Transport for Wales charges every tap-and-go passenger an adult fare, council warns

Why a councillor says Transport for Wales is overcharging

His reasoning revolves around the tap-in, tap-out machines charging every user an adult fare.

The scheme lets customers pay with a contactless card or a phone instead of buying a ticket in advance, and covers adult single journeys.

TfW has been promoting on social media the 27-mile (44km) Wrexham-Bidston Borderlands line.

It includes TikTok adverts telling viewers it offers the operator's "best value fare".

The council said there had been no explanation that children, families and pensioners, who all qualify for concessionary fares, would be charged the full adult price.

Alasdair Ibbotson, a councillor for Penyffordd, first raised the concern in July, telling a council meeting that signage around stations did not explain that concessionary travel would not be supported.

"The tap-and-go machines can only charge full-fare adult tickets," he said.

"If you are eligible to travel on a child ticket or at a reduced rate because you have a railcard you will not be charged the correct fare for your journey.

"You will be overcharged. So the notion that this is the best value fare is categorically untrue."

He told the meeting that small print on station banners stated the value claim was measured against equivalent TfW tickets.

However, that the system only compared against a full adult fare.

Ibbotson claimed the social adverts gave no indication that tap-and-go was not the cheapest option for everyone, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

TfW responded to the issue raised by council members, saying it was "actively reviewing" how to communicate alternative ticketing options to customers.

Until it does, the council's advice is the unglamorous kind: check whether a cheaper option exists before you tap in.

It is a saving of a few pounds a journey, at a point when households have already been told to expect bills to rise substantially in January.