Tram passengers have so far overpaid £78,000 under Metrolink’s new ‘contactless’ ticket system after failing or forgetting to ‘tap out’ at the end of a journey.
The new, ‘easy-to-use’ way of paying was introduced on July 15 , with travellers tapping phones or bank cards onto a reader at the beginning of their trip instead of buying a traditional ticket.
They are then meant to tap out again at the other end, with the cost of all their daily trips then capped at the cost of an all-zones travel card.
However many people have found themselves forgetting that second step, walking past the reader and being charged again when they tap in for their return journey, taking them over that cap.
A Freedom of Information request submitted by one frustrated passenger revealed nearly 700 people a day were being caught out in that way during the first week-and-a-half of the new system, which Transport for Greater Manchester had described as ‘a piece of cake’ to use.
Further questions from the M.E.N. revealed that TfGM had brought in £78,000 as a result of people overpaying after not ‘tapping out’, although £44,000 of that has been refunded after people complained.
The system was introduced in an attempt to mirror contactless ticketing on London’s tube, which has a maximum daily fare cap.
Unlike much of the capital, however, in Greater Manchester there are few barriers at tram stops, meaning passengers have to remember to tap out.
If they don’t, that journey is classed as ‘incomplete’ - meaning they will be charged the maximum fare. If they tap in for another journey on the same day, they will then be charged again, in many cases taking them over the theoretical daily cap.
After charity worker Darren de Vally got caught out that way, he decided to enter an FOI.
“I found that using contactless after touching in, it’s not always easy to touch out (placing of readers and being on the phone) and forgot a couple of times,” he said.
“I felt that surely the maximum I’d get charged would be the daily maximum cap but when I had more go out of my bank, I was shocked to see that incomplete journeys weren’t included in the cap.
“I thought this was unfair and wanted to change this so set up the petition and went to find out if many were impacted. Twitter was full of people saying they had been hit so I put in the FOI.”
His FOI showed that more than 10,700 ‘incomplete’ journeys were recorded within the first 10 days of the system being up and running, with 6,846 of those resulting in people being charged more than the daily cap.
He has now set up a petition calling for a daily cap to be put in place for incomplete journeys too.
Many people echoed Darren's experience on social media. Asked about contactless on Twitter in late August, one passenger said: "I tried for one day, paid nearly £8 for my normal £4.20 journey and went back to paper."
Another posted a screengrab showing they had been charged £9.20 two days in a row, while a third said: "If there was a barrier between getting in and out of the station, like the tube in London, then it would be almost impossible to forget to do it. But here, it's a tiny machine randomly placed on the platform. Daft."
However several said they used the Metrolink app, which they said solved the problem, while others said they had gradually learned to remember after being repeatedly overcharged.
What TfGM says
Transport officials said their aim was for people ‘to pay the right fare for their journey’, which was why they are working with people to refund extra charges ‘where appropriate’.
All money generated is being invested back to the network, they say.
TfGM’s Customer Director, Stephen Rhodes, said: “Contactless is a really simple and convenient way to pay for journeys on Metrolink, which has been used more than 450,000 times since it launched two months ago.
“But we do recognise this is a different way of paying for travel and that it does take time for people to become familiar with the new touch-in, touch-out system. That is why we have emphasised the importance of touching in and out every time you travel in our customer information and marketing – and why we are working hard behind the scenes to look at ways to reduce incomplete journeys in the future.
“Over time we hope using contactless 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.
“A customer information campaign has been running since before the launch of contactless to help remind customers of the importance of touching in and out.
"This has included putting signs on all tram doors, seat backs and near the maps above the doors, on platforms, ticket machines, and on the smart readers.
"There has also been platform and driver announcements and information placed on digital information boards. We’ve also done extensive customer messaging through social media and marketing.
“This not about raising revenue – we want to ensure people pay the right fare and get the most out of our simplified zones system, which for many offers better value for money, which is why it’s really important they touch-out at the end of their journey.”
