More than 150,000 rail passengers have used a new pay-as-you-go ticketing system in South Wales. Transport for Wales (TfW), the transport body of the Welsh Government, became the first train operator outside London and the south-east of England to introduce the convenient pay scheme.
In November the tap in, tap out technology was made available at 95 railway stations throughout south Wales, with fares starting at £2.60.
The new technology provides customers with automatic daily and weekly capping, offering a significant saving against standard anytime singles and seven-day season tickets.
Similar technology, offering tap on, tap off ticketing is also being used for bus services in north Wales and recent figures indicate that more than 40% of transactions are now through this new paying method.
Three years ago, TfW – which operates train services on the Wales and Border network – launched a single integrated ticket, valid for both bus and rail services, enabling faster and cheaper travel between south Wales and Aberystwyth.
Recent figures reveal that between April and December last year, approximately 7,000 people used the integrated ticket for journeys between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales Ken Skates said: “I am delighted that more and more passengers are opting for pay as you go, making the most of a simpler and fairer way of paying for their rail and bus tickets.”
Alexia Course, chief commercial officer at TfW, said: “We want to offer customers the fastest, easiest and cheapest ticket offer and tap on, tap off ticketing allows us to do this.
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“We are proud to be one of the first train operators outside of London to be using this technology at 95 of our stations across south Wales.
“This was one of our huge promises around the South Wales Metro and it’s now been delivered and has become our fastest-selling product.
“We’re using similar technology for bus services in north Wales and our integrated ticketing model, joining both bus and rail with one ticket, is continuing to be successful.
“These are all fundamental steps as we move forward in developing our vision of a public transport network that offers ‘one network, one timetable, one ticket’.”