Southend West MP Anna Firth is celebrating following the success of her long-running campaign to bring contactless ticketing to Southend stations.
The Department for Transport has announced that Leigh-on-Sea and Chalkwell stations are to be included in the 53 stations set to introduce tap-in tap-out ticketing by the end of the year.
Thanks to £20 million funding from the government, the use of bank cards or smart device to tap-in to travel will be made available for tens of thousands of passengers across the South East. Customers will no longer have to worry about planning ahead to get the best prices or fumbling on their phones and wallets to find the right ticket – instead they can use their bank card or smart device to just tap-in on the reader knowing they will automatically be guaranteed the best price available on the day of travelling.
As well as Chalkwell and Leigh-on-Sea Stations, contactless ticketing will be rolled out at Benfleet, Westcliff, Southend Central, Southend East, Thorpe Bay, and Shoeburyness, allowing hassle free travel throughout the Southend area and beyond.
Extending contactless ticketing to Leigh and Southend has been a key campaign for local MP Anna Firth.
As part of her campaign, Firth hosted a petition on her website and held rallies at Chalkwell and Leigh-on-Sea stations.
She has raised the topic in the House of Commons on four separate occasions, and has met with Rail Minister Huw Merriman on several occasions to call for tap-in ticketing in Southend West.
Firth has also met with the Chief Executive of c2c Rail, Rob Mullen, to call for contactless ticketing, and to discuss how this will be rolled out. At her most recent meeting with Mullen in June, Firth discussed how the proposals would be rolled out, including stressing the importance of maintaining traditional paper tickets alongside the contactless system, and retaining station staff.
Firth is campaigning for a number of other transport improvements in Southend West, including step-free access at Chalkwell Station and improving bus links across the city.
Commenting on the announcement, Anna said:
"I am absolutely delighted that contactless ticketing will be coming to Chalkwell and Leigh-on-Sea!
Like many of people in Southend West, I am a regular commuter into London, and this is going to make a huge difference in reducing the extra hassle that queuing up for your ticket, picking the right fare and then locating said ticket on your journey home brings. It will also help to ease the long queues we see at the stations during rush hour – it is incredibly dispiriting to see the train you are waiting for leaving the platform when you are still queuing for a ticket.
I have been calling for this to happen since before I was elected and I could not be more thrilled!
I want to thank everyone who has supported my campaign, especially all those who signed the petition on my website!
Of course, I know that many people do still prefer to use traditional paper tickets, and we all appreciate having face-to-face contact with station staff. Therefore, following today’s announcement I have contacted c2c and asked for their assurance that there are no plans to remove the option to use paper tickets nor to remove any members of staff from our stations."
Rail Minister Huw Merriman added:
“One of the best ways to get more people using our railways is to make journeys as simple, flexible and convenient as possible and the government’s programme for rail reform prioritises exactly that.
By removing the stress of finding the best deal in advance or having the right ticket ready to go at the barriers, the extension of tap-in tap-out ticketing is the next step of our plan for rail reform and we’re working towards Pay As You Go being rolled out beyond the South East through the Midlands and up to the North.”
Read more about the proposals here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/53-train-stations-to-benefit-from-tap-in-tap-out-rollout?fbclid=IwAR3u8-JoqJLYHFRMzpMbwx33At2qlm14AMhhuLaJVCETZBthyyPlw3iJCKw
