TfL to scrap paper tickets

[mattdickinson]

TfL are to scrap paper tickets by 2024, according to a MyLondon report.

It's unclear whether its magnetic tickets that will stop being issued, with barcoded tickets issued instead, or paper tickets entirely abolished and the remaining tickets replaced by app based products.

It also states that TfL platform tickets are to be abolished

.
Transport for London (TfL) bosses confirmed today (Tuesday, March 7) at the world’s largest public transport ticketing conference that the end is near for paper tickets. The city’s transport authority will instead look to integrate barcode “e-tickets” which are being sold by National Rail operators into its system. It is now expected that the final paper tickets will be removed from 2024.

In a speech at the Transport Ticketing Global (TTG) event held at Olympia,, TfL’s head of customer payments Andrew Anderson said: “We have to bring in the new before we get rid of the old, and it’s created a very complex landscape for revenue collection technology. What we’re now needing to do is to start getting rid of the old technologies to clear some space and allow further efficiencies to be realised.”



Mr Anderson explained that TfL is working with government to move as many passengers onto digital ticketing such as contactless as possible. This saves TfL money in the long term as it will no longer have to pay the costs associated with issuing physical tickets. In a graph he talked the conference through, he outlined how successful contactless payment has been on the TfL network, rocketing from one per cent of fare payments when it was first introduced in 2013 to 55 per cent today, now double the proportion of any other payment method.

(Timeline showing 2006:LUL stop selling magnetic season tickets 2019:London Overground stop selling magnetic season tickets 2022: National Rail stop selling magnetic in-boundary Travelcard season 2023: Withdraw season tickets sold through visitor agencies Withdraw platform tickets Explore options for Travelcard 2024+ Remove remaining niche magnetic ticket products)

TfL payments boss Andrew Anderson shared the revised timeline for the withdrawal of paper (aka "magnetic") tickets at TTG (Image: Callum Marius, TTG)

Contactless’ rise has come at the expense of paper tickets which now make up between six and nine per cent of fare payments. This level has been consistent since around 2014, shortly after contactless was introduced. This suggests demand for paper tickets has somewhat ‘bottomed out’, with very few passengers opting to buy them voluntarily, even though in some cases outside zone 6 they can be cheaper when used with a railcard. TfL’s contactless system does not currently provide a function for railcard discounts. He also went on to explain that season ticket sales have tanked - down from 1.2million per year in 2014 to 200,000 now.

The TfL senior manager went on to outline that there are now 10 different Oyster products available, and that although the proportion of people using Oyster cards is going down, Oyster is not yet “on the way out.” He added: “Much of our focus over the next few years is going to be on cliff-edge upgrades.” This will include replacing technology used in 4000 ‘Ticket Stop’ newsagents and bus garages across the city and Home Counties by 2025 as the ISDN communications network they use is being taken out of service, and replacing the current yellow and pink Oyster readers with more efficient ones. TfL is also “ensuring its systems support as a priority,” a government-backed rollout of contactless fares to 52 additional stations on the National Rail network across the Home Counties.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

TfL are to scrap paper tickets by 2024, according to a MyLondon report.

Or rather, that they will 'stop selling' them. I can't help feeling that this is slightly different in that it suggests to me that if you have a paper ticket (e.g. for crossing London between 2 National Rail stages of your journey) it will still be valid. Although that rather raises the question of how many NR journeys will be on paper if TfL is able to accept barcoded tickets on phones.

It also states that TfL platform tickets are to be abolished

Not in the version from your link that I've just read it doesn't. Can you point to where it says it please? (And I didn't know that a TfL platform ticket was actually a thing these days)

 

[mattdickinson]

Or rather, that they will 'stop selling' them. I can't help feeling that this is slightly different in that it suggests to me that if you have a paper ticket (e.g. for crossing London between 2 National Rail stages of your journey) it will still be valid. Although that rather raises the question of how many NR journeys will be on paper if TfL is able to accept barcoded tickets on phones.

Not in the version from your link that I've just read it doesn't. Can you point to where it says it please? (And I didn't know that a TfL platform ticket was actually a thing these days)

It's in the first slide shown, under '2023'.

 

[ThameslinkUser]

(And I didn't know that a TfL platform ticket was actually a thing these days)

If you go to any TVM on LU, using the search by destination function allows you to purchase a platform ticket for £1.

 

[matt_world2004]

Can't see them doing this between reading and west Drayton for some reason.

