The Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry has intervened after an “unreasonable” £100 fine was imposed on a rail traveler who arrived at London Stansted Airport and believed he could pay with a contactless card.
Rail passengers arriving at the capital’s third busiest airport will not be allowed to tap out their London Oyster cards or contactless bank cards.
However, travelers from London to Stansted will be able to enter using contactless cards at Liverpool Street and Tottenham Hale stations, giving ticket inspectors the opportunity to face penalties.
In 2019, independent watchdog group London Travel Watch revealed that 16,000 people were given penalty fares at Stansted Airport. Michael Roberts, chief executive of London Travelwatch, said: “It is clear that passengers continue to be unfairly penalized for not knowing that contactless payments are no longer accepted at London Stansted Airport. That’s wrong.”
“London as its name suggests”
“With ‘London’ in the name, you would very reasonably assume that people would be able to tap out using a contactless card. Especially at the beginning of a trip, using a contactless card to tap in. Yes, if that were allowed.”
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch is the MP for the Saffron Walden constituency, which covers the Stansted area. Her spokeswoman said Mrs Badenoch would “inquire directly with Greater Anglia and the Department for Transport regarding contactless card readers at Stansted Airport Station”.
Another MP accused rail company Greater Anglia of trying to “hunt” its customers.
Rail fare penalties will be added to the cost of the relevant ticket by £100. An ‘anytime’ ticket from London Liverpool Street to Stansted costs £21.40. This means passengers who mistakenly use a contactless card to travel to the airport will have to pay a total of £121.40.
If paid within 21 days, the penalty will be reduced to £50 on top of the ticket price.
Around 9.7 million people used London Stansted Airport station last year, with the majority of passengers traveling from London.
London Conservative transport spokesman Keith Prince accused Greater Anglia of profiting from fare fines.
“Make millions”
Mr Prince, a member of the London Assembly, said: ‘Rail operators are making millions of dollars by charging punitive fares to passengers who arrive at Stansted without a valid ticket.
“The train operator says they have signs in place to warn passengers, but clearly the signs are not working. It’s sneaky.”
Liberal Democrat transport spokeswoman Wella Hobhouse said: “What are rail companies doing to try to capture their customers?”
“Passengers should not be heavily penalized just for making an honest mistake. Ministers and rail companies need to sort out this mess and ensure contactless travel is rolled out on this route,” the MP added. .
Greater Anglia did not say how many passengers it had penalized at Stansted since the pandemic, or how much profit it had made from penalty fares.
A spokesperson for the railway company blamed the government for not being able to accept contactless cards at Stansted, saying: Such steps are dependent on receiving the necessary funding and approval from the Department of Transportation. ”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “It is Greater Anglia’s responsibility to inform customers how to pay their fares and we encourage passengers to check this before traveling.”
You can pay for trains to other airports such as London Heathrow and London Gatwick using your contactless card.
income protection team
Greater Anglia said in a statement in October that it had indicted 500 people suspected of fare cheating on its trains, saying: “Those who will go to trial will not have a ticket or intend to buy a ticket. Greater Anglia’s Revenue Protection Team has independent discretion when checking tickets.”
Social media posts suggest Stansted passengers who made honest mistakes are being penalized regardless.
One user of website X, formerly known as Twitter, posted in May 2023: [like] Many people did not see the gate with the warning. Stansted has a £71 penalty fare for short journeys. It’s not transparent! ”
Another post from 2022 said: “I feel completely cheated today. I tapped in in good faith at Liverpool Street and checked with the agent at the gate when I tapped in. And at Stansted Airport… On arrival I was fined £40 like a criminal. What a scam! People beware.”
Greater Anglia is the only railway company in the UK that is financially profitable and does not require government subsidies.