Merseyrail Tap & Go

[stuart100100]

I can't remember where but I did see something that suggested that because of how the capping works it only bills once a week.

Never mind they've just taken the payment and emailed me, so it must be daily

 

[Djgr]

Yes, Merseytravel have set a very short expiry date on the cards. I think it's five years, and it seems to happen regardless of whether the card is used or not. I know my most recent MetroCard has expired and the only option is to pay £1 for a new one.

In the context of rapid technological change, I wouldn't say a five year lifespan was "very short".

 

[JBuchananGB]

Managed to create my MerseyRail Tap & Go account, then tried to add the old Walrus card to the account and received the error message:

An error has occurred​

We could not associate this card with your account. It might already be associated with another user

Now that is probably because it is too old. Meanwhile I visited my local station and collected some ToD tickets previously ordered online.

 

[niconico]

I've used this system a couple times now, and I'm honestly shocked at how well it's worked considering it's Merseytravel. Something I find odd is that it charges around 10-11am the day after, which seems quite late, especially considering you could start journeys well before that time (though I presume they'd still be charged the day after), so you could do 2 days worth of journeys without paying once.

Something I've been wondering is how it would work if you, say, tapped on at Chester, then tapped off somewhere in Merseyside, then bought a Saveaway onto the card. Would you be charged for the initial journey on top of the Saveaway or would the taps be ignored because "the card has a Saveaway on it so the journey was free/already paid for"? Could be worth trying.

 

[gray1404]

I've used this system a couple times now, and I'm honestly shocked at how well it's worked considering it's Merseytravel. Something I find odd is that it charges around 10-11am the day after, which seems quite late, especially considering you could start journeys well before that time (though I presume they'd still be charged the day after), so you could do 2 days worth of journeys without paying once.

Something I've been wondering is how it would work if you, say, tapped on at Chester, then tapped off somewhere in Merseyside, then bought a Saveaway onto the card. Would you be charged for the initial journey on top of the Saveaway or would the taps be ignored because "the card has a Saveaway on it so the journey was free/already paid for"? Could be worth trying.

Just buy a paper saveaway at Chester

 

[niconico]

Just buy a paper saveaway at Chester

I've had experiences where some bus drivers reject paper Saveaways despite them being valid (I've complained to operators online and they verify that the driver should accept it but it continues to happen, albeit rarely), and the magnet on my phone invalidating them so entering and exiting stations (especially when they're super busy) can be a major pain. The metrocard has been really great for this because I can enter/exit really easily without having to faff around, but Chester's ticket office doesn't let you buy them, and PayPoints outside of Merseyside don't let you buy them either. Also keeping track of a paper ticket can be annoying sometimes in general lol

 

[Formby EMU Fan]

I had to buy a Metrocard yesterday to purchase a Saveaway as I was told at Formby Station ticket office that they no longer sell Saveaways as paper tickets. As I had the card I activated the account today so that I could use Tap & Go, only to find that I now have several missed tappings from yesterday as I only tapped at the ticket barrier in Liverpool City Centre (including Lime Street Main Line concourse) as I was under the impression you did not need to Tap in/out for journeys made using a Saveaway. I then tried to correct this only to find that the City Line Stations aren't accepted (as they are not Merseyrail). I have now sent an enquiry to Merseytravel and awaiting response. (In hindsight I should have just bought a return ticket to my City Line Destination, but I wanted the Flexability to use the buses as well).

 

[JBuchananGB]

A Saveaway on a Metrocard is valid across Merseyside including on the City Line, and on buses and ferries. Are you sure they actually put the Saveaway on the card when you bought it? Tap-and-Go is only valid on MerseyRail Northern and Wirral lines. Really only a substitute for a Daysaver.

 

[WirralLine]

I have tried to tap a Metrocard loaded with Saveaway on a validator at Wavertree Technology Park before now and it just says not valid or something, it seems only Merseyrail validators recognise them.

On the tap and go site it says if you have a Saveaway etc loaded onto the card you must now tap in and out for every journey if the card is setup for tap and go.

Ive just activated 2 Metrocards for tap and go this week, one as an adult and one as a child. Took them for a trial run the other night and all seems to work well. My only issue is the next day it emailed me twice to advise the payment had been taken from my bank card successfully. Not sure if this can be turned off by logging in and changing something, but if you are using it for journeys daily (as my daughter will be for school), it is going to spam my inbox with payment confirmations. No unsubscribe or preferences option on the bottom of the email.

I can see Chester station causing some issues - they have yellow Merseyrail validators at the bottom of the footbridge on platforms 7A and 7B. These would be used presumably for tapping if you are changing trains. However I can see people tapping out on the reader, going over the bridge, then tapping again on the gate to exit. Would this then complete a journey and then the gate tapout class as an end of journey without a tap in / start of a new journey resulting in some sort of uncompleted journey penalty? (or the opposite way around, entering by tapping on the gate then tapping again on the validator on p7 before boarding).

