TFL admits ‘small number’ of ticket machines will not be ready for new £1 coin

TRANSPORT for London has admitted that a “small number” of its ticket machines will not be ready for the new £1 coin - but that it doesn’t expect it to be a major problem.

TFL, which has 1,000 machines across London's tube network, estimates that around 5 per cent of its machines will not be ready for the launch of the new pound.

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The new 12-sided £1 coin enters circulation next Tuesday 28 March, and while the current £1 coin won’t be phased out until October 15 this year, the Royal Mint has already started withdrawing them.

Shashi Verma, chief technology officer of TFL, told The Sun Online: “There are some machines that can’t be modified - around 50 of our total network of 1,000 machines.

“They will be taken out of service in due course and replaced with new ones. They are in stations where there are alternative machines.

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“We foresee a smooth transition. With any changes there are always a few issues but we don’t expect major problems”.

The project to modify ticket machines ready for the launch of the new £1 coin has cost TFL around £250,000.

Verma added: “Fake coins cost us a lot money too. The fact that the Bank of England is taking steps to stop counterfeiting is a good thing - and it will save us money in the long run”.

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But a spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, said: “Train companies have worked with the their ticket machine suppliers and the Bank of England to make sure that machines are ready to accept the new pound coin, just as they did with the new £5 note.”

It comes weeks after drivers were warned that tens of thousands of car parking meters won’t accept the new £1 coin.

Around a quarter of the UK’s 100,000 pay and display machines won’t be updated by next week, the British Parking Association said.

Last month, the majority of UK supermarkets confirmed to The Sun Online that their trolleys would accept the new 12-sided coin.

Millions of vending machines are also being adapted to accept the new pound.

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