Merseyrail Tap & Go

[RichardAsh1981]

This morning I’ve been charged for an Anytime return. Was half expecting it to treat the Moorfields to Central journey separately and not get the concept of a break of journey, so I’m pleasantly surprised.

That is really helpful. I couldn't find anything on their website which explained peak time fares on the system (when the day saver is not valid). It would have been a great deal more expensive to have been charged for an anytime single (10p less than the anytime return!) and then an off peak single or day saver home (as Merseyrail has no evening peak).

Moorfields and Central are both in the Liverpool Stations group, which further complicates things ...

 

[Skie]

That is really helpful. I couldn't find anything on their website which explained peak time fares on the system (when the day saver is not valid). It would have been a great deal more expensive to have been charged for an anytime single (10p less than the anytime return!) and then an off peak single or day saver home (as Merseyrail has no evening peak).

Moorfields and Central are both in the Liverpool Stations group, which further complicates things ...

I do think they need a TFL style Travelcard with a peak/off peak version to avoid the honking great costs single peak trips can add.

I travelled 4 times recently, once in peak. The 3 off peak trips (just back and forth from my local station into Moorfields/Central) were capped on a single area daysaver (£4.80) but the single journey at peak was £4.85

 

[Edvid]

I couldn't find anything on their website which explained peak time fares on the system (when the day saver is not valid).

On Merseyrail the peak-time window is defined as 0631-0929 Mon-Fri. Based on preceding posts in this thread even tapping in shortly before the window counts as off-peak for Tap & Go purposes.

I do think they need a TFL style Travelcard with a peak/off peak version to avoid the honking great costs single peak trips can add.

True, though the 1-day Saveaway already exists for off-peak travel.

 

[Bletchleyite]

True, though the 1-day Saveaway already exists for off-peak travel.

There did used to be an "All Day Saveaway" in the 1980s but I'm not sure why it went away. There were also off peak season tickets (Zone Tickets, the forerunner of the Trio), which you often get in Germany but are very rare here.

 

[Edvid]

As of today Tap & Go journeys can also be made with contactless cards and devices.

However this excludes travel to/from Chester, for which MetroCards remain the sole Tap & Go medium. It appears the Cubic gates there remain in use, and as TfW manage the station I assume Merseyrail would have to enter a contract with them for their replacement with Vix gates and any operational adjustments (validation records for revenue apportionment etc) that would be needed.

Tap & Go: quicker, easier smart ticketing | Merseyrail

There’s no need for paper tickets or queues - just tap your MetroCard when you start and end your journey on a platform validator or ticket gate. No queues, no fuss, let's go!

www.merseyrail.org

 

[Bungle965]

t appears the Cubic gates there remain in use

For now! They'll be replaced at some point with Vix

 

[Statto]

As of today Tap & Go journeys can also be made with contactless cards and devices.

However this excludes travel to/from Chester, for which MetroCards remain the sole Tap & Go medium. It appears the Cubic gates there remain in use, and as TfW manage the station I assume Merseyrail would have to enter a contract with them for their replacement with Vix gates and any operational adjustments (validation records for revenue apportionment etc) that would be needed.

Tap & Go: quicker, easier smart ticketing | Merseyrail

There’s no need for paper tickets or queues - just tap your MetroCard when you start and end your journey on a platform validator or ticket gate. No queues, no fuss, let's go!

www.merseyrail.org

That's going to catch a few out that travel to Chester.

 

[vjm1975]

As of today Tap & Go journeys can also be made with contactless cards and devices.

However this excludes travel to/from Chester, for which MetroCards remain the sole Tap & Go medium. It appears the Cubic gates there remain in use, and as TfW manage the station I assume Merseyrail would have to enter a contract with them for their replacement with Vix gates and any operational adjustments (validation records for revenue apportionment etc) that would be needed.

Tap & Go: quicker, easier smart ticketing | Merseyrail

There’s no need for paper tickets or queues - just tap your MetroCard when you start and end your journey on a platform validator or ticket gate. No queues, no fuss, let's go!

www.merseyrail.org

Luckily someone at Chester Station mentioned this to me last week. This will catch a lot out. I hope a solution is found pretty quickly.

I’m trying it out today to Liverpool and back. Tapped in fine at Ellesmere Port

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2026 ==

Update. Just had a ticket check on train. They have no idea how to check a contactless payment so giving benefit of the doubt for now but say you could be at risk of a penalty fare if revenue protection get on.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Update. Just had a ticket check on train. They have no idea how to check a contactless payment so giving benefit of the doubt for now but say you could be at risk of a penalty fare if revenue protection get on.

