14 DAY TRIAL // Any person that was passing through the ticket gates at London's Marylebone station recently may have noticed what might be the future of train ticketing. Two new ticket scanners, that read a barcode from the user's mobile phones, have been installed. Upon passing the mobile phone over the scanner the user will be able to open the gates.
Over 6,000 tickets have been sold so far, during the three-month trial. The service currently works with E-Day tickets that are sold online. Providing the E-Day as a mobile ticket is the first for the UK rail industry and the 3 month trial has reportedly provided very encouraging feedback. After purchase, users will receive the ticket directly onto their mobile phones through an SMS text message.
Neil Mickletwaithe, Chiltern Railways Commercial Director 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.'
The scanners were developed by Cubic Transportation Systems, the world's leading solution provider of automated fare collection systems for public transport. The company has also announced that it plans to add more ticket types that work with the service in the future.