E-tickets will help Southern Railway passengers socially distance

High resolution pictures are available to download at the bottom of this press release

More passengers than ever before can now travel with e-tickets on Southern Railway, helping people socially distance, preventing the spread of Covid-19. 

Twelve extra stations along the south coast between Chichester and Eastbourne now have barcode readers installed on the ticket gates for passengers to scan e-tickets bought via the Southern OnTrack app or online at southernrailway.com and displayed on their smartphones or printed out at home. 

Another 29 stations will follow across the Govia Thameslink Railway network, including Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern over the coming months, in addition to the 15 major stations already fitted out with the technology (see editor’s notes for a full station list). 

Barcode e-ticket sales have increased in the UK from 25% of UK rail ticket revenues pre-Covid to 33% now as passengers realise the benefits of non-contact travel. E-tickets can help passengers travel with confidence and are ideal for advanced singles, peak and off-peak singles, and peak and off-peak day return tickets. 

Season ticket holders looking for similar Covid-safe benefits are urged to use the free Key smartcard which, by December, will also be available over the ticket office counters and not just by ordering it online, a process taking up to five days. 

Southern Managing Director Angie Doll said: “Customers can already travel safe in the knowledge that our trains and stations are kept clean with a long-lasting viruscide on all touch points. Now e-tickets and our Key smartcard make it even quicker and easier to book a ticket online, speeding up the journey through the station, minimising contact and helping everyone to socially distance.”

Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “Making public transport more modern and accessible is a top priority in all the work that we do. The roll-out of smartphone ticketing across the Southern network makes it quicker and faster for passengers to pass through stations, simplifying their journeys and delivering a more seamless experience.”

ends

Editor’s notes

The Southern OnTrack app or Southern website will offer passengers an e-ticket if they are available on the route they want to travel.

E-tickets are available for advanced singles, peak and off-peak single tickets and peak and off-peak day returns, between any stations with a barcode reader on the ticket gates. Over the coming months, e-tickets will also become available for journeys between stations with a barcode reader on the ticket gates and stations with no gates, substantially increasing the journeys available.

Passengers could already use e-tickets if travelling to or from 15 major destinations on the Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern network, including Brighton, Gatwick Airport, East Croydon, London Bridge, London Victoria, London Blackfriars, City Thameslink, St Pancras International and Luton Airport Parkway.

The 12 stations along the Southern coast which have been fitted with the new technology are: Chichester, Bognor Regis, Barnham, Littlehampton, Angmering, Worthing, Lancing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Portslade, Eastbourne, Lewes and Falmer.

A further 29 stations will have barcode readers fitted by spring next year: In December: Hassocks, Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Three Bridges, Horsham, Crawley, Dorking, Leatherhead, Ashtead, East Grinstead, Oxted, Reigate, Huntingdon, St Neots, Sandy, Royston, Letchworth, Hitchin, Leagrave; in 2021: Horley, Redhill, Merstham, Hertford North, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Potters Bar, Harpenden, Radlett and Hove.

These improvements are part of the ongoing national Barcode Programme that the Rail Delivery Group has been delivering with train operators, enabling passengers to use barcode e-tickets on more journeys across Britain.

The Key smartcard is ideal for commuters with season tickets. Smartcards are now increasingly available from our ticket offices where customers can now register for a new smartcard and purchase smart tickets. Alternatively, passengers can buy smart tickets online and simply tap their smartphone to the smartcard to load it up. Smartcards have no magnetic strip to fail and they can be easily cancelled and replaced if lost. Passengers also benefit from automatic delay-repay compensation when travelling with a Key Smartcard and it can be used for pay-as-you-go journeys via keyGo.