That should really be a problem for Merseyrail rather than for the passenger. But probably time for the D&R board to gird its loins and get ready to advise when/if cases start coming in.

(Edited to add): I see from https://www.merseyrail.org/tickets-passes/tap-and-go/ that it's possible to register your card or payment device:

You don't need to register to use Tap & Go, unless you're tapping with a MetroCard. However, creating an account gives you access to helpful features like viewing your journey and payment history.

By registering for an account on the MetroSmart website, you can also add any missing taps and get access to customer support when you need it.

It's the easiest way to keep track of your travel and stay in control of your Tap & Go activity.

If this works like the TfL equivalent, then it would be good advice for anyone incorrectly issued a penalty fare to register their card, so that they can submit proof that they'd tapped in when they were PF'd.

If it works like TfL does...

 

[Bletchleyite]

That should really be a problem for Merseyrail rather than for the passenger. But probably time for the D&R board to gird its loins and get ready to advise when/if cases start coming in.

Agreed. Is there really no scope to put a standalone reader by the gateline and have staff watch people using it and let them out (but not in) having explained that they probably should get a MetroCard for now? PFing for this piece of confusion, or worse prosecuting for it, would be typical Merseyrail but is really quite problematic.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Agreed. Is there really no scope to put a standalone reader by the gateline and have staff watch people using it and let them out (but not in) having explained that they probably should get a MetroCard for now? PFing for this piece of confusion, or worse prosecuting for it, would be typical Merseyrail but is really quite problematic.

I think we're talking at slightly cross purposes, although I don't disagree that Chester needs sorting out somehow or another. But I'm taking it that @vjm1975 has been warned of the risk of a PF on their journey from Ellesmere Port to Liverpool - which also needs sorting out without inconveniencing passengers (and ideally without leaving a thumping great hole in revenue protection: who will be the first scally to wave their granny's wildly out of date credit card at an RPI and swear that they tapped in with it?)

 

[ThisIsSurbiton]

Update. Just had a ticket check on train. They have no idea how to check a contactless payment so giving benefit of the doubt for now but say you could be at risk of a penalty fare if revenue protection get on.

Entirely their problem. I hope the revenue people are better informed than that.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think we're talking at slightly cross purposes, although I don't disagree that Chester needs sorting out somehow or another. But I'm taking it that @vjm1975 has been warned of the risk of a PF on their journey from Ellesmere Port to Liverpool - which also needs sorting out without inconveniencing passengers (and ideally without leaving a thumping great hole in revenue protection: who will be the first scally to wave their granny's wildly out of date credit card at an RPI and swear that they tapped in with it?)

If RPIs are going to PF people who present a credit card and say they tapped in with it, then there's no hope for humanity. There is no basis on which such a PF could be valid (unless they had not in fact tapped in), and an appeal would succeed immediately.

The way it works elsewhere (e.g. Metrolink) is that RPIs have devices on which you tap your card to validate it. These aren't online to the gatelines/station readers, but instead record that revenue inspection, and if it comes up as a failed inspection (you hadn't touched in) then a failed inspection fee (basically a PF) is charged to the card. It does leave a gap in terms of someone going around with a blocked card or zero balance, but if one is encountered it is then blacklisted when the billing fails (which would be visible on the inspection device) and so it would be flagged up next time and a PF issued. The only sneaky workaround to that is using virtual cards, but as those are only generally offered on premium bank accounts the scope for it to be misused would be limited, and I suspect a bank seeing virtual cards created and deleted daily would probably fairly quickly start a fraud probe of their own.

 

[Mike395]

TfL at least do seem to block PAN ranges for known single-use cards - I accidentally attempted to tap in with a Revolut one a couple years back and got a 'Contact Issuer' (80) response back from the gateline.

 

[Bletchleyite]

TfL at least do seem to block PAN ranges for known single-use cards - I accidentally attempted to tap in with a Revolut one a couple years back and got a 'Contact Issuer' (80) response back from the gateline.

I use a Monzo virtual card (not single use, but you can create/delete them at will) for all my Apple Pay use including TfL, and it works fine (I do this to make things easier if there's card fraud, with separate ones for different purposes). I don't know if all banks put genuine single use ones in the same range, but if they do that seems sensible to avoid that specific issue.

 

[Edvid]

Update. Just had a ticket check on train. They have no idea how to check a contactless payment so giving benefit of the doubt for now but say you could be at risk of a penalty fare if revenue protection get on.

To clarify - do you mean they had no contactless inspection devices at all?

Here's a Merseyrail reply to someone (you?) on Twitter:

Our Revenue Protection Team now has new devices that help us check Tap & Go journeys quickly and securely. When you tap your card, phone or watch, the device simply confirms whether you’ve started a Tap & Go journey, including where and when you tapped in.

