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Rail passengers who were incorrectly overcharged by Transport for Wales’ new ‘tap-in, tap-out’ payment system have been promised a refund, after a glitch.

Since November last year, passengers travelling across the South Wales Metro system, which includes the Rhymney and Ebbw Valley lines, have been able to use their bank card or mobile to ‘tap in and out’ to pay for their journey.

The method is 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.

However, an error in the system saw some passengers overcharged recently.

A spokesperson for TfW said: “Due to a technical error with the Pay As You Go system on Wednesday January 22, a number of customers were charged the incorrect amount for their journeys.
“The issue has been resolved and fares have now been recalculated. Anyone who was overcharged has been issued an automatic refund.

“We apologise to any customers affected for the inconvenience this may have caused.”

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.

Price capping through the zones

For more information visit the TfW website.