Mobile Phone Ticketing

CHILTERN Railways has entered phase two of its mobile phone ticketing project following the success of the initial three month pilot during which 6,000 mobile phone tickets have been sold.

Working closely with project partners YourRail, Cubic Transportation Systems, Mobiqa and ts.com, Chiltern Railways is the first rail company in the UK to offer barcodes on mobile phones as an alternative to paper tickets.

Stage 2 will see further automation incorporated into the project. Two scanning devices have been attached to the ticket gates at London Marylebone station to allow passengers to scan their own phones and open the gates.

The scanners, developed by Cubic Transportation Systems, were installed last week and are already helping to save time for passengers with mobile tickets who had previously been reliant on a member of staff to open the gates for them.

Chiltern Railways Commercial Director, Neil Micklethwaite said: “Our mobile phone ticketing pilot has been very successful from a technological point of view, but more importantly, it has proved very popular with our passengers, with over 99% telling us they would recommend it to a friend.

“We have listened to our passengers and what they want is a simpler and easier way to purchase tickets for their travel. Mobile phone ticketing means easy purchases, anywhere, any time.

“Our high-tech gate technology was installed last week. The next stage looks at ways to expand this product to other areas along our route.

“Currently this technology is only valid with our popular E-day product, purchased exclusively from our website, allowing passengers to travel between Birmingham and Stratford-upon-Avon to London Marylebone for