European community for mobility management

An iPhone app that will allow customers to purchase train tickets and deliver the ticket as a 2D barcode that can be scanned at ticket barriers, is to be launched by the UK rail company Chiltern Railways this spring. 

Chiltern Railways alongside partners ATOS Origin and Masabi, have developed an iPhone app that will allow its rail passengers to search for train times and the cheapest fares, as well as purchasing tickets on their phone. Tickets will then be sent to the phone in the form of a 2D barcode that can be read at gate scanners at stations, allowing passengers to touch in and touch out. The app will remember favourite journeys and debit card details so that travel can be made with just a few touches of the screen. In addition, the app can provide information on travel delays and disruption.

The Chiltern Railways iPhone app is free to download and, unlike many commercial booking services, does not charge a booking fee. The iPhone app will be launched in the spring and will be extended to apps for BlackBerry, Android, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson later this year.

Chiltern Railways is one of many private British train operating companies and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill and its associated branches

More information: Transport Xtra (in English)

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