Tap2Go is an exclusive product for SWR Touch smartcard holders that allows you to travel around the SWR network without the need to pre-purchase a ticket online, or at the station.

Tap2Go

Add Tap2Go to your SWR smartcard for pay as you go travel on our network

What is Tap2Go?

Tap2Go is an exclusive product for SWR Touch smartcard holders that allows you to travel around the SWR network without the need to pre-purchase a ticket online, or at the station. Once registered, you simply touch in on the yellow smartcard readers at the start of your journey and touch out at your destination. You’ll be charged the best available daily fare for the journey you make so, with Tap2Go you’ll always have the right ticket for your journey in your hand.

If you make regular journeys across the week (Monday-Sunday) we’ll cap prices (Weekly Capping) to the equivalent weekly season ticket price to save you money. You can also add selected Railcards to your online account to get the best value fares.  

Always touch in at the start and touch out at the end of your journey so we can charge you the right fare. You can break your journey, but please remember to touch out and touch back in again when you resume your journey.  

Train tickets and season tickets can also be stored on your smartcard with Tap2Go, except a Flexi Season ticket. We strongly advise that a Flexi Season ticket is not used in combination with Tap2Go pay as you go, customers should obtain a separate smartcard for these products. Journeys between the origin and destination stations of your pre-purchased ticket will not be charged, but journey outside of them will be charged through Tap2Go. 
 

Where can I use Tap2Go?

Tap2Go can only be used on South Western Railway (SWR) services and is valid for travel across all of the SWR network including journeys on SWR services within the London fare zones.

You can only use Tap2Go as far as London Waterloo it cannot be used for onward travel beyond London Waterloo such as Waterloo East, Charing Cross or London Bridge. Your Tap2Go smartcard may be used to travel on Southern services between Dorking and London Victoria or Dorking to London Bridge including intermediate stations when using Southern services.

Tap2Go is also accepted at GWR stations (Reading, Exeter Central and Exeter St David’s) when travelling on SWR services that call there.

Tap2Go can’t be used on combined train and ferry tickets to and from the Isle of Wight, but you can use it for journeys on the mainland and Island Line independently. Please check our map to see where Tap2Go can be used.

Tap2Go can’t be used on TfL’s Underground, Overground, TfL Rail, Bus, River Bus and tram services.

Download our network map (PDF, 74Kb)

How do I get Tap2Go?

You’ll need an SWR Touch smartcard to register for Tap2Go. Once registered, we’ll take a pre-authorisation charge of £1.00. This £1.00 set up fee ensures that the payment card is genuine and allows a continuous authority payment to be established for charging future transactions to the card. The £1.00 fee is refunded the following day, unless a journey is made, in which case, it is used as a credit towards the first journey charge.

Already have an SWR smartcard?

  • Login to your SWR account
  • Choose "Add Tap2Go to existing smartcard"
  • Follow the steps and select the station to activate Tap2Go
  • Submit your order
  • Add Tap2Go to your smartcard from your chosen station within seven days – this will start a Tap2Go journey

Add Tap2Go now

Don’t have an SWR smartcard?

You’ll receive your new Touch Smartcard with Tap2Go in five working days.

Get a Tap2Go smartcard

Important message for customers with more than one smartcard in their account

When you sign up to Tap2Go, it is added only to the smartcard you nominate and not to any other smartcards within your SWR account. Train tickets (including weekly, monthly, monthly plus and annual season tickets) added to the same nominated Tap2Go smartcard will be taken into account when calculating your Tap2Go fare. We strongly recommend not adding Tap2Go to a smartcard that contains a Flexi Season ticket. If you have a smartcard with a Flexi Season ticket and want to use Tap2Go, you’ll need to order a new smartcard.

If you have another smartcard in your account with train tickets added to it, this will not be included when calculating your Tap2Go fare.

Things to know before you sign up to Tap2Go

  • Only sign up if you’re travelling in the next 30 days so you can activate Tap2Go on your smartcard, otherwise you may need to sign up again
  • You must touch in and touch out on yellow smartcard readers for every journey you make - even if you have a season ticket
  • If you don’t touch in or touch out, we can’t tell where you’ve travelled from or to and work out the right fare for your journey. If you don't autocomplete the journey as soon as possible in your account, we may charge a £25 incomplete journey penalty
  • We’ll communicate with you about your Tap2Go account by email, so you’ll need to check for emails from us regularly
  • Tap2Go can’t be used on Transport for London (TfL) or other train company’s services
  • First Class fares aren’t available on Tap2Go
  • Child fares and boundary fares aren’t currently available on Tap2Go
  • Add up to two Railcards to your Tap2Go account using the ‘My Account’ functionality. To add a Railcard log into your SWR account and select ‘Manage your Railcard’ from the left hand menu
  • You will need to link a valid credit or debit card to your account and keep it up to date to use Tap2Go

When you sign up to Tap2Go, we charge £1 to verify your payment card to allow a continuous authority payment to be established for charging future transactions to the card. This £1 charge will be refunded the following day unless you travel, in which case it’ll be used as credit towards your first journey charge.

