Stations in the West Midlands and Greater Manchester are to receive contactless ticketing equipment in two ‘pay as you go’ pilots launched by the Department for Transport.
The West Midlands scheme covers 75 stations in the Transport for West Midlands area and will use the region’s Swift smartcards. In Greater Manchester, the pilot will include 17 stations on the Glossop – Manchester Piccadilly and Stalybridge – Manchester Victoria routes. This scheme will use contactless bank cards and devices, and is intended to support wider ambitions to deliver multi-modal fares and ticketing integration across bus, tram, rail and cycle hire.
Launch is planned for 2025, while Pay as You Go schemes in the South East area expected to be expanded later this year.
In a further development, the Rail Delivery Group and industry partners have completed the rollout of barcoding technology which allows passengers to scan digital tickets at gates.
