible. The rise in the number of people making contactless payments proves that if people are offered multiple ways to pay for their ticket they will use them, which is a good thing. We are also pleased to see the Oyster card gaining all the features of contactless later this year, bringing more benefit to London’s commuters.’

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