16.08.19
Metrolink customers complete 170k trips using contactless system
Since its launch four weeks ago, more than 170,000 journeys have been made using the new contactless payment system on the Metrolink network in Manchester.
Proving particularly popular on event days, the new, easy-to-use payment system saw significant usage in August during the Lancashire 20/20 cricket match with Yorkshire and Manchester United’s opening Premier League fixture at home to Chelsea.
Contactless cuts out the need to buy a paper ticket or download the app, with passengers simply required to use their contactless-enabled devices, such as bank cards, phones and watches, to ‘touch-in’ and ‘touch-out’ at tram stops at the start and end of their journey, with the system working out their fare, up to a daily cap.
READ MORE: Metrolink projects rated as excellent after new assessment
READ MORE: Half of London Tube and train journeys made with contactless
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has seen the programme’s initial launch prove to be a huge success, though some customers are not ‘touching-out’ at the end of their journey, resulting in them being charged an incomplete journey fare of £4.60 – the maximum fare for a single journey. This charge does not get included as part of the maximum capped daily price of £7.
TfGM’s customer director, Stephen Rhodes, said: “Contactless is a really simple and convenient way for people to pay for journeys on Metrolink and it’s great to see so many people have already taken to it.
“We recognise this is a different way of paying for travel and it will take some people a little while to adapt, which is why our customer information has an emphasis on the need to ‘touch-in’ and ‘touch-out’.
“As people get used to it, we hope it will become second nature, but anyone who is really concerned about forgetting is still able to use all the other options that were previously available to pay for their travel.”