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Rail passengers travelling across the South Wales Metro system, which includes the Rhymney and Ebbw Valley lines, can now use their bank card or mobile to ‘tap in and out’ to pay for their journey.

The new method is now available at 95 Transport for Wales (TfW) stations throughout south Wales, including all Valleys lines and on routes to Bridgend, Maesteg, the Vale of Glamorgan, Abergavenny and Chepstow.

TfW says it is the first train operator outside of London and the South East of England to introduce the paying system.

There is automatic daily and weekly price capping, which means savings can be made when compared to purchasing a ticket. However, passengers must tap in and out using the same payment method, otherwise they might be charged twice.

For example, a return journey to and from Caerphilly and Cardiff costs £7 instead of £8.70.

Conductors now carry a card reader which checks if a passenger has tapped in at the start of their journey.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates added: “This is another significant milestone towards our ambition to transform our railways and build a world-class metro service which enables us to deliver high-quality ‘turn up and go’ services for passengers.”

Alexia Course, Chief Commercial Officer at Transport for Wales said: “Since launching Pay As You Go as a trial at the beginning of the year we’ve already seen more than 65,000 people choosing this simple and cost-effective way to pay for their travel.”

Price capping through the zones

For more information visit the TfW website.