East Midlands ticketing trials aims to make rail simpler, accessible and flexible
Rail passengers travelling between Leicester, Derby and Nottingham are being encouraged to take part in digital ticketing trials will allow passengers to check in and check out seamlessly on rail journeys, using a location-identifying app on their phone.
image credit. EMR
The app will track journeys using GPS technology and charge passengers the best fare at the end of the day. For ticket inspections and to go through ticket barriers, a bar code will pop up in the app to be scanned.
This technology replaces the need for paper tickets or more commonly used mobile tickets using QR codes bought online or in-app ahead of your journey. Doing away with the need to plan and book journeys in advance, the app tracks your journey and determines which trains you took, detecting when you’ve left the rail network.
The technology has already been tested widely in Switzerland, Denmark and Scotland, however, this marks the first use on England’s rail network.
Rail Minister, Lord Peter Hendy, said, “The railway ticketing system is far too complicated and long overdue an upgrade to bring it into the 21st century. Through these trials, we’re doing just that and making buying tickets more convenient, more accessible and more flexible. By putting passenger experience at the heart of our decision making, we’re modernising fares and ticketing and making it simpler and easier for people to choose rail.”
Oli Cox, Head of Commercial Strategy and Business Planning at East Midlands Railway, said “We know that complex fares can be a real barrier to travel, but this trial removes that uncertainty, making it easy to simply tap in and out on your phone, safe in the knowledge you’re always getting the best-value fare on the day. It is exciting to be one of the first train operating companies to trial this new technology.”
From the end of September the trials will be extended to Northern Trains services running between Harrogate, Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster and Barnsley.
Alex Hornby, Commercial and Customer Director, Northern, said, “These trials mark an important step forward in simplifying rail travel and making the experience as frictionless as possible for our customers.”