Pay as you go with contactless extension FAQs

Pay as you go with contactless is an alternative way to pay for an adult rate journey by touching in and out with a contactless card or device.

Contactless is fast, flexible and simple. It means that:

• All you need to travel is your contactless card or device
• No need to queue for a ticket, buy a ticket or top up before you travel
• Seamlessly switch between different trains, Tube, buses and trams
• Only pay for the journeys you make
• Benefit from daily and Monday to Sunday capping into and within London
• We’ll work out the best adult fare for you on the day

The launch date of Pay as you go with contactless is to be confirmed.

There are 12 more SWR stations that will be getting pay as you go with contactless, these stations are:

• Ashford (Surrey)
• Datchet
• Egham
• Kempton Park
• Shepperton
• Staines
• Sunbury
• Sunnymeads
• Upper Halliford
• Virginia Water
• Windsor & Eton Riverside
• Wraysbury

Pay as you go with contactless is being rolled out to another 47 National Rail stations across the South East. You will be able travel between these stations as well as on London Underground, DLR, London Buses, London tram and National Rail services within the London travel zones (1-9) where contactless is accepted.

Find out where you can travel with pay as you go with contactless.

No, you do not have to travel inside a London zone to use contactless. As long as you only travel on services within the contactless pay as you go area, where stations have contactless card readers, you can pay as you go with a contactless card or device. The contactless pay as you go area is distinct from SWR’s Tap2Go scheme which offers pay as you go across most of the SWR network on our Touch Smartcard. For details of this, please visit https://www.southwesternrailway.com/train-tickets/tap2go.

This is the first phase of this initiative. There are plans to roll out pay as you go with contactless to other National Rail stations across the South East in the future.

Find out more about the pay as you go with contactless extension

No, pay as you go with contactless is being expanded to 47 National Rail stations across the South East but they are not becoming part of the London zones.

If your station already has contactless then you will be able to continue to travel using contactless. You will also be able to travel further using pay as you go with contactless.

Anyone with a contactless card or device can pay as you go with contactless if you are travelling within the contactless area and your destination has a contactless card reader. You’ll be charged an adult fare.

All major credit and debit cards are accepted by contactless card readers, as long as your card shows the contactless payment symbol, you can use it to pay as you go at an adult rate. Many contactless cards issued outside of the UK can also be used to pay as you go (overseas transaction fees may apply).

You can also pay using a contactless enabled phone, watch, key fob, sticker or wristband, but you must touch in and out with the same device.

Find out more about accepted contactless cards.

No, you must use the same payment method or device to touch in and out for us to be able to calculate the best fare for you. If you touch in with a contactless card and touch out with a mobile device, this will show as two incomplete journeys, meaning you’ll be charged the maximum fare for each device.

No, travel is only permitted in Standard Class. Where First Class is available, you’ll need to buy tickets to travel in First Class.

No, Railcard discounts are not available when you pay for a journey with contactless. If you have a Railcard, it may be cheaper to buy a ticket for your journey.

You cannot use a contactless card or device to pay for multiple people. You need to use a separate contactless card or device to pay for each person's journey. If you are travelling as a group, it may be cheaper to buy tickets for your journey.

If you use a contactless card or device to pay for your journey you will be charged an adult fare; concessionary and child fares are not available with pay as you go with contactless. You can still buy traditional tickets with a concessionary or Child discount. Children under 5 travels for free.

Pay as you go with contactless payments will be processed by Transport for London (TfL) to enable connectivity across the London travel zones (1-9). Therefore in order to extend pay as you go with contactless across the south east, there needs to be alignment with Transport for London’s (TfL) peak and off-peak times.

For journeys where contactless is available, pay as you go with contactless fares into and around London are based on the Transport for London peak times and are determined by the time you touch in with your contactless card or device:

• Morning peak fares are charged 06:30 to 09:30, Monday to Friday on all pay as you go with contactless journeys.
• Evening peak fares are charged 16.00 to 19.00 Monday to Friday when travelling from or via any station within the London Zones 1-9.
• Off-peak fares are charged at all other times.

If you are travelling towards a London station with contactless, the evening peak times will not apply and you will be charged an off-peak fare. However if you change trains within the London Zone 1-9, you may be subject to a peak fare.

Yes, the new peak and off-peak times will still affect journeys where pay as you go with contactless is available, even when travelling with paper or e-tickets. However, there will be a slight variation in the morning peak times and some of the conditions, for example:

• Morning peak times apply 04:30 to 09:30, Monday to Friday when travelling with a traditional ticket. The new evening peak restrictions between 16:00 - 19:00 will still apply.
• Your fare is determined by the departure time of your train(s), not by when you purchase your ticket.
• Your ticket needs to be valid for every train you’re travelling on. If you change trains during your journey and the departure time of any of your trains is in the peak period, you will need to buy an Anytime ticket.

For journeys where contactless is available, there have been some adjustments to fares regardless of whether you use contactless pay as you go or buy a ticket for your journey. For example:

• Fares are calculated as single journeys, with the single fares costing half of a return fare.
• Evening Out and Sunday Out tickets are no longer available.