 

[Formby EMU Fan]

A Saveaway on a Metrocard is valid across Merseyside including on the City Line, and on buses and ferries. Are you sure they actually put the Saveaway on the card when you bought it? Tap-and-Go is only valid on MerseyRail Northern and Wirral lines. Really only a substitute for a Daysaver.

I'm fairly sure as today the account is showing the Saveaway as "Expired" with yesterdays date.

 

[Djgr]

I had to buy a Metrocard yesterday to purchase a Saveaway as I was told at Formby Station ticket office that they no longer sell Saveaways as paper tickets. As I had the card I activated the account today so that I could use Tap & Go, only to find that I now have several missed tappings from yesterday as I only tapped at the ticket barrier in Liverpool City Centre (including Lime Street Main Line concourse) as I was under the impression you did not need to Tap in/out for journeys made using a Saveaway. I then tried to correct this only to find that the City Line Stations aren't accepted (as they are not Merseyrail). I have now sent an enquiry to Merseytravel and awaiting response. (In hindsight I should have just bought a return ticket to my City Line Destination, but I wanted the Flexability to use the buses as well).

Merseyrail stations haven't issued Saveaways as paper tickets for perhaps five years!

I don't think Saveaways are directly related to Tap and Go, as you will already have paid in advance for your travel with a Saveaway. You certainly don't need to register for Tap and Go to use a Saveaway on a Metrocard.

With any tickets on a Metrocard such as a Saveaway you will need to tap it at barriered stations e.g. Liverpool city centre stations, Chester, Southport, Hamilton Square and buses but this is not the same as Tap and Go.

Tap and Go currently only applies to journeys solely on Merseyrail ("electrics").

Unless your journey is solely on Merseyrail or in peak hours and doesn't include the "City lines" (from Liverpool to Rainford, Newton-le-Willows, Garswood, Hough Green, Liverpool South Parkway via mainline), Southport to Meols Cop on Northern, TfW Borderlands to Heswall, the buses or the ferries then Saveaways will generally continue to be the better option.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't think Saveaways are directly related to Tap and Go, as you will already have paid in advance for your travel with a Saveaway. You certainly don't need to register for Tap and Go to use a Saveaway on a Metrocard.

I think what's in question here is how Saveaways and Tap and Go coexist on the same card. This is meant to work, but there could well be edge cases where it doesn't, just as there are for when you've got a Travelcard and PAYG on the same Oyster card.

It does seem that if you have Tap and Go on the same card as your Saveaway that creates an effective requirement to tap both in and out rather than just to pass any gatelines/inspections, as otherwise you get unresolved journeys which could be a problem. I can't see it being a problem on the City Lines, though, as the Tap and Go product has no validity there so the system should really know that if you tap in at Lime St gateline you are not starting a Tap and Go journey, or if you tap out there you haven't failed to end one, aside from the very small number of places where you can switch between the two without passing a gateline (is that just Hunts Cross (is there a platform validator there?) and Southport*?)

* I can't imagine many people using a Saveaway to go from Southport to Meols Cop, but you can. Not technically the City Line but it is a Northern service on which TaG isn't accepted and which you can reach without passing a gateline. I wonder how a tap in at Southport with no corresponding tap out on a card containing both a Saveaway and TaG would handle travel between Southport and Meols Cop on the Saveaway...maybe they didn't think of that one!

 

[Djgr]

I think what's in question here is how Saveaways and Tap and Go coexist on the same card. This is meant to work, but there could well be edge cases where it doesn't, just as there are for when you've got a Travelcard and PAYG on the same Oyster card.

It does seem that if you have Tap and Go on the same card as your Saveaway that creates an effective requirement to tap both in and out rather than just to pass any gatelines/inspections, as otherwise you get unresolved journeys which could be a problem. I can't see it being a problem on the City Lines, though, as the Tap and Go product has no validity there so the system should really know that if you tap in at Lime St gateline you are not starting a Tap and Go journey, or if you tap out there you haven't failed to end one, aside from the very small number of places where you can switch between the two without passing a gateline (is that just Hunts Cross (is there a platform validator there?) and Southport*?)

* I can't imagine many people using a Saveaway to go from Southport to Meols Cop, but you can. Not technically the City Line but it is a Northern service on which TaG isn't accepted and which you can reach without passing a gateline. I wonder how a tap in at Southport with no corresponding tap out on a card containing both a Saveaway and TaG would handle travel between Southport and Meols Cop on the Saveaway...maybe they didn't think of that one!

I would have thought that having a Saveaway on the Metrocard for a particular day would "disable" the Tap and Go charging for the duration of the validity of the Saveaway?

