By Andy McCue, 24 October 2006 16:10
NEWS
Chiltern Railways is trialling a system that will allow electronic train tickets to be sent directly to passengers' mobile phones by text message.
The rail company is looking to introduce the system by the end of this year and will run a three-month trial with the aim of making the service permanent if it runs smoothly.
The mobile trial will initially be limited to Chiltern Railways' E-day tickets, which can be purchased online from the rail company's website. The E-day tickets for the route between Birmingham and London already allow passengers to print their own ticket from their home PC.
The mobile tickets will have to be bought online at least 24 hours before travel and once the passenger has purchased the ticket a secure barcode is sent by text message to their mobile phone. The barcode can then be scanned at the ticket gates at the station.
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Chiltern said that ticket purchases on the move directly from mobile phones will be available at a later stage.
Neil Micklethwaite, commercial director for Chiltern Railways, said mobile ticketing provides lower-cost tickets for passengers.
He said in a statement: "We have listened to our passengers and what they want is a simpler and easier way to purchase tickets for their travel."
Chiltern Railways is working with internet retailer ts.com to make the online E-day ticket compatible with mobile phones and Yorkshire-based mobile-ticketing technology company YourRail.
Comments
There are 11 comments. Join the discussion
1. Charles Smith
So now you pay to let you buy tickets? Who picks up the cost of the mobile call?
2. Richard Davies
Basically then companies are reducing cost and increasing margin by transferring more cost to the customer. i.e. your ink used to print out a ticket and doesn't it cost you to receive text messages?
I am not saying its a bad idea however, I think that businesses get more from the use of such technology than the customer, but the businesses won't tell you that and certainly won't advertise it that way!?!
3. Roger Huffadine
OK so when your battery gives out on the way to the station - will the ticket scanners have multiple mobile recharging connectors so that you can annoy everyone whilst you get sufficient charge into your phone for the scanner to have something to read? What if your boss calls just as you get to the barrier? Sounds like a 'solution' looking for an application.
4. anonymous
Sounds great! I can buy a ticket on the train and then text it to all my co-travellers!
5. Paul Munford
It's a fair point about the battery but if I bought the ticket on the phone I would probably make sure I had enough battery life. People lose tickets but we seem to get round these issues.
Mobile technology is just begining to establish itself, watch this space and ask the children in your school what they think.
6. anonymous
Mobile ticketing and vouchers are in use in a number of areas these probems in the main have been addressed. Most people are however honest (or afraid of being caught) and understand that theft is theft.
7. Paul Munford
Don't worry; it does not cost to receive texts messages unless they are Mobile Terminated premium texts. Otherwise it costs the person/company sending them. ( but check with your operator if in doubt)
8. Paul Munford
Telephone ticketing services charge a service charge . If the ticket is bought via a web site perhaps there will be no charge as the text message to the purchaser can be free.
9. anonymous
The Malaga Transportation Company is already doing such of this kind. Tickets can also be purchased through mobile, and single or weekly bar-code tickets are sent to mobile devices. Once you get on the bus, ticket is validated facing the device onto a reader.
10. Botta Alberto
This system does already exisits via MMS in Switzerland, nothing is new. But it doesn't work well, passengers do not adopt this technology so well...
Our Company do have something much better and performing, which give the possibility to have not only your ticket but also your monthly pass in! Don't need any SMS or MMS or call specific nb's... just buy your ticket at train station by pressing one touch of your mobile and do the same at destination, very easy...
11. Peter B Lloyd
Great idea, but the web site for SMS tickets does not accept American Express, so it is completely useless for me. I have to make do with the regular paper tickets, which cost almost three times as much. (Bizarrely, one can use American Express to buy paper tickets online, but not to buy SMS tickets!) How disappointing!