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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
National
Ben Reid

How new Nottingham contactless payments work on buses and trams

Nottingham has announced the rollout of the first Oyster-style contactless ticketing system in the country outside of London. The change is now in operation from Monday, April 11.

The new Nottingham Contactless multi-operator Tap & Go option is available across Nottingham City Transport buses, NET trams and Linkbuses, which are operated by CT4N. It allows people to tap on with contactless bank cards or phones throughout the day and pay one daily charge capped at the best fare for their travel, regardless of which of the three operators they use or however many journeys they make on the day.

Passengers can still pay for single fares in the contactless method. But if they make multiple journeys across NCT, NET and Linkbuses, they will be charged £5.60 for the day capped fare.

Read more: 6 driving laws you may not know about but could land you with a fine

Contactless payments can be made on all NCT buses, NET trams and the Linkbus network operated by CT4N. Trentbarton buses are not included in the scheme as they are a separate private company. But the system could be rolled out across trentbarton buses in the future, officials involved in the new system have said.

How to use new contactless system

Remove your bank card from your wallet or purse to make the payment. Use the same card for all of your journeys to benefit from the daily capped rates.

For Contactless Tap & Go, simply tap your card or mobile device on the bus reader or on the validator on the tram platform and wait for the green tick to show. No tickets are issued on the bus or tram for Contactless Tap & Go payments – you can check your journeys and transactions on this website.

In order to make life simple you don’t need to ask the driver for a ticket, the system knows which zone you are boarding in and will automatically calculate the best contactless price for your journey. Use the same card for all of your journeys to benefit from the daily capped rates.

Prices and capping

The network is set out in simple zones. For Contactless Tap & Go in Nottingham, simply tap your card or mobile device on the bus reader or on the validator on the tram platform and wait for the green tick to show.

Use the same card for all of your journeys to benefit from the daily capped rates*. Fares for journeys in Nottingham Contactless Zone A

Single Journey

Day Cap (04:30 – 04:29 each day)

NCT buses

£2.40

£4.40

NET trams

£2.70**

£4.70

Linkbus network

£2.40

£4.20

More than one operator

N/A

£5.60

If you use a bank card for one journey and pay on a mobile device or another bank card for another journey, then this will be treated as two individual payments and you may not benefit from the best day capped rate.

A journey using a single fare must be completed within 90 minutes from the time of purchase and cannot be used to make a return trip. For your return trip you must tap on again, and the amount charged will be limited to the daily cap.

If you are using contactless to buy a specific ticket on an NCT bus or Linkbus, do not touch your card or device against the reader straightaway. Ask the driver for your ticket or tickets. Wait until the reader shows the total amount payable and the message ‘please present your card’ before touching your contactless card or device to pay. You are able to purchase multiple tickets at once in this way up to a maximum of £15 per transaction and will be issued with a ticket or tickets.

Contactless Tap & Go on NCT buses in the Outer Area. You can use your contactless card or device for journeys in the Outer Area.

First zone you tap your card or mobile device in

1 Journey

2+ Journeys in the same Zone

2 Journeys, where second journey is in Zone A

2+ Journeys in more than one Zone

Zone B

£3.40

£6.50 capped

£5.80

£6.50 capped

Zone C

£4.00

£6.50 capped

£6.40

£6.50 capped

Zone D

£4.50

£6.50 capped

£6.50 capped

£6.50 capped

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