Merseyrail is looking for 50 volunteers to try out its MetroCard ‘Tap and Go’ ticketing system in the next stage of Mayor Steve Rotheram’s plans for a London-style transport system in the Liverpool City Region.

‘Tap and go’ tickets mean passengers don’t need to queue for tickets, and have the assurance that they will be charged the cheapest fare for their journey.

The pilot is a prelude towards a full rollout of the system across the Merseyrail network later this year.

In the first phase of the rollout this summer, MetroCards must be linked to a passenger’s bank account, but later this year, passengers can use a bank card, phone, or smartwatch, with no need for a physical MetroCard.

In use, the system will automatically calculate the cheapest fare on both a weekly and daily basis based on when and where passengers tap in and out at station gates and platform validators at the start and end of their journey.

Anyone who wishes to volunteer to take part in the trial should complete the form on the Merseyrail website at www.merseyrail.org, with 50 participants being selected to use Tap & Go and provide feedback.

Merseyrail already has some of the cheapest fares in the country. Last January, it had an offer on weekends for travel across the whole Merseyrail network for £2, and last July, it introduced £2 return tickets from some stations to Moorfields or Liverpool Central.

“The measure of any 21st century public transport system is how quickly, cheaply and easily it helps passengers get from A to B and that starts by how people pay for their journey.”

“For too long, passengers in our region have been forced to contend with an outdated, antiquated and fragmented ticketing system that simply doesn’t work in their favour. Our plans for a new tap-and-go system will make it easier than ever for passengers, removing unnecessary queues and ensuring they never have to pay over the odds to get about our region.”

“We’ve seen how well it can work in places like London – and now it’s time that we built a system befitting of a modern, future-facing city region like ours. Moving to this testing stage is a big step forward towards rolling out this technology which will unlock so many benefits for our region, removing the need for unnecessary queues, ensuring that no one spends more than they need to get around our region and protecting revenue streams for further investment in improvements. We’ve seen how well it works in London and now it’s time that we built our own system to benefit the residents of our city region.”

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region