Transport for London (TfL) says one billion contactless payment journeys have now been made across London’s transport network
Over one billion journeys have now been made on London’s transport network using contactless payment cards, according to new figures from Transport for London (TfL).
Almost £2bn has been spent by customers using pay as you go with contactless since it was introduced at the end of 2012, And TfL said that customers have saved a total of over £123m through daily capping, when cards have reached a pre-determined limit so the journey is free, with contactless.
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The use of mobile is growing too. More than 31m journeys have been made using mobiles, and the likes of Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, in London during the past year, with mobile now making up nearly one in 10 contactless journeys.
On average, two million journeys are made every day across bus, Tube and rail services in the capital, while the week ending 17 June 2017 hit a new record of 13.9m journeys made using contactless for the seven day period.
And the proportion of pay-as-you-go journeys using contactless has risen from a quarter to more than 40 per cent today, while it’s higher still at certain stations, often topping 50 per cent.
The most popular stations for contactless payment:
Station
Average proportion of contactless payment card journeys
Wandsworth Town
59 per cent
City Thameslink
59 per cent
Shoreditch High Street
57 per cent
London Fields
57 per cent
Clapham North
57 per cent
Haggerston
56 per cent
Dalston Junction
56 per cent
Hackney Wick
56 per cent
Clapham Common
56 per cent
Peckham Rye
55 per cent
Earlsfield
55 per cent
TfL said customers from more than 100 countries have now used contactless payment cards to make journeys across the capital’s transport network.
Shashi Verma, chief technology officer at TfL, said:
Contactless payments have completely transformed the way people pay for travel in London and it’s great to see more than one billion journeys now made across the capital’s transport network.
We’re committed to continue developing and expanding the system where we can to make it even more convenient for anyone visiting London.
Last year, TfL signed a deal worth up to £15m with Cubic Transportation Systems to adapt the capital’s contactless ticketing system worldwide, with CTS in discussions with the likes of Sydney and Miami ongoing over introducing contactless technology to their transport networks.
And earlier this week, Heathrow announced new ticket readers will be installed from May next year, so passengers using Heathrow Express and TfL Rail between Paddington and Heathrow will be able to use pay as you go Oyster or a contactless device.
Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, said “The dramatic increase in the use of contactless over the last year shows the real progress we’ve made making journeys easier and more convenient for busy Londoners and also visitors to our city.
“London continues to lead the way in terms of contactless payment around the world, and the money we make selling TfL’s innovation and expertise to other major global cities will allow us to put further money into improving London’s own transport network.”
The global spread of contactless cards used across London’s transport network (Source: TfL)
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