Sir James Duddridge KCMG, Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East, has welcomed the introduction of contactless payments on c2c services from Southend to London.
Sir James has long campaigned to modernise the c2c line, with tap-in and tap-out ticketing, to bring the line into the 21st Century. In February, while Richard Holden MP, Minister for Roads and Local Transport, visited Southend, Sir James pressed the need to implement contactless payments and ticketing.
The inclusion of the c2c line is part of a roll-out across 53 stations in the South-East of England and is enabled by £20 Million of government funding. The roll-out will mean passengers will no longer have to worry about if they are getting the best price or queuing up waiting for a ticket when their train is about to arrive.
Commenting on the news, Sir James said,
“I am delighted that tap-in tap-out ticketing is due to be introduced to the c2c line by the end of the year. This will be a big step in modernising the line by making ticketing simpler and more flexible for passengers.
“For years, I have campaigned to see the line benefit from ‘oysterisation’, and I am pleased that as technology moves on, we can introduce contactless payment methods instead.”
