Train passengers will be able to purchase tickets using a mobile phone when Chiltern Railways begins trials of mobile ticketing technology later this year.

It will be the first rail operator to send a barcode via text message when passengers buy a ticket online, which is then scanned at the station ticket barrier.

If the three month trial is successful, it will introduce the service permanently, and allow ticket purchases to be made via mobile phone while on the move.

Chiltern Railways, which operates from London through Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire to the West Midlands, will launch the pilot for its £5 Eday tickets.

Commercial Director Neil Micklethwaite says it will make buying tickets easier for passengers by enabling easy purchases anywhere and at any time while reducing queues at stations.

‘Passengers can buy their tickets online, but instead of confirming the purchase with an email, we will text them a 2D barcode directly to the mobile phone with supporting journey information,’ he said.

‘Staff has been equipped with PDAs capable of scanning the barcode and we will also bolt a barcode reader on to our automatic ticket barriers before the end of the year.’

The PDA can connect to the back office and retrieve a passenger’s details if the phone on their battery dies during the journey.

Micklethwaite says the trial will initially target off-peak travellers over Christmas, but it would ultimately like to introduce the scheme for peak travel.

‘There are a number of issues to overcome, such as getting the speed of processing passengers through the gate right,’ he said. ‘We will be trying to process a lot of passengers and any delay would not be acceptable.’

The system has been designed by YourRail and internet retailer ts.com has ensured the online Eday ticket is compatible with mobile ticketing.

Chiltern Railways believes most rail passengers now carry a mobile phone and mobile ticketing enables them to purchase tickers when it is convenient for them.

The mobile ticketing processes and technologies will later let Chiltern’s passengers make other purchases linked to their journeys and provide them with real-time information about their journeys at any time.

Tickets are already available via mobile phone in Helsinki, Finland.

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