• East Scotland contactless scheme launched today (6 December) by Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson
• All 460 vehicles in East Scotland fleet now equipped with tap and go payment technology
• Tickets up to the value of £30 can be purchased using contactless payments

Stagecoach East Scotland has launched contactless payments on over 460 vehicles across Fife, Perthshire, Dundee and Angus.

Contactless payment machines have been fitted to all Stagecoach vehicles, speeding up boarding and offering a more convenient payment method for customers to buy bus tickets from the driver. This will also provide an additional payment option for bus users alongside existing cash payments, mobile tickets and smart ticketing.

The launch of contactless payments is part of a £12m UK wide investment by Stagecoach into delivering contactless technology and Stagecoach East Scotland is the final operating company to launch this form of payment on board their services.

Millions of Stagecoach passengers now have access to contactless bus travel after the company completed the roll-out of the technology which now covers 7,400 vehicles operating within Stagecoach’s regional bus businesses in Scotland, England and Wales.

More than 100 depots were completed during the last 100 weeks with the final depots in East Scotland being fitted at the end of November.

The Stagecoach scheme is the single largest contactless merchant in Europe, after Transport for London.

Stagecoach East Scotland also invested in handheld contactless machines for conductors on our Tayway 73 route which operates from Dundee to Arbroath via Ninewells Hospital, Monifieth and Carnoustie.

The Tayway 73 remains the only route outside London that still has conductors on board collecting fares.

The company hope that by offering conductors the ability to accept contactless payments with their new handheld machines, that this continues to assist with speeding up boarding times and providing improved customer service to passengers.

Today (Friday 6 December) marked the completion of the scheme as contactless was launched across Stagecoach East Scotland by Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson.

Welcoming the technology, he said: “Additional smart contactless payment means that more people can choose bus as their sustainable form of transport, knowing that this modern and easy option for buying tickets is now available.

“Contactless payment has quickly become a standard method of payment for many people and this investment by Stagecoach provides a simple and more convenient payment method for customers. By completing this national roll out to transition to contactless payment, I’m pleased to see Stagecoach making it even easier for people to travel across Scotland and beyond, whether purchasing on the bus, through an app or via tickets on their smartcard.”

The Stagecoach programme allows all passengers to pay for their travel with a contactless credit or debit card, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay devices. Figures show that almost two-thirds (63%) of people in the UK now use contactless payments.

Jon Oakey, Acting Managing Director for Stagecoach East Scotland, said: “We have the largest contactless payment scheme outside of London, with hundreds of thousands of payments being made using contactless technology on our buses across the country, so I’m delighted to offer this payment opportunity for our passengers in East Scotland.

“Along with traditional cash payments, our StagecoachSmart card and mobile ticketing through our Stagecoach Bus smartphone app, we are giving customers choice about how they want to buy their travel and making it even easier and more convenient to travel by bus.”

To promote the launch of contactless payments in East Scotland, the company will be out and about in the following locations with giveaways and information throughout December:

• Saturday 8 December – 12-5pm: Kingdom Shopping Centre, Glenrothes
• Sunday 9 December – 11-3pm: Fife Central Retail Park, Kirkcaldy
• Saturday 15 December – 12-5pm: Kingsgate Shopping Centre, Dunfermline
• Sunday 16 December – 10-5pm: St John’s Shopping Centre, Perth

Stagecoach would like to remind customers that there are some alterations to bus timetables over the Christmas and New Year period across the region.

These changes can be found within the festive timetable which is available to collect from Stagecoach travel shops or viewed online at stagecoachbus.com.