Thousands of rail passengers are set for more convenient journeys as contactless payments and Oyster pay as you go travel is extended to Abellio Greater Anglia services to and from Hertford East station.

The move, which comes into force today, is part of Transport for London's (TfL's) work to make life easier for customers. It will see Rye House, St. Margarets, Ware and Hertford East stations along the Hertford East line all accepting contactless and Oyster.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: `Integrating fares on this route with the wider transport provided by TfL makes perfect sense and ties in with our mission to make getting around our city easy for everyone, no matter where they live. I'm delighted that more people can now enjoy the benefits of contactless payments and Oyster, which offer a more convenient way to travel.'

Currently an Anytime Day Return ticket from Hertford East to London Liverpool Street costs £15.70. With contactless payments or Oyster pay as you go customers will pay £15.20 for the same journey during peak times.

TfL's Director of Customer Experience, Shashi Verma, said: `This is just one of the many contactless and Oyster projects we are working on to make paying for transport easier for everyone travelling in the Capital and beyond. Over 20% of our pay as you go customers use contactless payment already because it is so quick and easy. There's no need to top-up, you just touch in and out with your credit or debit card.'

Andy Camp, Commercial Director, Abellio Greater Anglia said: `We are very pleased to introduce contactless and Oyster along the Hertford East line. This initiative provides increased flexibility for our customers and reflects the feedback we have received along the route, seeking the availability of Oyster and contactless pay as you go as soon as it was practical.'

In March this year, TfL was named the fastest growing Visa contactless payments merchant in Europe. This was only six months after the launch of contactless payments on Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, and most National Rail services in London. Contactless payments have been accepted on London Buses since December 2012. TfL developed the contactless technology needed to travel on its services in-house and is leading the way with over 200 million contactless journeys made on services since it launched in September 2014.

  • Each day there are about 375,000 contactless journeys on Tube and Rail services and 250,000 on London Buses.
  • One in ten contactless transactions in the UK are made on TfL's services, making TfL one of the largest contactless merchants worldwide.