Passengers will soon be able to pay for journeys on Heathrow Express using contactless and Oyster cards, as well as mobile devices after the introduction of new ticket barriers at Heathrow and Paddington.
The new barriers will be in use from 19 February and mean passengers will no longer be required to purchase a ticket online ahead of time or at the station. Contactless fares will be the same as Peak or Off-Peak Express Single tickets, depending on the time of travel.
However, the route is not included in the current daily or weekly fare capping seen on Transport for London (TfL) services. Children aged 15 and under can travel on Heathrow Express for free when they tap in with their Zip Oyster card.
Heathrow Express says the best value fares will still be available online or via the company’s mobile app, and with barcode scanners now available at every ticket barrier customers who purchase tickets online or via the app no longer need to print out their ticket.
Passengers travelling in Business First class can also use contactless payment by touching in and purchasing an upgrade from the on-board team, according to Heathrow Express.
In addition, Heathrow Express worked in partnership with TfL to install new multilingual ticket machines at Heathrow to allow customers to purchase, top up or refund an Oyster card.
Les Freer, director of Heathrow Express, said: “Speed is everything to Heathrow Express customers, so the introduction of contactless and Oyster offers quick and easy ways to pay for your journey.”
Shashi Verma, director of strategy and CTO at TfL, added: “Half of all Tube and rail pay-as-you-go journeys are now regularly made using contactless payment because it is so quick and easy. We are committed to making paying for transport easier for everyone and this extension means that all rail services within Greater London now accept payment via Oyster and Contactless. We continue to work with the Department for Transport to support their aspirations to further expand the benefits of this world-renowned ticketing system to other key locations outside of London.”
heathrowexpress.com