TFW introduces Pay As You Go in South East Wales

[A S Leib]

Oyster!

At least I count it

I think I forgot about that one because of familiarity. I had to remember what GTR's and SWR's were called.

 

[trigpoint]

Shrewsbury had new barriers with a yellow disc, so I assume PAYG but where to from Shrewsbury? All of the other local stations are unstaffed with no barriers.
I'm already not a fan because the scanner for QR tickets is low down so I now need to stop and bend down, not the previous scan my phone without stopping.

 

[PeterC]

KeyGo (Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern) and Tap2Go (SWR) are two pre-existing cases; I don't know of any others.

But those require a dedicated smart card.

No doubt, once it takes off, the gutter press will start stories about people being "ripped off" because they registered the discount on a bank card and used a credit card.

 

[Edvid]

Shrewsbury had new barriers with a yellow disc, so I assume PAYG but where to from Shrewsbury?

No plans to extend TfW PAYG to Shrewsbury yet. TfW switched supplier so gates / validators at all the stations they manage are being replaced.

 

[AdamWW]

The 'closed' pilot of Railcard discounts on PAYG is now an open pilot. Anyone who creates or has a registered account can submit their Railcard details and the discount will be enabled within 48 hours.

Do I understand this correctly? Having registered a railcard you pay either the railcard "paper ticket" price for a day's journeys or the adult PAYG price, depending on which is cheaper?
I.e. the railcard does not discount the PAYG prices.

I'm not sure how this is consistent with the message I see on the TfW app saying "You can link your railcard to your pay as you go account and get automatic discounts every time you travel". (my bold).

I'm surprised there's not more publicity around this? Unless there is and I've missed it. Beating London to enabling this seems pretty newsworthy.

Perhaps because it's still in the trial phase?

 

[positron]

You get valid discounts automatically I don't think that wording is all that misleading?

Yes you do understand correctly if a single or return (or I guess also season ticket) is cheaper than the PAYG fares they've worked out for you then you get the cheaper fares. Otherwise you'll get the PAYG standard rate (which is often already discounted TBF)

 

[AdamWW]

You get valid discounts automatically I don't think that wording is all that misleading?

Yes you do understand correctly if a single or return (or I guess also season ticket) is cheaper than the PAYG fares they've worked out for you then you get the cheaper fares. Otherwise you'll get the PAYG standard rate (which is often already discounted TBF)

You've said it yourself - in some cases you get the PAYG standard rate, i.e. it's not a discounted fare.

The fact that a standard PAYG fare can be cheaper than a paper fare doesn't make it discounted in the way the industry normally uses the term.

If you normally use PAYG because you make journeys where it's cheaper than a railcard discounted paper ticket, then linking your railcard gets you absolutely nothing. Not "an automatic discount every time you travel".

 

[Coleridge]

I've just been able to add a Railcard to my PAYG account in the TfW app. It was very straightforward.

But how do they validate the railcard details? I was under the impression that there is no central railcard database.

 

[AdamWW]

I've just been able to add a Railcard to my PAYG account in the TfW app. It was very straightforward.

But how do they validate the railcard details? I was under the impression that there is no central railcard database.

Maybe when doing a validation tap it flags the railcard and the guard can ask to see it?

 

[Daniel Boone]

I've just been able to add a Railcard to my PAYG account in the TfW app. It was very straightforward.

But how do they validate the railcard details? I was under the impression that there is no central railcard database.

I accidentally entered an incorrect expiry date for my railcard while setting it up and the app declined it. So there must be some kind of validation at that stage to ensure your details are correct.

 

[Edvid]

But how do they validate the railcard details? I was under the impression that there is no central railcard database.

If it works like the TOC smartcard PAYG schemes Railcard details are manually checked and added to the back-office thereafter. After the expiry date it'll be expunged automatically.

If you mean your Railcard status showing up in a cEMV inspection, I've no idea.

 

[Snow1964]

But those require a dedicated smart card.

Where physical railcards are issued, would it not be better to issue it on a smart card.

Feels very disjointed, when can have railcard discounts, but need to add it to an additional separate card, rather than being embeded into the railcard until expiry date.

Sometimes I think the railway goes out of its way to making customer experience complicated. Surely not impossible to have both on same card (oyster 60+ is bit like that, one card for age discount, same card for tap and go)

 

[positron]

I've just been able to add a Railcard to my PAYG account in the TfW app. It was very straightforward.

But how do they validate the railcard details? I was under the impression that there is no central railcard database.

Why wouldn't their be a central database? The digital ones at least are all purchased on the same website? I kinda assumed there was but maybe wishful thinking.

 

[Coleridge]

Why wouldn't their be a central database? The digital ones at least are all purchased on the same website? I kinda assumed there was but maybe wishful thinking.

It's just the impression I got from casually reading hundreds of threads in the Disputes and Prosecutions forum.

 

[AdamWW]

If you mean your Railcard status showing up in a cEMV inspection, I've no idea.

Is that when you tap your card on the guard's reader on a train?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Oct 2026 ==

The digital ones at least are all purchased on the same website? I kinda assumed there was but maybe wishful thinking.

I thought that you could also purchase them via some 3rd party ticket sellers.

 

[Edvid]

Is that when you tap your card on the guard's reader on a train?

Yes, as in contactless EMV. EMV is based on the technical standard (created by Europay, Mastercard and Visa - hence the acronym) for 'chipped' payment cards and compatible payment terminals.

I thought that you could also purchase them via some 3rd party ticket sellers.

You can - Trainsplit and Trainline are two of them.

 

[chrisjo]

Surely not impossible to have both on same card

There is no TFW 'card'. You use your debit/credit card physically or in your phone wallet.

 

[Wuggie Norple]

It's very disappointing that TfW are not giving Railcard discount on PAYG fares. I had assumed it would, like with Oyster cards. Seems like a bit of a chiz really.

 

[Christian Schm]

The 'closed' pilot of Railcard discounts on PAYG is now an open pilot. Anyone who creates or has a registered account can submit their Railcard details and the discount will be enabled within 48 hours.

Railcards | Transport for Wales

Transport for Wales | Buy Cheap Train Tickets and Check Train Times

tfw.wales

TfW have updated their FAQs to include further information on the Railcard pilot. In addition there is now a section on pink readers, quoted below:

Personally I would like to see the 2-together railcard added to the list, though I guess that may be quite complicated with PAYG...

 

[positron]

It's very disappointing that TfW are not giving Railcard discount on PAYG fares. I had assumed it would, like with Oyster cards. Seems like a bit of a chiz really.

They're already a discounted fare for the most part and where they're not you are getting a Railcard discount. So it's not super unfair. Though obviously it'd be nice if they could be *even* cheaper.