The City of Edinburgh Council (Edinburgh) has announced that customers will soon be able to use their contactless card or devices to ‘Tap On and Tap Off’ a tram to start and end journeys.
Now in the final stages of testing, Edinburgh Trams will announce the launch date shortly for the new system, which is developed in collaboration with payment provider Flowbird.
Journeys within the City Zone will be charged a standard single adult fare while, if customers make an additional journey throughout the day, Edinburgh will cap payments at the standard Cap rate of £5.
The system will also work with Lothian Buses, allowing customers to hop from tram to bus and back again, with the fare automatically capped out at the cost of a City Day ticket.
Edinburgh reports that if customers travel for additional journeys in the same week (Mon-Sun) using the same card or device, once they’ve reached the weekly cap of £24.50, they won’t pay anything else for the rest of the week.
However, when a customer leaves the tram at their destination, they must tap the same card or device against the platform validator to end your journey.
If the card is not tapped off, the journey is registered as incomplete, and the customer will be charged a single Airport Zone fare of £7.90.
This is specific to the trams and will not apply to Lothian Buses’ existing tapping system.
Edinburgh Trams’ managing director Lea Harrison said: “Following the successful launch of services to Newhaven in 2023, we’re continuing to invest in technology to make trams an even more attractive proposition for both residents and visitors.
“This has included the replacement of 10-year-old tram stop validators to enable contactless cards to be securely accepted, and new hand-held devices for our staff to check that customers have ‘tapped on’ before boarding.”
“The cutting-edge technology requires extensive testing before it becomes fully operational, but we are now just weeks away from it being rolled out across the network.
“When the system goes live, it will mark another milestone for Edinburgh Trams, the city, and its world-class public transport network.”
Achievements and innovations in ticketing & payment will be recognised and celebrated at the fourth annual CiTTi Awards on 25 November 2025 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector!