Pay as you go with contactless fares are based on a single journey between 2 stations. To keep the price of tickets and pay as you go with contactless as similar as possible, Single tickets now cost around half the price of a Return ticket, whether you pay as you go or buy a ticket for your journey.

We’ve also aligned evening peak restrictions on tickets and pay as you go with contactless, for journeys where pay as you go with contactless is available. Evening peak times apply 16.00 to 19.00, Monday to Friday, if you are travelling from or via a London station.

Pay as you go with Contactless fares typically cost the same as an adult rate ticket bought on the day of travel.

Pay as you go with contactless may not always be the cheapest way to pay for your journey. When you pay with a contactless card or device, you will be charged the cheapest adult fare for your journey. Therefore:

• If you have a Railcard or are eligible for other discounts (like a Child discount), it may be cheaper to buy a ticket for your journey. Currently discounts cannot be applied to pay as you go with contactless.
• If you make the same journey regularly, buying a Season ticket (weekly, monthly, annual or Flexi Season) may be better value.
• If you usually make a point-to-point journey (e.g. Staines to Clapham Junction) and you do not require a Travelcard, buying daily tickets or using Tap2Go may offer better value. Tap2Go also offers weekly capping on point-to-point journeys.

Find your pay as you go with contactless fare.

Find out if you save with a Season ticket.

If you make multiple journeys into and within London, you may be eligible for a single day or weekly (Monday to Sunday) capping when you pay as you go with contactless. This means that when your contactless journeys add up to a certain amount in a day or week (Monday to Sunday), you will not be charged any more.

Find out more about capping

When your contactless journeys into and within London add up to a certain amount in a day or week (Monday to Sunday), you will not be charged any more. Remember to continue to touch in and out for every journey you make.

• A pay as you with contactless go daily cap is calculated over 24 hours, starting at 04:30 and ending at 04:29 the next day.
• A pay as you with contactless go weekly cap is calculated when you use the same contactless card or device to pay for all your journeys throughout the week, starting at 04.30 on Monday and ending at 04.29 the following Monday.
  For maximum benefit, start using your contactless card or device on a Monday.

Your contactless fare is capped at either a peak rate if you make any journeys before 09:30 Monday to Friday, off-peak rate or a Monday to Sunday rate. This means if you usually make a point-to-point journey (e.g. Staines to Clapham Junction) and you do not require a Travelcard, Contactless with capping may not be the cheapest way for you to pay for your journey.

Please note, capping is not available for pay as you go with contactless journeys that don't include travel in London Zones 1 to 9.

Yes, you can still buy tickets for your journey.

Yes, you can still buy a return ticket using traditional ticketing methods (paper, e-tickets, smart tickets). However, with the introduction of morning and evening peak fares on journeys where contactless is available, it may be better value to buy 2 single tickets rather than a return ticket.

For example, if you travel during peak time in 1 direction and an off-peak time in the other, then a Peak Single plus an Off-Peak Single will be cheaper than an Anytime Day Return.

You can continue to use your Oyster card on routes where it is currently accepted. However, Oyster will not be accepted at the additional 47 National Rail stations across the South East which are getting contactless.

See where you can use Oyster on the London Rail and Tube services map.

Yes, you can still use your smartcard. Paying with your smartcard or buying and loading a ticket on your smartcard may be cheaper than paying with your contactless card or device if you can apply a discount.

Find out more about the SWR Touch smartcards.

Find out more about Tap2Go.

We have simplified our fares so that now there is just one peak and one off-peak price on journeys where contactless is available.

It depends on your circumstances and preferences. As currently you cannot apply a Railcard or other discount when you pay as you go with contactless, it may be cheaper to continue using your SWR Touch Smartcard. Our Tap2Go product also offers point to point fares and weekly capping based on these fares: https://www.southwesternrailway.com/train-tickets/tap2go

Depending on how often you travel and where you’re travelling to, it may be better value to buy a Season ticket (weekly, monthly, annual or Flexi Season) rather than using Monday to Sunday capping with contactless.

Find out if you save with a Season ticket.

If you think you’ve been charged incorrectly, please follow the steps below:

1. Check the correct fare by using TfL’s single fare finder.
2. Check the details of your charge by creating a Transport for London (TfL) account or logging in to your existing account.
3. If you still feel you’ve been charged incorrectly, please contact TfL:
• https://contactless.tfl.gov.uk/
• Telephone: 0343 222 1234

No, Automated Delay Repay is not available when you pay as you go with contactless. Instead, you can apply for Delay Repay compensation through the train company you travelled with by providing a statement showing your disrupted journey from Transport for London (TfL).

Access up to 7 days of journey history from the TfL website.

For more than 7 days of journey history, set up a TfL account.

If your journey is delayed and you paid with contactless, you can apply for Delay Repay by providing us with a statement of your journey from Transport for London (TfL).

Access up to 7 days of journey history from the TfL website.

For more than 7 days of journey history, set up a TfL account.

If your problem is related to payments, unexpected charges, or refunds, please contact Transport for London (TfL) who process all contactless payments on:

• Telephone: 0343 222 1234
• Or via https://contactless.tfl.gov.uk/