So why can't they sort out contactless validity to the Airport?
They are (eventually); it's covered in the thread regarding Project Oval.
they could of course do ten seconds of research before travelling.
A google search for “stansted express contactless” returns this result at the very top: “You can't use Oyster or Contactless payment cards on Stansted Express services to/from Stansted Airport…”
I have no issue with people being charged extra for this, but this does expose that Penalty Fares are indeed used by TOCs as a way to charge lucrative sums of money to people who made an honest mistake.
The railway would gladly make passengers feel negative about rail, and consider other modes of transport next time, just to make a few quid.
The top few comments at the time of writing are as follows:
@roadie4360
The fact that it pays to have so many more ticket checks employed at Stansted than London Liverpool Street suggests theirs a failure in the system.
A failure from a passenger's point of view, yes. But Greater Anglia and the DfT see this as a success, as they use different criteria to ordinary people.
@brucemasters3487
The fact that the train operator refuses to respond to requests for information is yet another example of the contempt that the Brits treat their customers.
It is a demonstration of the contempt that many TOCs treat passengers, not Brits overall.
@Seagull81006
I get why you can use contactless on Stansted Express, as people may just use it to hop between Liverpool Street and Tottenham Hale. Whilst yes, it does say no contactless to Stansted, i do think fining people for it is a tad harsh, when it should really just be the fare they have to pay. Though ideally, contactless really ought to go to Stansted sooner, as this is a easily fixable mistake.
Greater Anglia have no interest in charging people the correct fare when they can charge a lucrative Penalty Fare. The legislation we have in this country, along with the way the rail industry is structured, incentivises the poor treatment of customers.
This is the way the DfT like it, and the managers at Greater Anglia are no doubt being congratulated and feel they are doing a great job.
If some people are deterred from travelling by train in future, this is not seen as any loss. GA know that most people have no viable alternative and if some people choose to use other means then that won't bother them one bit.
@YAZZYUTUBE
This issue is easy to resolve. Just charge the additional fare to passengers exiting at Stansted station by employing tap to exit for the passengers using contactless payments or insert the paper ticket for passengers who purchased the fare upfront.
GA and DfT see the current system as resolving the matter, as it increases revenue.
Passengers who make a mistake are deemed fair game to be charged huge penalties by an industry that knows that it can mistreat people as much as it wants, and get away with it.
This negative publicity will be like water off a duck's back to GA/DfT; the sort of people who come up with, and implement, penalty fare schemes are not exactly nice people; they are not going to change their ways, and no amount of negative publicity will have any effect.
