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06
Jun
Rail passengers urged to volunteer for digital ticketing trial
Regular passengers on the Harrogate-to-Leeds rail line have the chance from today (Friday, June 6) to take part in a digital ticketing trial.
The route is one of three in Yorkshire chosen to trial a new system which uses GPS technology to track train journeys, ensuring passengers pay the lowest fare for the journey they take.
The Sheffield-Doncaster and Sheffield-Barnsley lines are the other two routes trialling the scheme in the region.
Rail minister Lord Peter Hendy said:
Contactless ticketing is making journeys easier to navigate for millions of passengers, and now our digital trials are actively recruiting volunteers to help expand this technology across Yorkshire.
Simplifying ticketing is a major part of our plans to overhaul the railways. I encourage anyone who regularly gets the train along these routes to get involved, and help us build a ticketing system that delivers a better experience for passengers and communities across the country.
Unlike the previous roll-out of pay-as-you-go ticketing, which uses contactless payment at barriers, these trials will use GPS technology to track people’s location throughout their train journey.
Up to 1,000 passengers will be able to take part on each route of the three trials.
The trials will begin between September and November, and each one will run for nine months.
A trial will also be taking place in the East Midlands, operated by East Midlands Railway (EMR) and running between Leicester, Derby and Nottingham.
Anyone interested in taking part should check Northern’s website where a recruitment campaign has been launched.
Alex Hornby, commercial and customer director for 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 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 checking in and out.
We will now be reaching out to regular customers on those routes to see if they would be willing to participate in these trials later this year. We’re excited to see how they respond and look forward to playing our part in modernising how people travel by rail in the North.
The introduction of digital ticketing is part of the government’s Plan for Change to overhaul the service, ahead of the creation of Great British Railways, the planned state-owned railway company.
Contactless ticketing has already been rolled out at 53 stations across the South East, where an average of 140,000 entries and exits have been registered a week.
The Department for Transport is also working with Greater Manchester and the West Midlands to develop their proposals for rolling out contactless ticketing further.
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