Passengers across the East Midlands can now benefit from simpler and more flexible tickets, with the launch of new digital trials.
From today, rail passengers travelling between Leicester, Derby, and Nottingham will be able to take part in these trials, with more taking place in conjunction with Northern Trains in Yorkshire from the end of September.
The digital ticketing trials will allow passengers to check-in and check-out seamlessly on rail journeys, using a location-identifying app on their phone. The app will track journeys using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and then automatically charge passengers the best fare at the end of the day. For ticket inspections and to go through ticket barriers, a unique 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.
Up to 4,000 passengers can take part in these trials by simply signing up via the relevant train operator’s website, taking advantage of simpler and more flexible train travel, and a guarantee of the best value fare on the day. This technology has already been tested widely in Switzerland, Denmark and Scotland, however this marks the first time these trials are being brought to England’s rail network.
The four trial routes and lead train operators are:
- Leicester – Derby – Nottingham, led by East Midlands Railway.
- Harrogate – Leeds, led by Northern.
- Sheffield – Doncaster, led by Northern.
- Sheffield – Barnsley, led by Northern.
Trials will run for nine months, with up to 1000 participants able to take part in each trial.
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.
“Through our Plan for Change we’re delivering growth in every corner of the country, and passengers across the Midlands and North will see real change in buying their train travel from today.”
Oli Cox, head of Commercial Strategy and Business Planning at East Midlands Railway, added: “We’re delighted to announce the launch of our Digital Pay As You Go trial. We’ve had a fantastic response from customers keen to take part – with more than 500 people registering their interest so far.
“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, and we’re looking forward to hearing from customers as they start using the app to travel between Derby, Nottingham and Leicester in the months ahead. There is still time for customers to sign up and try it for themselves and anyone interested should visit our website for more details.”
From the end of September, thousands more passengers will be able to take advantage of the simplified ticketing, with trials running on Northern services to Harrogate, Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster, and Barnsley.
Northern passengers are already moving to modern ticketing, with January figures showing Northern hit a monthly average of almost 78% usage of mobile tickets and reached a single day high of 89%. In June last year, Northern reported the growing preference for mobile tickets amongst its passengers had led to a reduction of 2.3 million orange ‘magstripe’ tickets across the previous 12 months.
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.
“By trialling Digital Pay As You Go technology on some of our routes, we’re helping to shape a future where hopping on a train is as easy as tapping in and out. We thank the customers who have registered to participate in the trials on our routes later this year and we hope more will come forward to play their part in modernising how people travel by rail in the north.”
Image credit: Northern
