by Train passengers traveling between London and the Home Counties have been warned that a new fare system could leave them out of pocket.
It can also be revealed that the Government’s plan to introduce Pay As You Go Contact ticketing across more than 50 stations in the South East outside the capital has been delayed until next Spring.
Five companies serving London stations – C2C, South Western Railway, Southeastern, London Northwestern Railway and Chiltern – are introducing a new fare structure on Sunday, December 3.
This will introduce peak fares between 4pm and 7pm – meaning passengers traveling after the morning peak will not be able to use off-peak returns for the second leg of their journey.
However, for passengers who make one journey during the morning peak and return home outside the peak, the combined cost of their ticket may be cheaper.
The full details of the fare changes have been published on the National Railway website.
Details of the impact on South Western Railway passengers can be found here.
Contactless travel – already standard across the Transport for London network – was to be extended to 53 stations outside Greater London by the end of the year, under a pledge made by rail minister Huw Merriman in July.
But the Evening Standard has learned that this will not happen until Spring 2024 at the earliest.
The Department of Transport refused to answer questions about what caused the delay and told the Standard to contact TfL.
TfL won the contract to install the yellow card readers and ticket software at the stations, adding them to its Londonwide system. In total, around 200 stations were to receive pay-as-you-go ticketing over the life of the project.
But technological issues, including the complexity of calculating the correct fare for passengers then traveling within London before or after completing a mainline train journey, are thought to have caused the delay.
On C2C, an “anytime” trip from West Ham to Southend will drop from £12.70 to £10.20 – and an off-peak single will cost £8.70. “Anytime return” will remain unchanged at £20.40.
An off-peak return will drop from £19.20 to £17.40, but cannot be used for journeys between 4pm and 7pm – and the £14.90 off-peak return fee will no longer be available.
Michael Roberts, chief executive of travel watchdog London TravelWatch, said he was concerned public awareness of the new fares system was low.
“We are fully behind the idea of simplifying the fee system, but we haven’t seen much publicity about these changes,” he said.
“We don’t want people to be put off so we are encouraging passengers to check if their journey will be affected. Some tickets have had to be canceled completely, including the Super Off-Peak option. that some trips would cost more.
“And with the introduction of the evening peak fares, there is also the risk that some passengers will be left out as they will no longer be able to travel with an off-peak ticket.
“We hope that there will be a generous transition period in place to ensure that passengers are not penalized for something they are not aware of.
“It is unfortunate that the introduction of contactless payments has been delayed and will not commence at the same time as these fee changes. We know Londoners have benefited from contactless for many years and it’s a convenient way to travel.”
Under the changes, a “one-leg fares” structure will be introduced – meaning single fares at half the price of a return ticket.
There will be two peak periods, clearly reflecting TfL’s pricing system on the London Underground, Overground and Elizabeth lines. These run from 4.30am to 9.30am and 4pm to 7pm (TfL’s morning peak is between 6.30am and 9.30am). Peak fares will apply to services leaving or passing through a London station.
The stations concerned are:
Apsley
Ashford (Surrey)
Basildon
Bat & Ball
Beaconsfield
Benfleet
Berkhamsted
Bletchley
Wood Briquettes
Chalkwell
Cheddington
Datchet
Denham
Denham Golf Club
Dunton Green
East Tilbury
Egham
Eynsford
Garston
Gerard’s Cross
Hemel Hempstead
High Wycombe
How Wood
Kempton Park
King Langley
Latin
Leigh-on-Sea
Buzzard Leighton
Otford
Park Street
Pizza
Seer Green & Jordans
Seven
Shepperton
Shoeburyness
Shoreham (Talk)
South Central
The South East
St. Alban’s Abbey
Stains
Stanford-le-Hope
Sunbury
Sizes of sun
Thorpe Bay
Tilbury Town
Tring
Upper Hall
Virginia Water
North Watford
West Horndon
Westcliff
Windsor & Eton Riverside
Wraysbury
Rob Mullen, managing director of c2c, said: “Simple and easy-to-understand fares and peak travel times will make it easier and simpler for our customers to search and buy tickets.
“Moving forward, all our ticketing products – Smart Cards, traditional paper, e-tickets and contactless pay-as-you-go (when dispatched) – will be offered at the same price if purchased on the day of travel. “
TfL has been contacted for comment.
