Pay-as-you-go in the Bristol area

Pay-as-you-go with the GWR Touch smartcard lets you save time and breeze through the station without ever needing to purchase a ticket.

By securely adding your bank details to your smartcard, all you need to do is tap in and out when you travel, giving you the best available fare on the day.

You can also load single, return, and season tickets (excluding Flexi Season Tickets) on your smartcard, alongside pay-as-you-go. If you use a Flexi Season ticket, we recommend you use separate smartcards if you want to use this and pay-as-you-go.

To set up pay-as-you-go, follow these instructions:

I don't have a GWR account or a GWR Touch Smartcard

1. Register for a GWR account
2. Select the smartcard section in My Account and apply for a new smartcard
3. Enter your details and submit your form
4. You will receive your pay-as-you-go smartcard within five working days
5. Once your smartcard has been delivered, login to your GWR account
6. Select the pay-as-you-go section in My Account
7. Sign-up for pay-as-you-go and link your smartcard
8. Wait 2 hours before the first use of pay-as-you-go

I already have a GWR account and a GWR Touch Smartcard

1. Login to your GWR account
2. Select the pay-as-you-go section in My Account
3. Sign-up for pay-as-you-go and link your smartcard
4. Wait 2 hours before the first use of pay-as-you-go

I don't have a GWR account but I do have a GWR Touch Smartcard

1. Register for a GWR account
2. Select the smartcard section in My Account and add your existing smartcard
3. Select the pay-as-you-go section in My Account
4. Sign-up for pay-as-you-go and link your smartcard
5. Wait 2 hours before the first use of pay-as-you-go

I already have a GWR account but I don't have a GWR Touch Smartcard

1. Login to your GWR account
2. Select the smartcard section in My Account and apply for a new smartcard
3. Enter your details and submit your form
4. You will receive your pay-as-you-go smartcard within five working days
5. Once your smartcard has been delivered, login to your GWR account
6. Select the pay-as-you-go section in My Account
7. Sign-up for pay-as-you-go and link your smartcard
8. Wait 2 hours before the first use of pay-as-you-go

If you have any of the following Railcards, you can have your pay-as-you-go journeys discounted:

• Devon and Cornwall Railcard
• 16-17 Saver
• 16-25 Railcard
• 26-30 Railcard
• Senior Railcard
• HM Forces Railcard
• Disabled Persons Railcard
  • Discount only applicable to the Railcard holder. An accompanying passenger must purchase a ticket separately, covering the same journey as the card holder.
• Veteran's Railcard
• Jobcentre Plus Discount Card

To add your Railcard:

1. Sign-in to your GWR account
2. Select the Railcards section
3. Add your Railcard
4. Select the pay-as-you-go section
5. Select your Railcard and add it to pay-as-you-go

Depending on your original method of purchase, we may not be able to validate your Railcard. If this happens, you'll see an error message with further instructions.

The Railcard must belong to the account holder. We will verify the information and approve or reject the application within five working days.

If approved, your pay-as-you-go journeys will be discounted from the date of approval. You can see the status of your application at the bottom of the page on the 'Manage Your Railcard' screen.

You can also visit a ticket office and upload your Railcard immediately.

Don’t forget to always carry your Railcard with you.

You’ll need to tap in or out on the yellow card readers on ticket gates or at the platform when you travel.

If you’re stopping somewhere to enjoy one of our great destinations, you can break your journey up, but remember to tap out and back in again when you resume your journey.

It’s important to remember to tap in and out. But, if you don’t, we’ll notify you by email to let you know you had an incomplete journey. You can then confirm your journey in your online account. If you don’t do this, you’ll be charged an incomplete journey fee of £45 when using pay-as-you-go in Bristol.

We will try to enter your journey details for you based on your regular travel patterns. If this information is wrong, you can easily edit the journey in your online account. To edit your journey details:

1. Sign-in to your GWR account
2. Select pay-as-you-go
3. Select your travel history and find the incomplete journey
4. Select 'Amend journey'
5. Select 'Provide correction'
6. Enter correction details and submit
7. The system will advise that the journey amendment is being processed

You can confirm four journeys online in a 28-day period. If you exceed this, you will need to contact our Customer Services team to confirm any further changes during this 28-day period.

