Overview
- DfT’s Project Oval extended pay-as-you-go contactless to additional south-east England stations on December 14 to integrate with TfL’s system.
- Paper-ticket restrictions were reset to TfL timings, so some trains now price as peak, with Reigate’s first off-peak day travelcard train moving from 8:58am to 9:28am.
- Railfuture says contactless can cost up to twice as much when railcards or child fares would apply, citing a Luton–London family paying £84 versus £41.70 with Groupsave.
- Some stations lost the cheapest super off-peak tickets and now face 4pm–7pm limits, and user groups report passengers altering routes or schedules to avoid higher costs.
- GTR and the DfT argue the rollout simplifies travel and is not intended to boost revenue, highlighting cases where Reigate passengers now pay the same or less.