Tapping into a smarter way to travel in Swindon and the Stroud Valley

A troupe of tap dancers took over Swindon station this morning [Wednesday 24 April] to help promote a new time-saving smartcard for customers travelling from Swindon towards Bristol, and along the Stroud Valley towards Gloucester.
To emphasise the ease of ‘tapping in’ and ‘tapping out’ at stations, members of the world-renowned performance company, Tap Attack, tap-danced on a super-sized pay-as-you-go card transformed into a dance floor.
The troupe were led by Tap Attack founder Jo Scanlan, who works closely with Swindon’s Wilkes Dance Company and who, in 2009, set a new Guinness World Record of 784 tap beats in one minute.
Great Western Railway is extending its popular Bristol pay-as-you-go touch smartcard to include stations stops from beyond Bristol towards Swindon, and along the Stroud Valley between Swindon and Gloucester, rolling payments and tickets into one and guaranteeing the best daily fares.
Once a customer has registered for the smartcard and linked it to their bank account, they’ll be able to tap in out and tap out on yellow card readers at stations from Swindon towards Bristol and beyond to Weston-super-Mare; Cheltenham Spa; and along the Stroud Valley.
Ruth Busby, People and Transformation Director at GWR and Network Rail Western, said:
“We’re really grateful to Tap Attack for helping to promote our new Swindon pay-as-you-go card. The smartcard allows you to ‘tap in’ and ‘tap out’ at stations towards Bristol and across the Stroud Valley, calculating the best value fare on the day of travel.
“We launched the scheme around Bristol in 2022 and are excited about taking this next step, extending it to Swindon and encouraging modal shift and sustainable travel.”
The GWR touch smartcard is valid on GWR and CrossCountry services between Swindon and Bristol (and beyond towards Weston-super-Mare), and Swindon to Gloucester. The card enables passengers to get *best value on walk-up fares for the day of travel, plus Weekly Season ticket price capping applied to end-to-end journeys between two stations over a Monday to Sunday seven-day week.
Train tickets and season tickets can also be stored on your smartcard with pay-as-you-go, except a Flexi Season ticket. GWR advises that a Flexi Season ticket is not used in combination with pay-as-you-go and customers should obtain a separate smartcard for these products.
Railcards can also be loaded on to your pay-as-you-go card, with discounts automatically applied, while a 50% child fare discount is available if you register your child.
How do I get one?
Register for your GWR touch smartcard now:
register for a GWR.com account or login if you already have one
go to ‘Manage smartcards’ within your account and choose ‘Apply for a smartcard’ from the drop-down menu
fill out the form and submit your order
you should usually receive your free smartcard within five working days
For further information including answers to some frequently asked questions please visit our pay-as-you-go page.
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