ts.com

Chiltern Railways - An innovation in mobile ticketing

Chiltern Railways has become the first train operating company in the UK to offer their passengers an innovation in ticketing and enhanced customer service: mobile tickets which can be purchased in advance, over the Internet, and delivered as a barcode in an SMS message delivered direct to customer’s mobile phones. ts.com played an integral part in the project which resulted in the sale of over 6000 mobile tickets during the three month pilot. The pilot was very successful and has now been extended into a second phase, with the 10,000th mobile ticket sold in early June 2007.

Innovative Company

Operating the M40 corridor rail franchise since 1996, Chiltern Railways are an award winning and innovative company. They initially ran their train passenger services from London Marylebone station to stations including Birmingham Snow Hill and from London Marylebone to Aylesbury via Amersham. Services were extended in 2002 to include Kidderminster and again in 2004 to operate between London and Stratford Upon Avon.

Chiltern Railways pride themselves on their commitment to developing their passenger services and listening to their customers needs. A commitment which has recently earned them the title of Best Public Transport Operator of the Year, recognising excellence in transportation in London boroughs by Transport for London. They also received a 90% passenger satisfaction rate in a recent National Passenger Survey – the highest in the UK.

On receiving the results of this survey, Chiltern Railways Managing Director Cath Proctor commented: “Even though we have a 90% passenger satisfaction rate, this is no time for complacency. We will continue to focus our attention on improving in this area along with overall station environments, customer service, and new and easy ways to purchase tickets for travel.”

One of the projects that was included in their £22million investment in future improvements to their services was to offer mobile phone ticketing, becoming the first train company in the UK to do so.

From Internet to Mobile

Chiltern Railways has been offering its passengers the opportunity to purchase their tickets in advance online since 2005, using ts.com’s ticketing solution ts Web integrated through their website. The E-Day ticket is only available from their website and can be purchased up to 6pm the day before travel. The ticket allows passengers to travel between Birmingham and Stratford-upon-Avon to London Marylebone for just £5. Passengers download and print their Print-at-home ticket once the purchase is confirmed.

The latest investment involved taking this process a step further and creating a simple convenient way for passengers to receive and redeem their tickets through their mobile phones. With the prevalence of mobile phone usage amongst rail passengers this method of ticketing was an obvious development for Chiltern as an alternative to paper tickets.

The project was set up initially as a three-month pilot based around the E-Day ticket and was managed by YourRail; bringing together Chiltern Railway’s online advance ticket sales solution provided by ts.com, with mobile ticketing from Mobiqa and access control barrier technology from Cubic Transportation Systems to make the mobile ticket a reality.

The E-Day ‘Txt 2 Mobile’ ticket in action

The first time a customer clicks to purchase an E-Day ‘Txt 2 Mobile’ ticket they are taken through a simple sign-up process where they enter their details including the make and model of their mobile phone. The customer can then purchase their E-Day ticket using their credit or debit card, selecting mobile ticket as the delivery method for their ticket. Once the payment is confirmed their ticket is delivered instantly via an SMS message direct to their mobile phone and they also receive an email receipt confirming the purchase. The barcode embedded in the mobile ticket is specific to the customer’s make and model of mobile, and ensures that the barcode scanners can read each barcode correctly to check the ticket is valid.

All the customer has to do is take their mobile phone containing the mobile ticket SMS message with them when they travel. Staff on board the train check the validity of the mobile ticket using special handheld barcode scanners. On arrival at Marylebone Station they also have the mobile ticket scanned to allow them to enter or exit the platforms, during the trial this was done by the station staff using mobile scanners.

The E-Day tickets are available to purchase up until 6pm the day before travel to make sure the handheld scanners can be synchronised with the latest passenger information before being used. Single or multiple tickets can be purchased but only one barcode is issued per journey.

For repeat purchases, customers simply log on using the username and password that they were allocated when they signed up. The pilot was supported through advertising on the Chiltern Railways website to encourage people to try the service.

Thumbs up from Passengers

The three-month pilot, which ran from December 2006 to March 2007, was a great success with Chiltern Railways passengers with over 6000 tickets sold during the period.

Regular Chiltern Railways passenger, Helen Dunn from Stourbridge, purchased the 1000th ticket and was presented with a bottle of champagne on arrival at London Marylebone. “It is so convenient and such a novelty to have your ticket sent to your mobile phone. I will definitely be using this service again – especially if I get another bottle of Champagne!” she commented.

Another E-Day ticket passenger, Bob Standen, regularly commutes from Leamington Spa to London Marylebone. He focused on the benefits of the mobile ticketing for passengers: “I love purchasing the E-day mobile phone ticket because it is so convenient and I don’t have to queue at the ticket office.

“It is a cheap way to travel and also means that I am more likely to remember my ticket. I don’t leave my mobile phone at home whereas I was always forgetting my travel card.”

Extended to phase 2

The project recently entered phase two which will see further automation introduced, making mobile ticketing innovation a permanent feature for Chiltern Railways. Scanning devices have now been attached to the ticket gates at London Marylebone station to allow passengers who have mobile tickets to scan their own phones and open the gates, saving time and making the process even quicker.

Chiltern Railways Commercial Director Neil Micklethwaite said: “Our mobile phone ticketing pilot has been very successful from a technological point of view, but more importantly it has proved very popular with our passengers, with over 99% telling us they would recommend it to a friend.

“We have listened to our passengers, and what they want is a simpler and easier way to purchase tickets for their travel. Mobile phone ticketing means easy purchases, anywhere, any time.”

The future is mobile

In June 2007 the 10,000th ticket was sold confirming the popularity of the project with passengers. “We are now looking at ways to expand this technology across a range of our tickets, following strong support from passengers. This new innovation comes in an age when virtually all rail passengers carry mobile phones and growth in both mobile communication and rail transportation remains strong.” Neil Micklethwaite concluded.