Tap On, Tap Off

You can now use a contactless card or device to pay for your adult single tram ticket. Simply tap your card to the platform validator before you get on the tram, and tap it again when you get off on the platform validator to complete the journey

If using a device, you will need to ensure you trigger the payment mechanism for that device when you 'Tap On' and 'Tap Off' to ensure Apple Pay or Google Pay registers the transaction.

If you use Tap On, Tap Off, you’ll be charged an Adult single fare for each journey you make, and the system will calculate your fare based on the number of journeys. If you make 3 or more journeys in the city zone on one day, the cost is capped at the City DAY Cap price. If you’re travelling to the Airport, your travel will be capped at the Network DAY rate. If you use TOTO over a 7 day period (Mon-Sun), the fare will be capped at the Weekly rate – so the system will always calculate the best capped fare for your usage. 

This system works alongside Lothian Buses’ existing TapTapCap system, and tram travel is now included in the same capped fare – so you can use the tram and bus as much as you like within a daily or weekly period and be charged the daily or weekly cap.

If you used a contactless-enabled physical card to pay, you can access your payment history via the payment portal, like you currently can for Lothian Buses TapTapCap service. Please note this is not currently available for contactless-enabled devices – you’ll need to check your bank statement for details.

Our Ticketing Service Assistants will still be working on the trams, and they will tap your card again on their handheld devices to do an inspection tap. If you have not tapped on, you will not be considered to have a valid ticket, and will automatically be charged the onboard fare of £10. This does not count towards your daily or weekly cap.

If you have Tapped On and don’t Tap Off when you leave the tram, you’ll be charged a Single Airport fare – so please remember to Tap Off! Maximum fares, including the fare for a card not being tapped off, will not be included in daily or weekly capping.

No, you do not need to tap off, but you must tap on to validate your card before boarding. Our onboard staff can then verify this when checking tickets. 

The system is designed for solo adult tickets. For the best family rates, you can still buy tickets at the Ticket Vending Machines on platforms, on the et app or Bus & Tram app, or via Edinburgh Ticket. All currently accepted concession passes will still be accepted. 

We will accept Visa and Mastercard (including Maestro) cards that display the contactless symbol, or that have been added to Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Apple Pay users can now use Apple Pay Express Mode to use a designated travel card to pay for their travel without waking or unlocking their device, or using Face ID or Touch ID. See here for more details. 

American Express contactless payment cards are not accepted on the Platform Validators, but can still be used on the Ticket Vending Machines on the platform to pre-purchase tickets. 

If you find that your card doesn’t work, please contact your bank or card issuer.  Please be aware that cards issued outside of the UK may incur overseas transaction fees applied by your bank or card issuer.
 

No – capping can only be applied to the exact card or device used, so please continue to only use that contactless card or device for the rest of that day, or week if you want to benefit from weekly capping. If you swap between different cards and devices, your payments will not be capped, even if you’re swapping between digital and physical versions of the same card.

For example, if you use both a contactless card and a phone to pay for travel in the same day, your payments will not be capped (even if they’re funded by the same bank account).

If you use a different card or device to tap off, the system will register this as 2 x incomplete journeys and each card or device will be charged an Airport Fare.

Your ticket is stored digitally on your payment card or device, so a paper ticket will not be provided when you tap on. Please ensure you wait for the green tick and "tap successful" to be displayed on the validator. There is no need to purchase a separate ticket using TOTO.

Also remember to tap off at your destination to ensure you are charged the correct fare.

If you require a paper ticket or receipt, you should use a Ticket Vending Machine to pay for your travel.

If you use a Maestro card, you will see a pending payment of £20 following your first tap of the day. This is just a temporary value, which we will not collect in full. The following morning, we’ll work out your daily travel charge (which depends on how many journeys you made that day/night) and change the value to the cost of your journeys.

You can confirm the value of this final charge by visiting our contactless portal, which shows your current daily charge for the journeys you’ve made.

The value of this initial pending payment is set by the card scheme.

Our on-board team will complete an inspection tap with their hand held device on your payment card or device, have this ready to be checked. Please remember to tap off at your destination tram stop, to ensure that the correct fare is charged.

If you’ve used Apple Pay Express Mode, you will need to trigger your designated travel card so that it appears on your iPhone or Apple Watch and can be inspected. 

Yes – this is now available when Tapping On and Tapping Off trams. Designate a credit or debit card as your preferred card by opening the Wallet app and selecting a payment card. Navigate to the card details and choose ‘Express Travel Settings’, where you will be able to confirm your card. 

This means you can use your preferred card to pay for your tram travel without waking or unlocking the device, opening an app, or using Face ID or Touch ID. You should still wait for the green tick to ensure your tap has been registered by the platform validator, or you may be charged for an incomplete journey.

Find our more here.