Yes, you can. At the end of the day, we’ll use the taps you made to see your complete journey. For example, if you travelled from Bath Spa to Bristol Temple Meads, then later in the day travelled to Cheltenham Spa, you would be charged a Bath Spa to Cheltenham Spa Single ticket.

At the end of a day, we analyse all your entry and exit taps and apply the most appropriate fare for the journeys you made.

The fare will be based on the ticket types available on the day and the time you travelled on our services. We will then charge you the best value same-day and flexible fares, as available on GWR.com on the day of travel.

We also offer a new range of Anytime Day Single when using pay-as-you-go. These are available on most journeys and are generally half the price of the Anytime Day return fare.

Download a full list of pay-as-you-go fares in Bristol (PDF, 529 KB).

Weekly Season ticket price capping is also applied to journeys if you are travelling regularly between two stations over a fixed Monday to Sunday 7-day week. This means that you will not be charged more than the cost of a Weekly Season ticket, ensuring you get the best value ticket that is available for your journeys.

Advance Single tickets are not included in the pay-as-you-go scheme. In some cases, it may be cheaper to buy Advance Single tickets for your journey.

If we're unable to take payment from the card details you provided, you'll receive an automated email from us to let you know that the payment has failed.

Please ensure you have sufficient funds in your account and your card details are kept up to date. If not, we may close your pay-as-you-go account.

If your journey with GWR is delayed by 15 minutes or more, you can claim compensation under our Delay Repay scheme.

If your journey with Transport for Wales Rail services is delayed by 15 minutes or more, you claim compensation under Transport for Wales’ Delay Repay scheme.

If your journey with CrossCountry is delayed by 30 minutes or more, you can claim compensation under CrossCountry’s Delay Repay scheme.

The GWR Touch smartcard means you can get Automated Delay Repay notifications when travelling with pay-as-you-go. In most cases, we can tell when you have been delayed and let you know you’re entitled to compensation.

If you travelled with GWR and were delayed, your Automatic Delay Repay notification email will contain a link for you to confirm your claim.

If you travelled with CrossCountry or Transport for Wales and were delayed, you will need to claim Delay Repay directly from them.

If you do not tap in or out, or have to amend your pay-as-you-go journey details, we will not be able to send you an automated notification. However, you can still make a manual Delay Repay claim.

All pay-as-you-go smartcards need to be linked to a GWR account. However, only one pay-as-you-go smartcard can be linked per GWR account.

This means that if, for example, you have an existing GWR account and would like to add pay-as-you-go for your child, you can do this without re-registering.

However, if you already have a pay-as-you-go smartcard linked to your GWR account and would like to add pay-as-you-go for your child, you will need to create a separate GWR account using a different email address.

You can use the same payment authority for both yours and your child's GWR account.

I don't have a GWR account or a GWR Touch Smartcard

1. Register for a GWR account
2. Select the smartcard section in My Account and apply for a new smartcard
3. Enter your details and submit your form
4. You will receive your pay-as-you-go smartcard within five working days
5. Once your smartcard has been delivered, login to your GWR account
6. Select the pay-as-you-go section in My Account
7. Sign-up for pay-as-you-go and link your smartcard
8. Wait 2 hours before the first use of pay-as-you-go

I already have a GWR account and a GWR Touch Smartcard

1. Login to your GWR account
2. Select the pay-as-you-go section in My Account
3. Sign-up for pay-as-you-go and link your smartcard
4. Wait 2 hours before the first use of pay-as-you-go

I don't have a GWR account but I do have a GWR Touch Smartcard

1. Register for a GWR account
2. Select the smartcard section in My Account and add your existing smartcard
3. Select the pay-as-you-go section in My Account
4. Sign-up for pay-as-you-go and link your smartcard
5. Wait 2 hours before the first use of pay-as-you-go

I already have a GWR account but I don't have a GWR Touch Smartcard

1. Login to your GWR account
2. Select the smartcard section in My Account and apply for a new smartcard
3. Enter your details and submit your form
4. You will receive your pay-as-you-go smartcard within five working days
5. Once your smartcard has been delivered, login to your GWR account
6. Select the pay-as-you-go section in My Account
7. Sign-up for pay-as-you-go and link your smartcard
8. Wait 2 hours before the first use of pay-as-you-go