Touch smartcard

Our touch smartcard is the quick and easy way to store your train tickets.

When you set up a GWR.com account, you’ll be able to see what you’ve bought, re-order tickets, and keep your personal details up to date.

But we think the best thing about our touch smartcard is that it’s reusable. Our touch smartcard can be used with season tickets, London Travelcard, and single and return tickets (on selected routes).

You can get your touch smartcard straight away from any GWR ticket office*. Or, order online for delivery within five business days.

*excluding Camborne, Liskeard, Crowthorne, Mortimer, Bramley, Cholsey, North Camp, Charlbury, Tiverton Parkway, Yeovil Pen Mill, and Yatton.

Buying smartcard tickets

Buy and renew season tickets online seven days in advance and store up to five on your smartcard. You can also add London Travelcards to your smartcard, making it easier for you to tap in and out across the capital.

You can buy single and return tickets at any of our ticket offices using your touch smartcard.

To buy a season ticket for your smartcard:

tick the ‘ITSO’ option on your search to find tickets to load onto your smartcard
select the ‘ITSO’ delivery option and choose the station you want to load your ticket onto your smartcard at
allow at least two hours after you’ve bought your tickets before you load them onto your smartcard at a ticket gate, platform validator, or ticket machine

You can also buy weekly tickets through the GWR app. And, if you have an Android phone that can make contactless payments, they’ll be ready to load on your touch smartcard straight away.

Buy now

Getting your smartcard

It’s easy to get your free touch smartcard. All you need to do is simply:

register for a GWR.com account or login if you already have one
go to ‘Manage smartcards’ within your account and choose ‘Apply for a smartcard’ from the drop-down menu
fill out the form
if you want to pre-load a season train ticket select the 'ITSO' delivery option
submit your order

Important to know

You should usually receive your free smartcard within five working days.

Travelling with your smartcard

At the station

You can collect your online smartcard tickets 2 hours after booking at your nominated station’s ticket gate or platform validator.

Once it’s loaded, you can travel as normal. You must ‘tap in’ at a ticket gate or platform validator before you board your train.

If you have more than one contactless card in your wallet, make sure you keep them apart when you tap in and out to avoid card clash.

When you arrive at your destination station, simply ‘tap out’ at a ticket gate or platform validator to complete your journey.

On-board

Our on-board staff will be using a reader to check you have a valid ticket on your smartcard.

If for some reason your smartcard stops working, login to your GWR.com account to show the train tickets you’ve bought.

If you don’t have a valid ticket, you will have to buy a new one or you could be subject to our Revenue Protection Policy.

Terms and conditions of use
1. Your Great Western Railway (“GWR”) smartcard is issued subject to the following Terms and Conditions. Your smartcard is issued free of charge and remains the property of GWR. We reserve the right to withdraw it at any time.
2. A member of staff may inspect the smartcard at any time and you must show it to them on request.
3. The smartcard is not transferable, and it is an offence to give your smartcard to any other person for their use. The user may be liable for a penalty fare or prosecution if you give your smartcard to any other person for their use.
4. If the card is no longer required it may be cancelled to prevent any further use.
5. Any ticket stored on a smartcard is issued subject to the National Rail Conditions of Travel and the Railway Bylaws. Further details and a copy of these conditions are available at GWR.com or from any staffed ticket office.
6. Tickets stored on a smartcard are subject to normal refund rules in accordance with the National Rail Conditions of Travel. GWR ticket refund form is located at: https://refunds.gwr.com/
7. Annual Season Ticket holders using smartcards whose origin and/or destination station is within the Gold Card or Devon and Cornwall Railcard area will be issued with a paper Gold Record Card separately. This must be surrendered if the Season Ticket is no longer required.
8. Before you board a train you are required to have a smartcard with a ticket loaded valid for the train you intend to use and for the journey you intend to make. Failure to load a valid ticket before boarding the train may result in you being liable to pay the full single or return fare, or a penalty fare or prosecution.
9. At the start and end of every journey, your smartcard must be placed on the smartcard reader located on the ticket gate or on a platform validator where available. The reader indicates the card has been properly read by making an audible “beep” and showing a green light.
10. The loss or theft of a smartcard must be reported to our Customer Service Centre by calling 03457 000 125, or Local GWR Station as soon as possible. The card can then be cancelled on the system to prevent future use. Cancellation will normally take place within 24 hours. Until it is cancelled, you will be liable for any unauthorised use of the smartcard. We cannot prevent the unauthorised use of a lost or stolen smartcard until it has been reported by the registered holder.
11. Once cancelled, a card cannot be “re-activated”. We will ask you to confirm your details before we cancel your card and arrange for a replacement to be issued. A replacement fee may apply to any tickets loaded to the card.
12. An administration charge may apply to a duplicate Season Ticket loaded onto a replacement card.
13. Where your smartcard is faulty you will need to notify us by calling our Customer Service Centre, 03457 000 125. We will replace it free of charge and any valid GWR tickets loaded on it. Where we reasonably believe it has been deliberately damaged or misused, we reserve the right to charge an administration fee for its replacement. If we believe your card has been tampered with in any way we may withdraw it without refunding the remaining ticket values.
14. We reserve the right to refuse to replace the smartcard.
Data Protection and Security of your Payment
We may share your personal data with our third-party suppliers, including payment processors and data analysts, to enable the efficient and secure provision of services to you. Except as explained in this privacy policy, we will not share your data with third parties without your consent unless required to do so by law. You can see a copy of our Privacy Policy at https://www.gwr.com/privacy-policy

Go from booking to boarding in just a few easy steps, plus:

Avoid ticket machine queues

Buy and renew your season train tickets online up to seven days in advance

Smartcard lost or stolen?

We’ll block it and issue a replacement free of charge, with all your tickets protected

More control

Check your journey history and download receipts from your GWR.com account