ECHO reporter David Humphreys has been taking part in the tap and go pilot that could change the way we use Merseyrail
The roll-out of Merseyrail’s £500m fleet of new trains was met with much fanfare two years ago, with hopes it would herald a new era for our region’s transport network. The installation of the new stock was meant to be a big step towards the desire to deliver a London-style integrated transport system.
New trains would surely be followed by a simple tap and go system making the ache of queuing up for a ticket at a station a thing of the past.
While the launch of this process has taken longer than hoped to get underway, a pilot test of the new technology began last week, with 50 lucky people across the Liverpool City Region chosen as the first to get the chance to test a system that has long been in place in the capital and major cities around the world.
As luck would have it, I was one of the few selected. I must stress this was completely at random, I applied like any other punter would have done, popped my details down and received an email from the combined authority confirming I was on board.
My commute from the north end of the city into Moorfields proved to be the perfect setting for this test, meaning I could use my Metro card every day on my way to work. The system uses the smartcard to effectively track your journeys across the Merseyrail network across a 24 hour period.
On my way into work, rather than join the queues I would walk down the platform and place my card – available for £1 at any station – on the yellow platform validator. With a little beep and a green flash on the screen, it knows my journey has begun.
A little more than 12 minutes later, arriving at Moorfields and ascending the single escalator because one has been out of action for a number of weeks now, I placed the card back on the gates at the station and moved on with my day. No more faffing about finding the ticket in my wallet or my pocket, straightening it out to fit among a queue of other people trying to get to work then for some reason the machine rejects it because it was slightly not straight.
You simply walk up, tap and go. I’ve made 10 journeys with it so far as I normally would with a railpass and it is that easy.
It also removes the need to wake up in a cold sweat on a Sunday night having forgotten to buy my weekly pass and quickly tap in my details to buy one. The card is also linked to my bank account, so upon registering I had the simple task of adding the details to my account and letting the card do the rest.
The next day I received an update via email to confirm I had been billed accordingly. This is the first phase of the rollout of the scheme, which Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram hopes will complete later this year.
The second phase will launch after that and allow passengers to be able to use their bank card, or devices such as smart phones or watches, without the need for a MetroCard. The new system is another way to help and encourage more people out of their cars and on to buses, trains and ferries.
Mayor Rotheram addressed the trial during the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority meeting on Friday. He said: “It’s a big step forward for us towards delivering a London-style integrated transport system, one that’s faster, fairer and easier to use.
“For too long people in our region have had to put up with an outdated, fragmented ticketing system that simply doesn’t work in their favour.” Mr Rotheram said it would eliminate people being fined for seemingly having the wrong ticket on the network with passengers able to tap in and out with a single card moving forward.
He said: “There’s no more queuing at ticket machines, no more worrying about buying the right ticket and no more paying over the odds. Our system will automatically calculate the best fare for your journey or the culmination of different journeys daily or weekly so you’ll always get the best value deal.”
This is where my feedback comes in. Usually a weekly pass from Monday to Sunday for a single zone sets me back £19.
For my five commutes this week, two of which were at peak time, I’ve paid £24.50. That’s a full fare more than a weekly pass already, so while there is an ease of access, I’ve actually lost money through this system.
This takes me back to the Mayor’s point of securing the best fare. The combined authority was at pains to ensure it could maintain cheap single fares for bus travel capped at £2.
We need to make sure over time, with the tap and go system, fares are made cheaper to encourage this system to be used. If they continue to climb, the only places people will tap and go to is the car.
I also hope that as the user experience is tweaked, commuters can see a log of their journeys online. I didn’t know until early the next day if I had been charged for my travel which left me a little uneasy.
I think it would be helpful to be able to log into my account and see the card registered as being tapped in and out at each station. Overall though, a promising start to the tap and go trial.
Here’s hoping the completion of the scheme is sooner rather than later.
