Merseyrail Tap & Go

[Bletchleyite]

It allows you to enter and exit a station (as in the name lol), and I've done it a few times now to see people off on platforms or to even simply use the water dispensers in Liverpool Central on a hot day. Kind of useless for most people but it's quite cool if you want to try!

A very useful use case for that would be to use the toilets, though I suppose Central is so close to Lime St that you can just go to the latter where they are "landside" anyway.

 

[gray1404]

I don't think this is documented anywhere and people may/may not have noticed so I'd like to share...

Tap & Go with Merseyrail has a £0.00 "Same Station Entry and Exit" fare. I spoke with customer support and I've tested it myself, and if you tap in and out of the same station between 2-30 minutes (2 minutes to avoid an accidental tap and 30 minutes to avoid an incomplete journey), you can get this fare.

It allows you to enter and exit a station (as in the name lol), and I've done it a few times now to see people off on platforms or to even simply use the water dispensers in Liverpool Central on a hot day. Kind of useless for most people but it's quite cool if you want to try!

I've only tried this on my Metrocard so keep that in mind, I'm unsure if it works on cEMV but I don't see why not.

I've done this at Liverpool Central within 30 seconds and received a £0.00 charge. Accidentally tapped in with a bank card when I had a ticket already. Of course there is an entry barrier and an exit barrier so there was no need to wait two minutes.

 

[Northerngirl]

I don't think this is documented anywhere and people may/may not have noticed so I'd like to share...

Tap & Go with Merseyrail has a £0.00 "Same Station Entry and Exit" fare. I spoke with customer support and I've tested it myself, and if you tap in and out of the same station between 2-30 minutes (2 minutes to avoid an accidental tap and 30 minutes to avoid an incomplete journey), you can get this fare.

It allows you to enter and exit a station (as in the name lol), and I've done it a few times now to see people off on platforms or to even simply use the water dispensers in Liverpool Central on a hot day. Kind of useless for most people but it's quite cool if you want to try!

I've only tried this on my Metrocard so keep that in mind, I'm unsure if it works on cEMV but I don't see why not.

Im not sure if anywhere else has the same policy, but it seems very rational in my mind. There's very little way of abusing it but it thinks about people that might have made inocent mistakes, or if there is disruption and they chose to go a different way(I wonder if there would be a charge if it checked by staff during the window).

 

[gray1404]

Yes, mine was a genuine mistake and it was useful.

 

[Formby EMU Fan]

This is documented on Merseyrails website under the Tap and go FAQs.
https://www.merseyrail.org/tickets-passes/tap-and-go/
Look for “what if I decide I don’t want to travel after I have tapped in?”

If you tap in to begin a new journey and decide not to travel you can tap out at the same station within 30 minutes and you will not be charged for your journey.

If your second tap is 30 minutes after your first tap, it will be assumed that you have made two separate journeys, both of which will be marked as incomplete, and you will be charged two maximum fares from that station.

If you did try to abuse this feature, e.g travel one stop up the line and back again within 30 mins, I’m sure staff would query on the return journey how you had tapped in at a station the train had not yet called at!

 

[Fawkes Cat]

you did try to abuse this feature, e.g travel one stop up the line and back again within 30 mins, I’m sure staff would query on the return journey how you had tapped in at a station the train had not yet called at!

The Wirral Loop...

 

[cool110]

Im not sure if anywhere else has the same policy, but it seems very rational in my mind. There's very little way of abusing it but it thinks about people that might have made inocent mistakes, or if there is disruption and they chose to go a different way(I wonder if there would be a charge if it checked by staff during the window).

The Netherlands, that's been their answer to gating stations where the footbridge/underpass is a major thoroughfare

 

[Cdd89]

Im not sure if anywhere else has the same policy, but it seems very rational in my mind. There's very little way of abusing it but it thinks about people that might have made inocent mistakes, or if there is disruption and they chose to go a different way(I wonder if there would be a charge if it checked by staff during the window).

London/TfL has the same thresholds, but instead of charging £0 in the 2-30 range it charges the minimum fare from that gateline.

Maybe this difference is a function of service frequency and how gated the network is; in London there would be some niche opportunities for fare evasion based on a 30 minute round trip with an ungated station at the destination, so it ensures at least some revenue is collected.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Today at 22:26 ==

The Netherlands, that's been their answer to gating stations where the footbridge/underpass is a major thoroughfare

Feltham temporarily had this arrangement a few years ago while the adjacent bridge was rebuilt. I think this was done with a paper pass system, however, rather than a Heathrow-like concession in the Oyster/Contactless system.

 

[Haywain]

Im not sure if anywhere else has the same policy,

With a KeyGo card I can cross my local station by using the two gatelines on opposite sides, which saves a significant walk, and no charge is incurred.