 

[mattdickinson]

Or rather, that they will 'stop selling' them. I can't help feeling that this is slightly different in that it suggests to me that if you have a paper ticket (e.g. for crossing London between 2 National Rail stages of your journey) it will still be valid. Although that rather raises the question of how many NR journeys will be on paper if TfL is able to accept barcoded tickets on phones.

)

TfL have wanted to decommission the magnetic card reader on gates for a long time.

After they have stopped issuing their own tickets, and at least some gates on each gateline were fitted with barcode readers, they would be able to stop accepting National Rail magnetic tickets.

 

[Cdd89]

If removing platform tickets is driven by the desire to eliminate magnetic card stock/ readers, all they have to do is cap the same-station-exit fee to £1 (or whatever is deemed appropriate). It’s already an example of an activity which is not cheaper using Contactless (unless you cap, in which case then it’s free).

I do occasionally use the function when meeting people at tube stations, when there aren’t other good places to sit and wait.

 

[geoffk]

What about one-day Travelcards?

 

[alistairlees]

What about one-day Travelcards?

I’m afraid these are very likely to disappear

 

[Fawkes Cat]

It's in the first slide shown, under '2023'.

So it is. Thank you.

 

[Dent]

How would that work for London Overground and Elizabeth Line stations, which are managed by TfL but can be the start of a journeys going out of the contactless area?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I’m afraid these are very likely to disappear

Outboundary ones disappearing means some big fare increases for some. Could they not be issued on ITSO instead? I think that's already possible?

If removing platform tickets is driven by the desire to eliminate magnetic card stock/ readers, all they have to do is cap the same-station-exit fee to £1 (or whatever is deemed appropriate). It’s already an example of an activity which is not cheaper using Contactless (unless you cap, in which case then it’s free).

I do occasionally use the function when meeting people at tube stations, when there aren’t other good places to sit and wait.

Platform tickets are basically an invitation to fare-dodge. Though I do think same-station exit should be free (not £1) provided it's only after a short period of time during which no realistic journey would be feasible (say 20 minutes), because that would save the faff of fixing things if one changes one's mind due to disruption, and would also allow people to walk through some stations e.g. Earl's Court where this can be convenient without a risk of them sneaking onto a train while doing so.

 

[Benjwri]

utboundary ones disappearing means some big fare increases for some. Could they not be issued on ITSO instead? I think that's already possible?

The article says they’re being replaced by e-tickets, could outboundary tickets not be issued on this?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The article says they’re being replaced by e-tickets, could outboundary tickets not be issued on this?

I don't think TfL want significant numbers of people going round the system all day on barcodes, they are significantly slower to process and would cause queues.

 

[mattdickinson]

I don't think TfL want significant numbers of people going round the system all day on barcodes, they are significantly slower to process and would cause queues.

The extension of contactless acceptance should eventually cover most of the out-boundary One Day Travelcards.

 

[Benjwri]

The extension of contactless acceptance should eventually cover most of the out-boundary One Day Travelcards.

Where do you see the contactless acceptance being expanded too?? It's up to the TOCs how far they offer them, and although some admittedly don't offer them much further than project Oval, other TOCs, such as GWR, offer them far further. As far as I'm aware GWR offer them on every flow to London that they set fares on, you can certainly get one from Penzance, yet there are no imminent plans to even extend contactless to Didcot.

I don't think TfL want significant numbers of people going round the system all day on barcodes, they are significantly slower to process and would cause queues.

I've never found them that slow, certainly I wouldn't say any slower than putting your ticket in and waiting for it to be spat back out.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The extension of contactless acceptance should eventually cover most of the out-boundary One Day Travelcards.

Eventually, yes, but the first phase won't (that only goes to Tring on the WCML, for instance, the NSE boundary is Long Buckby).

I've never found them that slow, certainly I wouldn't say any slower than putting your ticket in and waiting for it to be spat back out.

They're not slower to read, they're slower because people faff about more.

 

[Haywain]

Where do you see the contactless acceptance being expanded too?? It's up to the TOCs how far they offer them, and although some admittedly don't offer them much further than project Oval, other TOCs, such as GWR, offer them far further. As far as I'm aware GWR offer them on every flow to London that they set fares on, you can certainly get one from Penzance, yet there are no imminent plans to even extend contactless to Didcot.

The point is that most outboundary Day Travelcards sold will be from closer to London, and therefore within the Project Oval area. And if the withdrawal of paper tickets manages to coincide with railcard discounts being able to be linked to payment cards very few people will be affected. If Penzance loses the day Travelcard option it will result in a very small increase in what a day out in London would cost, so the impact on more distant stations is negligible.

