Contactless in Nottingham
Yes: tap to pay on trams and buses. The full guide is on the Nottingham page.
Where contactless works
Where a tap works
Tap to pay — bank card or phoneNottingham Contactless
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Other ways to pay (travel smartcard, phone ticket and paper ticket) are on the Nottingham page.
- A contactless bank card, phone or watch pays your fare on trams and buses. On trams, touch in — touching out is optional; on buses it differs by operator.
- Which cards: The operator does not name specific cards. It states that any card carrying the contactless symbol works, so there is no list to check yours against.
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nctx.co.uk fetched 11 Aug 2026 - Fares stop at the cap: £5.50 a day in Zone A, NCT buses only, £6.90 a day in Zone A, NCT plus NET tram and £8.00 a day in Zones B, C and D, NCT buses only.
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nctx.co.uk fetched 18 Aug 2026 - Nothing to buy first. Journey/payment history viewable via the Nottingham Contactless website or the rider's own Apple/Google account, visible the day after travel.
- 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.
- Get it wrong and it costs. A penalty fare of £120.00 applies to travel without a valid ticket.
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support.thetram.net fetched 20 Jul 2026nottinghamcontactless.co.uk fetched 20 Jul 2026support.thetram.net fetched 11 Aug 2026
Questions about paying by card
Can I use contactless in Nottingham?
Yes — on the NET tram and on the buses of Nottingham City Transport, Stagecoach East Midlands, Diamond and trentbarton, with your own card, phone or watch and nothing to buy first. What changes from one to the next is where you tap, what a missed tap costs and whose cap you end up under.
On the NET tram you tap the reader on the platform before you board, not on the tram itself. Tapping off again is optional on an ordinary journey, but inside a Short Hop Zone it is the difference between two fares: tap off within 20 minutes and the hop is £1.50, and if you do not, you are charged the full £3.50 single instead.
On the buses the reader is on board. Nottingham City Transport and Stagecoach East Midlands take one tap as you get on and nothing more; Diamond Bus is the same single tap to pay. trentbarton is the exception — tap on and tap off — and forgetting the second tap charges you the maximum fare for that journey, which you can ask back from customer services within 8 weeks. Skills does not say which payments its Medilink drivers take, so ask the driver before you tap on a Medilink bus.
The caps are two separate schemes. Nottingham Contactless covers NCT buses and NET trams on the same card: £5.50 for a day in Zone A on NCT alone, £6.90 for a day in Zone A that includes a tram, and £8.00 on NCT out in zones B, C and D. trentbarton is not in that scheme and caps on its own buses instead, at £7.00 a day from 9am on a weekday or from 4am at a weekend, and £10.50 if you start before 9am on a weekday. Stagecoach and Diamond sit outside Nottingham Contactless; on Stagecoach what limits you is the national £3 ceiling on most single fares.
So pick one card and use only that one all day, because a cap builds on the card and not on you — tap the platform reader before you board a tram, and tap off when you leave a trentbarton bus.
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Can I use contactless on the bus in Nottingham?
Yes, on every bus company in the city, using your own bank card, phone or watch. There is nothing to buy and nothing to register.
Where they differ is the tap itself. Nottingham City Transport and Stagecoach East Midlands take one tap as you board and that is the whole transaction. Diamond Bus is a single tap to pay as well — on its em-9 Airway route to the airport that tap is a flat £4.00 adult single. trentbarton alone works tap on and tap off, and the second tap is the one that matters: forget it and you are charged the maximum fare for that journey, refundable only if you ask customer services within 8 weeks.
The caps do not pool. Nottingham Contactless is the scheme that covers Nottingham City Transport and the NET tram together on one card, and a day on it stops at £5.50 in Zone A, £8.00 out in zones B, C and D, or £6.90 if the same card also touched a tram. trentbarton caps separately on its own buses, at £7.00 a day from 9am on a weekday or from 4am at a weekend and £10.50 before 9am on a weekday. Stagecoach and Diamond cap nothing in Nottingham; on Stagecoach what protects you is the national £3 ceiling on a single fare.
So use one card for the whole day and no other, and tap off when you get off a trentbarton bus.