Tap-in tap-out roll-out delayed near London

The government has pushed back its planned ticketless travel roll-out after the recent cyber attack on the Transport For London network. Project Oval would have seen almost half of main line stations in and around London, ticket free from September 23.

Initially it was planned that another 47 pay-as-you go stations were going to be added to the 53 available when the ‘tap-in tap-out’ system was launched in July. The scheme will eventually be rolled out at a total of 230 locations.

Project Oval is aimed at allowing passengers to easily change trains at main line stations and at any stations within the TfL network. Prices will vary during the day.

The latest expansion is just for newer bankcard-based contactless payments, and does not include Oyster cards. This policy is already in place on the Elizabeth line’s extension to Reading, where Oyster only works as far as the edge of Zone 6.

The abolition of the Super Off-Peak pricing tier in the Project Oval area also means higher fares for those travelling into the capital from further away who are unable to take advantage of current discounts.

The government are working with authorities in both the West Midlands and Manchester helping to develop their own schemes.