Great Western Railway (GWR) is to launch a smartcard for the Severn Beach Line, as part of a pilot which could see combined rail and bus travel in a single ticket offered across Bristol. The smartcard, to be known as ‘touch’, will enable both adults and children to add weekly and season tickets (monthly through to yearly) to their card using their online account, or at a smartcard enabled ticket vending machine.
Prior to launching the pilot in May, GWR will need to install platform validators at the Severn Beach Line stations, as well as make improvements to ticket gates at Bristol Temple Meads.
The pilot project is being run in partnership with Bristol City Council. If successful, it could form part of a wider, integrated scheme, including MetroWest, and local bus services.
“This investment is good news for passengers using Temple Meads and the Severn Beach Line with more gates to help ease congestion, equipped with new ticket readers making smart payment for local rail travel a reality. Piloting the smartcard on the Severn Beach Line and Temple Meads is a big step forward for Bristol. It will also help us move towards comprehensive and convenient smart ticketing across the bus network; local rail network and on Metrobus,” Bristol City Council Councillor Mark Bradshaw, said.
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