[title]
Remember when we told you that Stansted and Southend airports would finally catch up to the rest of London’s airports and introduce contactless payments? Well, it looks like that’s actually not going to happen for a little while longer.
Stansted and Southend were both supposed to start rolling out tap-in-tap-out tech from December 14 alongside 48 other stations in the southeast of England. The move would have meant that people would no longer face fines of up to £100 at Stansted Airport for not realising that they couldn’t use contactless payment for Stansted Express like they can across the rest of London (though there are big red signs at Liverpool Street and Tottenham Hale stations warning you).
But the plans have now been delayed. On Wednesday (December 3), Greater Anglia announced that it’s postponing part of its contactless rollout until summer 2026. Thirty stations across the southeast, including Stevenage, Luton, Oxted and Reigate, will still join the contactless network next week, but the remaining 20, including Stansted and Southend will have wait.
Greater Anglia said that during testing for the technology, issues arose that could have affected the price paid and prevented the technology from working as intended. Contactless fares have to be fully integrated into Transport for London’s fare system in order for the machines to work properly, but this hasn’t been done in time for the initially planned rollout. The train operator said that ‘additional work is required to ensure this integration is seamless and delivers a reliable experience for customers’.
Martin Beable, Greater Anglia’s Managing Director, added: ‘We understand how frustrating it is when improvements like this are delayed, and I am very sorry for the disappointment this will cause some of our customers. It is essential, however, that contactless ticketing works reliably from day one.
‘Our teams are working closely with our partners to complete this work as quickly as possible, and we remain committed to introducing contactless ticketing across these additional stations by summer 2026.’
ICYMI: Train ticket prices in England are being frozen in 2026 – but will tube fares in London still rise?
Plus: the London Congestion Charge will increase in price next year for the first time since 2020.
Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.