Perhaps there might be an issue with a Saveaway which isn't All Zones, as this wouldn't automatically cover the whole of the Merseyrail ("electrics") network?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Sep 2025 ==

* I can't imagine many people using a Saveaway to go from Southport to Meols Cop, but you can. Not technically the City Line but it is a Northern service on which TaG isn't accepted and which you can reach without passing a gateline.

Surely you have a pass through a gateline at Southport-either in and out? Pretty sure any direct entry/exits to the Northern platform(s) have been blocked.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would have thought that having a Saveaway on the Metrocard for a particular day would "disable" the Tap and Go charging for the duration of the validity of the Saveaway?

Perhaps there might be an issue with a Saveaway which isn't All Zones, as this wouldn't automatically cover the whole of the Merseyrail ("electrics") network?

Allegedly it can cope with that, just charging fares for the bit outside the Saveaway validity, same as Oyster. It seems to be a lot better than

Surely you have a pass through a gateline at Southport-either in and out? Pretty sure any direct entry/exits to the Northern platform(s) have been blocked.

I meant you can enter at Southport then go to Meols Cop (and so not tap out), or you can change from Merseyrail there without passing a validator, unless there's one on the platform?

 

[WirralLine]

I think what's in question here is how Saveaways and Tap and Go coexist on the same card. This is meant to work, but there could well be edge cases where it doesn't, just as there are for when you've got a Travelcard and PAYG on the same Oyster card.

It does seem that if you have Tap and Go on the same card as your Saveaway that creates an effective requirement to tap both in and out rather than just to pass any gatelines/inspections, as otherwise you get unresolved journeys which could be a problem. I can't see it being a problem on the City Lines, though, as the Tap and Go product has no validity there so the system should really know that if you tap in at Lime St gateline you are not starting a Tap and Go journey, or if you tap out there you haven't failed to end one, aside from the very small number of places where you can switch between the two without passing a gateline (is that just Hunts Cross (is there a platform validator there?) and Southport*?)

* I can't imagine many people using a Saveaway to go from Southport to Meols Cop, but you can. Not technically the City Line but it is a Northern service on which TaG isn't accepted and which you can reach without passing a gateline. I wonder how a tap in at Southport with no corresponding tap out on a card containing both a Saveaway and TaG would handle travel between Southport and Meols Cop on the Saveaway...maybe they didn't think of that one!

Yes it does say on the website if you have tap and go enabled on your metrocard but are using a saveaway you have to tap in and out at all stops now. As you say if you tapped in at the gates at say Southport how would you then tap out if not travelling on Merseyrail? Complex!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes it does say on the website if you have tap and go enabled on your metrocard but are using a saveaway you have to tap in and out at all stops now. As you say if you tapped in at the gates at say Southport how would you then tap out if not travelling on Merseyrail? Complex!

I think that is the only edge case with a gateline where you can't avoid tapping in, so perhaps the fix for this is literally just a big sign saying "Travelling to or from Meols Cop using a Saveaway on MetroCard? Don't tap in or out, ask staff to let you through instead".

I don't *think* Hunts Cross has a gateline, does it?

I can't think of any other situation where you would have to pass a gateline but could access a Saveaway valid Northern service that isn't Lime St (and that is only for Northern so shouldn't be starting TaG journeys). The interchange cases can be dealt with by having platform validators as it seems to be suggested already exist in Chester and possibly elsewhere.

 

[Djgr]

I think that is the only edge case with a gateline where you can't avoid tapping in, so perhaps the fix for this is literally just a big sign saying "Travelling to or from Meols Cop using a Saveaway on MetroCard? Don't tap in or out, ask staff to let you through instead".

I don't *think* Hunts Cross has a gateline, does it?

I can't think of any other situation where you would have to pass a gateline but could access a Saveaway valid Northern service that isn't Lime St (and that is only for Northern so shouldn't be starting TaG journeys). The interchange cases can be dealt with by having platform validators as it seems to be suggested already exist in Chester and possibly elsewhere.

The one I can think of is TfW Borderlands from Bidston to Heswall. Presumably platform validators would work here

 

[Bletchleyite]

The one I can think of is TfW Borderlands from Bidston to Heswall. Oh and Headbolt Lane to Rainford

Those are interchanges which I guess can be dealt with by way of platform validators, a bit like the ones between the Tube and Thameslink at Farringdon (it's not like any of these challenges are new )

The issue I was thinking of mostly was where you would have to enter a Merseyrail gateline to reach a Northern service, and Southport is the only one I can think of. (Other Merseyrail managed interchanges with Northern e.g. Ormskirk and Headbolt don't have gatelines).

 

[Djgr]

Those are interchanges which I guess can be dealt with by way of platform validators, a bit like the ones between the Tube and Thameslink at Farringdon (it's not like any of these challenges are new )

The issue I was thinking of mostly was where you would have to enter a Merseyrail gateline to reach a Northern service, and Southport is the only one I can think of. (Other Merseyrail managed interchanges with Northern e.g. Ormskirk and Headbolt don't have gatelines).

