Passengers traveling on trains will be able to use the contactless pay-as-you-go system at a larger number of stations outside London this year, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said in a speech.
(Bloomberg) — Passengers traveling on trains will be able to use the contactless pay-as-you-go system at a larger number of stations outside London this year, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said in a speech.
The transport department has confirmed 52 new stations across the South East where commuters will allow commuters to tap and pay for their journey. Currently, the capital’s transit authority Transport for London allows passengers to use the facility at stations located within London.
In other reforms, Harper said the government is considering a plan to scrap the return ticket system, meaning that a single journey will always cost half of a return trip. Under the present system, journeys are priced independently and a one-way ticket can be almost as expensive as the full trip.
The rail network is still struggling with a drop in income as people make fewer trips into the office. Currently, the government collects fares from passengers and pays private companies a fixed fee to run certain services. The train operators have been trying to change working conditions on the railroads to adapt to post-Covid traveling habits, a move opposed by unions and partly the reason behind frequent strikes.
“The impact on the industry’s bottom line has been stark with revenue around £125 -175 million lower each month,” Harper said. “Any other industry would have collapsed years ago. But the railways have only survived due to the public purse.”
Harper said his department is also planning a trial of airline type pricing model for some LNER services. It was taken into public ownership during the pandemic and connects London to the northeast of the country.
The announcement also said Great British Railways, a new government body, would work alongside the private sector as “a guiding mind to co-ordinate the entire network” to increase performance and ridership.
“Great British Railways will be responsible for track and train, as well as revenue and cost,” Harper said. “It means finally treating the railway as the whole system it should be. Rather than a web of disparate interests that it’s become.”
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