19 Aug 2025
Transport for Wales is offering customers a limited-time opportunity to travel on Pay As You Go (PAYG) rail services for just £1.
Running from 19th August until 28th August, this exclusive tap in, tap out promotion is available across the 95 PAYG-enabled stations in South East Wales. This includes all Valleys lines and routes to Bridgend, Maesteg, the Vale of Glamorgan, Abergavenny, and Chepstow.
This £1 per single journey promotion is exclusively available to passengers using PAYG, and excludes all other ticket types.
The one-off promotion could see passengers receiving a maximum discount of £3.20 on a single fare journey, adding further reinforcement to PAYG being the cheapest way to travel on Transport for Wales’ services in the Metro area.
Transport for Wales was the first train operator outside of London and the South East of England to introduce this paying system last year and it has become their fastest selling product.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates, said:
“Many customers across Southeast Wales are already benefiting from the fastest, easiest and cheapest fares through TfW’s Pay As You Go (PAYG) service. This limited time £1 fare provides a great opportunity for those passengers not using the service to give it a go, with many journeys on new trains as a result of our £800m investment.
“And of course with the introduction of PAYG across North Wales coming soon, more and more people will get the opportunity to benefit from cheaper fares.”
Alexia Course, TfW Chief Commercial Officer said:
“Our Pay As You Go (PAYG) service offers our customers the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to travel on our network, with the added flexibility of being able to tap in and tap out.”
“Since launching last year, Pay As You Go has become our fastest selling ticketing product. Through this exclusive and time-limited summer campaign, we’re offering customers the ability to travel between any of our PAYG-enabled stations for just £1 per single journey.”
“We hope that this promotion will really encourage existing and new customers to give PAYG a try, travel on our services through the cheapest means possible and inspire confidence in using the technology more regularly.”
“Whilst this ticketing method is currently exclusive to South Wales for the moment, we are excited to be exploring how we can roll it out across North Wales as a part of the Network North Wales project.”
Notes to editors
Pay As You Go (PAYG) £1 travel promotion is available at all 95 of our PAYG-enabled stations between the 19th and 28th August, even on weekends and Bank Holidays.
· A full map of these stations is available at www.tfw.wales/ways-to-travel/rail/ticket-types/pay-as-you-go.
· The promotional fare is available on single PAYG journeys only and cannot be used in conjunction with any other discounts, railcards or ticket types (including first class).
· During the promotional period, daily and weekly fare caps will not change.
· See below table for an example of the single fare savings that customers will receive as a part of this PAYG promo.
| Journey | PAYG Single fare | Saving |
| Abergavenny – Cardiff Central | £4.20 | £3.20 |
| Bridgend – Newport (South Wales) | £3.90 | £2.90 |
| Pontypridd – Cardiff Queen Street | £3.30 | £2.30 |
| Newport (South Wales) – Cardiff Central | £2.70 | £1.70 |
· Whenever possible, we aim to honour all Pay As You Go (PAYG) journeys during the £1 promotional period, even if passengers are travelling on a rail replacement bus.
o For passengers traveling between Rhymney and Caerphilly, please note that the railway line is closed until the 1st September, and rail replacement buses are in operation.
o Our team will be available at Caerphilly Station to assist passengers using PAYG. Simply inform a member of our team where you're travelling to and from, and they'll ensure that you are tapped in or out for your journey to get the £1 promotion, even if you're travelling on a rail replacement bus.
o If you are traveling from Cardiff and your journey ends at Caerphilly, simply tap out using the validator at Caerphilly Station.
o There are also planned engineering works between Maesteg and Bridgend on the 23rd and 24th of August. These works are expected to take place from midnight on the 23rd until approximately 5:40am on the 24th. Rail replacement services will be in operation during this period and will be aligned with the usual timetable for these days.
o If you are planning on travelling to or from Bridgend during the works period, we strongly advise that you tap in or tap out at the station accordingly, before commencing with any onward travel via rail replacement services.