Liverpool South Parkway has different gatelines for Merseyrail and everyone else I think

 

[WirralLine]

Interestingly ive just had an email for both my cards saying there is a missing touch out on my journey. I tapped in at Overpool then tapped out at Eastham Rake on the Liverpool platform validator, trial run for my daughters school journeys. The validator went green. Its auto guessed our journey based on the return touch in. Dodgy reader perhaps? Definitely displayed a green tick.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Liverpool South Parkway has different gatelines for Merseyrail and everyone else I think

It does indeed.

 

[Formby EMU Fan]

Some points I need to clarify here
1) On the day I travelled I had not enabled T&G. It was the day after that it was enabled.
2) It was the Mainline barrier at Lime Street that I tapped so that I could access/egress to/from the Northern services (Merseyrail physically can’t serve these platforms. Merseyrail platform at Lime Street has its own gate line.)
Anyway, I have presented the case to Merseytravel and I am awaiting there response.
As for Southport, there is no gate line between the Merseyrail and the Northern platforms, I don’t know if there is a validator on the platforms, so you do have a point with regard to Meols Cop.

 

[niconico]

I can see Chester station causing some issues - they have yellow Merseyrail validators at the bottom of the footbridge on platforms 7A and 7B. These would be used presumably for tapping if you are changing trains. However I can see people tapping out on the reader, going over the bridge, then tapping again on the gate to exit. Would this then complete a journey and then the gate tapout class as an end of journey without a tap in / start of a new journey resulting in some sort of uncompleted journey penalty? (or the opposite way around, entering by tapping on the gate then tapping again on the validator on p7 before boarding).

I've actually had issue with the Chester barriers! When I initially set-up my tap and go card, you still need to add the "ticket" to the Metrocard, which the ticket barriers can't do. I asked to go through and try the validators on the platform, and it added it to my card, and from there on the ticket barriers let me in and out fine! I also checked using an app on my phone to see if my hypothesis was right and I was.

I'm not too sure if it would let you out if you don't have a journey already active and you tried to exit using the barriers. The staff on the barriers are typically quite lenient so as long as you can prove that you tapped out at the on-platform validator close enough to when you try and exit, they'll check on their devices and see you're right and just let you through manually.

 

[plugwash]

The issue I was thinking of mostly was where you would have to enter a Merseyrail gateline to reach a Northern service, and Southport is the only one I can think of. (Other Merseyrail managed interchanges with Northern e.g. Ormskirk and Headbolt don't have gatelines).

There is also chester where you have to enter a TFW gateline to reach the merseyrail services.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There is also chester where you have to enter a TFW gateline to reach the merseyrail services.

I think that's being dealt with by way of platform validators?

 

[vjm1975]

At Chester you only need to use the main tickets gates unless changing trains, in which case use validator on Platform 7B. That's what Merseyrail told me anyway, not actually tried it as don't have a Metro Card and Ellesmere Port station never seems to be open to get one if I did want too. I'm more than likely to wait until contactless payments start.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Merseyrail won’t let you pair your Senior Railcard with a Tap & Go card. I suspect this is because Merseyside OAP residents get their rail travel for nowt. Unfortunately this is bad news for those of us living in Cheshire. If we use Tap & Go, we have to pay full whack. And, to add insult to injury, most of their Cheshire stations are unstaffed. So if you want your 33% discount, you have to factor in time to use the TVM, often on the far platform, or risk a penalty fare.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I received an email saying I had requested to close my Tap and Go account. I had not made such requests. Is there a timeout on how long it will persist without use?

 

[JBuchananGB]

Unfortunately this is bad news for those of us living in Cheshire.

Same thing affects me living as I do 400yds into Lancashire. But there are ways of using the Senior (or any) Railcard to undercut Tap & Go fares for certain journeys, and indeed other MerseyRail fares for which Railcard discounts are not applicable.

 

[Djgr]

Same thing affects me living as I do 400yds into Lancashire. But there are ways of using the Senior (or any) Railcard to undercut Tap & Go fares for certain journeys, and indeed other MerseyRail fares for which Railcard discounts are not applicable.

Merseyrail won’t let you pair your Senior Railcard with a Tap & Go card. I suspect this is because Merseyside OAP residents get their rail travel for nowt. Unfortunately this is bad news for those of us living in Cheshire. If we use Tap & Go, we have to pay full whack. And, to add insult to injury, most of their Cheshire stations are unstaffed. So if you want your 33% discount, you have to factor in time to use the TVM, often on the far platform, or risk a penalty fare.

I don't think that's the case because this limited functionality applies to all railcards.

I think Liverpool City Region seniors is a better term to use as the term OAP can be seen as offensive (as well as inappropriate to describe 60+)