Remember, you should only sign up if you’re travelling in the next 30 days so you can activate Tap2Go on a yellow smartcard reader. Tap2Go smartcards can only be used by the named account holder.

How does Tap2Go work?

You must always touch in at the start of your journey and touch out at the end of your journey. Tap on the yellow smartcard readers at SWR stations which can be found on the gates or the validators on the platform. We can then tell where you have travelled and charge you the best available walk-up fare for that completed journey. Payment is taken automatically the day after travel.

Using Tap2Go

If you don’t tap in and tap out, you’ll be travelling without a valid ticket and liable to a penalty fare. Your Tap2Go account will also register an incomplete journey. If you do not complete the journey details in your account, you may be liable to a £25 incomplete journey charge.

How much will I be charged using Tap2Go?

Journeys on the SWR network and Island Line

You’ll be charged the cheapest fare for the journey that you would get if you bought your ticket from a ticket office or ticket machine on the day of travel. Ticket types you will be charged are Anytime Day Single; Anytime Day Return; Off-Peak Day Single; Off-Peak Day Return; Super Off-Peak Day Single; Super Off-Peak Day Return; Evening Out Single; Evening Out Return; Sunday Out Single; Sunday Out Return; weekly season ticket and weekly (outboundary) London Travelcard. If you add a Railcard to your Tap2Go account, this will be taken into account when the fare is calculated.

Weekly Capping

Weekly capping is now available when using Tap2Go so you can travel as frequently as you like in the knowledge you won’t pay more than the equivalent weekly season ticket if you travel between the same two stations on the SWR network.

Weekly capping limits how much you pay for all journeys in a fixed Monday – Sunday period. If you travel daily between the same two SWR stations, the weekly cap will automatically create an equivalent season ticket in your Tap2Go account, saving you money. Where you hold a pre-loaded product (such as a season ticket) alongside Tap2Go, weekly capping will not apply to journeys charged through Tap2Go.  

For example: Woking to London Waterloo daily price is £27.10. The weekly season price is £101.80 so if you make 4 journeys in one Monday – Sunday period, the price is capped on the fourth journey.

Journey^ Standard Class Anytime Day Return Ticket Standard Class Weekly Season Ticket Saving
Feltham - London Waterloo £17.70 £ 60.00 £28.50
Woking - London Waterloo £27.10 £101.80 £33.70
Haslemere - London Waterloo £49.60 £128.80 £119.20
Winchester - London Waterloo £88.50 £160.80 £283.20
Salisbury - London Waterloo £97.80 £169.90 £319.10

^Based on point to point journey taken 5 times in a week period starting Monday and ending Sunday.

If you start your journey later in the week, for example from Thursday to Wednesday, there may not be enough days up to Sunday to reach the weekly cap as determined by the system which calculates journeys Monday – Sunday. In this case, you should load a weekly season ticket onto your smartcard.

Please note that weekly capping will not initially be available on journeys to or from Epsom, Ashtead, Leatherhead, Boxhill & Westhumble and Dorking.

Journeys within the London fare zones

When your journey on SWR services is within the London fare zones 1-6, we’ll charge you TfL’s Oyster pay as you go fares, pay as you go capped fares, Travelcard or National Rail fare, whichever is cheapest.

Charges if you don’t touch in and touch out

If you don’t touch in and touch out on journeys, you’ll need to login to your account to complete the journey or you’ll be charged £25 for an incomplete journey.

Same station exit

If you touch in and touch out at the same station within 15 minutes, no fare will be charged and we’ll assume you decided not to travel.

Help and support

If you think you’ve been charged incorrectly, please contact our Customer Service Centre on 0345 6000 650 or smartcards@swrailway.com

If your journey is validated on Tap2Go and delayed by 15 minutes or more, you can claim Delay Repay on southwesternrailway.com/delayrepay

If you're having problems with your smartcard or Tap2Go, get in touch or read our smartcard FAQs.

Terms and conditions