 

[vjm1975]

Yes. This was said to me by the train manager heading to Liverpool. Looks like revenue protection teams do (Will that include Carlisle Security?) so the suggestion that a penalty fare may be in the offing was merely conjecture.

Hope they get the Chester situation sorted though.

 

[Djgr]

Yes. This was said to me by the train manager heading to Liverpool. Looks like revenue protection teams do (Will that include Carlisle Security?) so the suggestion that a penalty fare may be in the offing was merely conjecture.

Hope they get the Chester situation sorted though.

Yes Chester is going to prove a problem. Perhaps they could provide the gateline with some technology?

Certainly there needs a to be a Plan B to rescue travellers.

 

[Edvid]

For now! They'll be replaced at some point with Vix

Ah, they must be preparing for the upcoming North Wales TfW PAYG scheme too (reminded by @mattdickinson's post in the other thread). Accommodating two separate cEMV PAYG schemes in the same station surely requires more work than one which helps explain why Chester still has Cubic gates at present.

Presumably the North Wales / Tap & Go schemes will also share Littlepay's payment backend, but if the Tap Converter is still needed to integrate them the Chester anomaly will persist beyond 2026.

 

[Wallsendmag]

TfW have VIX gates don't they shouldn't be difficult to add them to Chester

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Ah, they must be preparing for the upcoming North Wales TfW PAYG scheme too (reminded by @mattdickinson's post in the other thread). Accommodating two separate cEMV PAYG schemes in the same station surely requires more work than one which helps explain why Chester still has Cubic gates at present.

Sorry for tangenting, but will this be the first place where two separate PAYG schemes meet? If so, it will be interesting to see how through passengers from (say) Wrexham General to (say) Bache will be dealt with: I'm assuming that 'leave through the barriers then tap back in' won't be the plan.

 

[waveyswirley]

Glad they've got this sorted. It is worth noting however that outside of peak times, passengers with a Railcard will still be better off buying tickets in person or from one of the machines, as it will be cheaper for almost every possible journey on the network given that there is currently no way to link a bank card with a Railcard

 

[Wallsendmag]

Sorry for tangenting, but will this be the first place where two separate PAYG schemes meet? If so, it will be interesting to see how through passengers from (say) Wrexham General to (say) Bache will be dealt with: I'm assuming that 'leave through the barriers then tap back in' won't be the plan.

Theres a RDG project to have a Tap Converter that will handle this sort of thing

 

[CyrusWuff]

Theres a RDG project to have a Tap Converter that will handle this sort of thing

If only they could persuade TfL to use it!

 

[Wallsendmag]

If only they could persuade TfL to use it!

Youre funny

 

[Edvid]

On the MetroSmart portal contactless passengers can review the usual 7 days of journey history as a guest and longer than that if registered (EDIT: Only 8 weeks apparently). For reference registered TfL/TfW contactless passengers can review 12-13 months.

Sorry for tangenting, but will this be the first place where two separate PAYG schemes meet?

Within the UK / for cEMV, I believe so.

 

[Starmill]

TfL at least do seem to block PAN ranges for known single-use cards - I accidentally attempted to tap in with a Revolut one a couple years back and got a 'Contact Issuer' (80) response back from the gateline.

For research purposes, I tapped in and out with a One4All Gift Card from Heathrow Central to Heathrow T5 (I did also have a Travelcard, which had been used to get there in the first place, so in the extraordinarily unlikely event of an on train check, couldn't have been penalised). It did actually work to my astonishment.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2026 ==

Yes. This was said to me by the train manager heading to Liverpool. Looks like revenue protection teams do (Will that include Carlisle Security?) so the suggestion that a penalty fare may be in the offing was merely conjecture.

It sounds like it's a one-off from a completely clueless guard to me.

 

[lfc84]

One for all aren't gift cards. Despite being branded and advertised as such. They're visa cards.

 

[Northerngirl]

For research purposes, I tapped in and out with a One4All Gift Card from Heathrow Central to Heathrow T5 (I did also have a Travelcard, which had been used to get there in the first place, so in the extraordinarily unlikely event of an on train check, couldn't have been penalised). It did actually work to my astonishment.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2026 ==


It sounds like it's a one-off from a completely clueless guard to me.

From my experience they seem to have very varied levels of knowledge, some get it but some seem confused even by the metrocard, but I find it hard to believe anyone could ever be fined because of untrained staff.

 

[chris53]

What is someone supposed to do if they travel to Chester operating on the assumption that they can tap out? What do they do at the Chester end? Is there any information provided at stations or on trains to let them know the situation? This is the first I am hearing of it