The UK government has set out details of its £80 million (EUR 89.1 million) programme to introduce smart ticketing across England and Wales by the end of 2018.
The £80 million investment will ensure that every passenger will have the choice of travelling without a paper ticket by the end of 2018. Mobile barcode ticketing will be rolled-out on every rail franchise in Great Britain. Passengers will be able to have smart cards hosted on their mobile phone – like a digital travel card – with a pilot of this technology expected in the next 4 months
The Department for Transport is also working on plans with the Rail Delivery Group to bring forward the next generation of ticketing systems to give passengers more tailored options to pay for their travel, saving them money and offering better value deals.
The investment will quickly deliver benefits to passengers across the country. Discussions with train companies about the introduction of mobile phone smart cards are at an advanced stage, with deals soon to be reached with 3 operators. This will mean that both mobile phone smart cards and mobile barcode tickets will soon be accepted by every operator in England and Wales and be interoperable across different franchises.
“Passengers across the country want smart ticketing and this government will deliver it. This significant investment will ensure that passengers across the network can use mobile phones, bar codes and smart cards across almost all of the network by the end of next year,” Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said.
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