I've never found them that slow, certainly I wouldn't say any slower than putting your ticket in and waiting for it to be spat back out.

They are slower than the transit speed that is required at central London underground stations.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The point is that most outboundary Day Travelcards sold will be from closer to London, and therefore within the Project Oval area. And if the withdrawal of paper tickets manages to coincide with railcard discounts being able to be linked to payment cards very few people will be affected. If Penzance loses the day Travelcard option it will result in a very small increase in what a day out in London would cost, so the impact on more distant stations is negligible.

Very true. However, Northampton or Milton Keynes Central losing it would be less than acceptable until contactless reaches there, which it may not for some time. (Long Buckby is a bit arbitrary).

 

[Benjwri]

The point is that most outboundary Day Travelcards sold will be from closer to London, and therefore within the Project Oval area. And if the withdrawal of paper tickets manages to coincide with railcard discounts being able to be linked to payment cards very few people will be affected. If Penzance loses the day Travelcard option it will result in a very small increase in what a day out in London would cost, so the impact on more distant stations is negligible.

Penzance was an intentional distant choice, but there are many GWR stations that are closer with no plans for rollout further than Reading as far as I have heard. Certainly I would say Didcot and Oxford are pretty essential.

 

[Haywain]

Northampton or Milton Keynes Central losing it would be less than acceptable until contactless reaches there,

Not so much if you have the ability to put them on smartcards.

 

[Benjwri]

And obviously the effect of this is further expanded by the lack of railcard support, which although planned has no commitment, and certainly won't be happening before the planned end of paper tickets.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not so much if you have the ability to put them on smartcards.

Agreed, ITSO would be fine, but total abolition was being suggested.

 

[Alex365Dash]

The point is that most outboundary Day Travelcards sold will be from closer to London, and therefore within the Project Oval area. And if the withdrawal of paper tickets manages to coincide with railcard discounts being able to be linked to payment cards very few people will be affected. If Penzance loses the day Travelcard option it will result in a very small increase in what a day out in London would cost, so the impact on more distant stations is negligible.

Being just outside the Project Oval boundary, I don’t mind it too much because the boundary has to be somewhere. Whilst I could get a bus into the boundary at not much additional time, the withdrawal of outboundary Day Travelcards from my local station would be disappointing in terms of the loss of flexibility, and I imagine probably more than disappointing for those further out of the boundary for which a day trip to London is not only feasible, but realistic i.e. Lewes or Shoreham.

I’d be happy having outboundary Day Travelcards as ITSO-only products though, provided that the full range of outboundary Day Travelcards (including GTR’s Super Off-Peak Day Travelcards) becomes available on ITSO and I don’t just end up getting a price rise through the backdoor from having to buy Off-Peak ones instead.

 

[miklcct]

Penzance was an intentional distant choice, but there are many GWR stations that are closer with no plans for rollout further than Reading as far as I have heard. Certainly I would say Didcot and Oxford are pretty essential.

The correct plan is to roll out to about 60 km out of Central London, which reaches Reading and Aylesbury but not Didcot, Milton Keynes. Extending it to the outer suburbs within about 90 km will cover like Oxford, Didcot, Brighton, Ashford, etc., but where should be the boundary? In the current "inner suburban" plan there are basically no Advance tickets available, but from the outer suburban places mentioned above, there are Advance tickets between them and London.

Please don't tell me this being a way to implement an underhanded fare increase or to force people onto Advance tickets instead.

 

[Haywain]

I’d be happy having outboundary Day Travelcards as ITSO-only products though, provided that the full range of outboundary Day Travelcards (including GTR’s Super Off-Peak Day Travelcards) becomes available on ITSO and I don’t just end up getting a price rise through the backdoor from having to buy Off-Peak ones instead.

Changes are inevitable, and I think some of us will have to suffer the loss of some products.

 

[island]

It also states that TfL platform tickets are to be abolished

Collectors may be unhappy, but there's no legitimate use case for platform tickets that could not be resolved by reducing the same station exit fee.

 

[Benjwri]

Collectors may be unhappy, but there's no legitimate use case for platform tickets that could not be resolved by reducing the same station exit fee.

The issue is that it's quite likely TfL will bin the fares and not reduce the fee.

 

[Wallsendmag]

The extension of contactless acceptance should eventually cover most of the out-boundary One Day Travelcards.

Even Doncaster?

 

[mattdickinson]

Even Doncaster?

I did say "most" not "all"....