Contactless in Manchester
Yes: tap to pay on trams and buses; not on trains. The full guide is on the Manchester page.
Where contactless works
Where a tap works
Tap to pay — bank card or phone
i
i
Other ways to pay (travel smartcard, phone ticket and paper ticket) are on the Manchester page.
- A contactless bank card or phone pays on trams and buses, but not on trains. On buses, tap the reader on board as you get on; on trams, touch in and out.
i
tfgm.com fetched 23 Jul 2026 - Cards named as accepted: Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, V Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay. The operator names some of the cards it takes but does not claim the list is complete, so a card missing from it is not a refusal.
i
tfgm.com fetched 11 Aug 2026 - Cards issued abroad: Yes - 'plenty of contactless cards from outside the UK work for pay as you go on our readers: Mastercard, Maestro, Visa, VPAY. You might pay an overseas transaction fee, though.' (American Express is not supported for anyone, domestic or overseas.)
i
tfgm.com fetched 23 Jul 2026 - Fares stop at the cap: £5.00 a day on bus only (adults), £20.00 a week on bus only (adults) and £1.90 a day in any one tram zone (1, 2, 3 or 4) (adults, when no tram journey starts between 7am and 9.30am on a weekday).
i
tfgm.com fetched 24 Aug 2026 - Nothing to buy first. The card in your pocket is the ticket.
- Same card in, same card out. The reader ties your journey to the card you started with; a phone-wallet copy counts as a different card.
- Where the card cannot pay: trains. Buy a ticket for those before you board.
- Get it wrong and it costs. A penalty fare of £60.00 applies to travel without a valid ticket.
Questions about paying by card
Can I use contactless in Manchester?
Yes, on the buses and the trams, and it is the only way to get a fare cap. Tap your own Visa, Mastercard or Maestro card, or a phone or watch running Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Barclaycard Contactless Mobile, Fitbit Pay or Garmin Pay. American Express is not accepted, on any mode, for anyone. Cards issued outside the UK work on the same readers, though your bank may add an overseas transaction fee. There is nothing to buy, register or top up.
The tap is different on each mode, and getting it wrong costs money. On a bus you tap once as you board and never tap off. On a Metrolink tram you tap the reader on the platform before you board and tap out again at your final stop, with the same card; if you change trams part-way you do not tap again in between. Miss the tap out and TfGM charges an incomplete journey fare of £4.60, which is not refunded by any cap and does not count towards one.
Where it works is narrower than Greater Manchester. It pays on Metrolink across zones 1 to 4 and on the Bee Network franchised buses, which means Go North West, Diamond Bus North West, First Manchester, Stagecoach Manchester and Metroline Manchester. TfGM states plainly that you cannot use tap and go on non-Bee-Network services running inside Greater Manchester, so on one of those a tap buys you nothing. Trains are not on it yet either: TfGM describes contactless tap in and tap out on rail in the future tense, as part of the Bee Network rail integration still to come, and Northern and TransPennine Express do not take it today.
Two different charges can follow a missing fare, and they are not the same instrument. The franchised bus operators' terms define a contactless standard fare of £60. A penalty fare notice issued during an inspection is £120. Use the same card or device for every tap all day, because the cap is counted per card and switching between your card and your phone splits the day in two, and check what you were charged at contactless.beenetwork.com using the card you tapped with.
i
Can I use contactless on the bus in Manchester?
Yes, and it is one tap. Tap your contactless card, phone or watch on the reader as you board and that is the whole transaction; there is no tap off on a Manchester bus, and nothing to do when you get off. Visa, Mastercard and Maestro all work, as do Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Barclaycard Contactless Mobile, Fitbit Pay and Garmin Pay. American Express is not accepted.
It pays on the Bee Network franchised buses, which is Go North West, Diamond Bus North West, First Manchester, Stagecoach Manchester and Metroline Manchester. It does not pay on non-Bee-Network services operating inside Greater Manchester: TfGM says so directly, and tapping on one of those buys you nothing. If you are not sure which you are boarding, look for Bee Network yellow before you tap.
Tapping is also the only way to get the bus cap. Bus travel stops charging at £5.00 in a day and £20.00 in a week, and no 60 minutes of bus travel costs more than £2.00 however many buses you take in it. All of that is counted per card, so use the same card or device every time; switch between your card and your phone halfway through the day and the two halves never add up. Travelling without a valid fare, the operators' terms set a contactless standard fare of £60, and a penalty fare notice issued during an inspection is £120.