Contactless on Thames Valley Branches

[whole diary]

[w056863]

Hello All,

I have heard a rumour that contactless roll out is going to be rolled out to Windsor/Marlow/Henley branches in March. I see this as being a great step forward removing islands of paper in the contactless sea of Paddington to Reading. Does anybody know anything more? Is this definite? Is it still going to be March?

[grahame]

Hello All,

I have heard a rumour that contactless roll out is going to be rolled out to Windsor/Marlow/Henley branches in March. I see this as being a great step forward removing islands of paper in the contactless sea of Paddington to Reading. Does anybody know anything more? Is this definite? Is it still going to be March?

Excellent question, and welcome to the forum.   I'm afraid I'm just saying "welcome" - don't have an answer for you, but lots of members visit the forum over a day or two and chances are that someone will know, and will follow up.

[grahame]

Hello All,

I have heard a rumour that contactless roll out is going to be rolled out to Windsor/Marlow/Henley branches in March. I see this as being a great step forward removing islands of paper in the contactless sea of Paddington to Reading. Does anybody know anything more? Is this definite? Is it still going to be March?

Bump ... anyone have an answer for our new member?

I had a look at the web site of the Maidenhead and Marlow Passenger Association to see if thy have anything that might provide an answer.  https://www.mmpa.org.uk/index.html . Clear sign of recent updates to the site including upcoming changes to train times in March for engineering, but no whisper I could see on ticketing changes.

[eightf48544]

Was discussed at MMPA Committee Zoom last night.

Have heard the rumour, but have heard nothing official from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway). The  March date seems unlikely. As far as we know no work has yet started on installng the touch pads, certainly not on the Marlow Branch.

[Ralph Ayres]

I can't see any mention of the existing contactless pay as you go on the Reading-Paddington main line on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s own website.  Am I just not looking hard enough, or is it really not there?

[eightf48544]

I think that's because it's TFL^▸ (Transport for London). It's very confuisng there are several threaads on this topic.

One I found is in All across the Great Western territory > Fare's Fair > What counts as PM off peak?

[IndustryInsider]

I can't see any mention of the existing contactless pay as you go on the Reading-Paddington main line on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s own website.  Am I just not looking hard enough, or is it really not there?

https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey/tickets-railcards-and-season-tickets/contactless-payment

Granted, it doesn't exactly leap out at you when visiting the website! 

[stuving]

It's a confusing word, "contactless", isn't it? It's mostly used (outside transport) for payment using bank (debit and credit) cards, and TFL^▸ (Transport for London) use it for that alternative to Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) cards. But originally "contactless" applied to the near-field communications link used for those and also for mobile phones and ITSO cards (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s and others'). So I guess if GWR use the word they probably do mean the "touch" pads* on ticket gates, since their systems don't work with bank cards.

* the ones you don't need to touch with the ticket carrier!

[w056863]

London to Reading works on the TfL^» (Transport for London - about) contactless system, which is bank cards, and Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) within the London zonal system. You just touch in and then touch out, and then all your travelling (including on tubes & buses) for the day is debited to the card - there are also daily and weekly caps. Telling people who are not so familiar with public transport that they can use their bank card, and no need to queue up at the ticket office simplifies things enormously, and encourages them to use in preference to their cars. No need to decide if a weekly season is needed in advance is a great benefit if you are not certain which days you might be travelling.

[w056863]

Interestingly the contactless fares have now appeared on BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) Fares, but not for travel to London...

Here is an example Windsor & Eton Central to Slough: https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=WNC&dest=SLO

Anytime Day Single Paper £3.10. Contactless Peak Single £2.00
Off Peak Day Single Paper £3.00. Contactless Off Peak Single £1.50
Anytime Day Return Paper £4.00
Off Peak Day Return Paper £3.10

There are no Return Fares with Contactless, but it makes sense when you do the maths, however if you travel one way in peak, and the other off peak, it is most advantageous to use contactless (notwithstanding the differences between the timing of peak and off peak for paper and contactless)

[stuving]

Interestingly the contactless fares have now appeared on BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) Fares, but not for travel to London...

Here is an example Windsor & Eton Central to Slough: https://www.brfares.com/!fares?orig=WNC&dest=SLO

Anytime Day Single Paper £3.10. Contactless Peak Single £2.00
Off Peak Day Single Paper £3.00. Contactless Off Peak Single £1.50
Anytime Day Return Paper £4.00
Off Peak Day Return Paper £3.10

There are no Return Fares with Contactless, but it makes sense when you do the maths, however if you travel one way in peak, and the other off peak, it is most advantageous to use contactless (notwithstanding the differences between the timing of peak and off peak for paper and contactless)

Not just not for travel to London - they are shown with validity "not for travel" on BRFares. And GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s web site still has an FAQ^▸ (Frequently Asked Questions) saying:

Can I use contactless pay as you go on the Henley, Marlow and Windsor & Eton branch lines?

Contactless pay as you go isn’t available on these GWR branch lines. You will need to touch in or touch out at the gateline of the mainline station and have a separate ticket for the branch line, or alternatively have a ticket for your whole journey.

So are they trying something out before announcing it then making it work? Perhaps letting you buy a GWR single to add onto your TfL^» (Transport for London - about) trip into London? But usually these things appear well in advance in published and internal documents (and sites like London Reconnections), especially so if TfL is involved. 

[TaplowGreen]

London to Reading works on the TfL^» (Transport for London - about) contactless system, which is bank cards, and Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) within the London zonal system. You just touch in and then touch out, and then all your travelling (including on tubes & buses) for the day is debited to the card - there are also daily and weekly caps. Telling people who are not so familiar with public transport that they can use their bank card, and no need to queue up at the ticket office simplifies things enormously, and encourages them to use in preference to their cars. No need to decide if a weekly season is needed in advance is a great benefit if you are not certain which days you might be travelling.

Works really well on Reading-Paddington now that TfL are running the show, and it's timely given the huge changes in commuting which are afoot.

[w056863]

I read elsewhere that Contactless on the Thames Valley branches is supposed to be working before 31st October 2021. The cabling is being fitted to enable the readers, so perhaps 31st October will be an appropriate launch date.

[w056863]

Cabling is underway, and therefore I suspect that contactless may be switched on for the January fares change.

[Surrey 455]

Looking at National Rail Enquiries website for Henley, Marlow, and Windsor & Eton Central station, the ticket buying & collections tab states that none of these stations have smartcard validators. If that is correct then perhaps the cabling work is to install validators just for the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) touch smartcard. I would be surprised if they also took contactless bank cards as well.