Rail travel at the touch of a button as Translink introduce mobile ticketing

William McGookin, Translink Ticketing Systems Manager, passenger Ella Griffin, Peter Bell, Trapeze Group Managing Director and Catherine Mason, Translink Group Chief Executive celebrate the launch of mLink, Translink’s innovative new mobile ticket which enables rail passengers to buy, receive and display an electronic ticket on their mobile phone

Rail passengers in Northern Ireland can now take advantage of “on the go” ticketing with the launch of mLink, Translink’s innovative new mobile ticket.

William McGookin, Translink Ticketing Systems Manager, passenger Ella Griffin, Peter Bell, Trapeze Group Managing Director and Catherine Mason, Translink Group Chief Executive celebrate the launch of mLink, Translink’s innovative new mobile ticket which enables rail passengers to buy, receive and display an electronic ticket on their mobile phone

mLink enables passengers to buy, receive and display an electronic ticket on their mobile phone doing away with the need for a paper ticket and Catherine Mason, Translink Group Chief Executive, says it has been developed with the customer in mind;

“We are committed to constantly innovating and improving our service for our passengers and through mLink we are providing rail customers with a convenient and easy to use ticketing system. Tickets can now be purchased through customers’ mobile phones, making it both simple and safe to purchase tickets anywhere at any time without any time spent queuing at ticket offices.

“mLink tickets can be purchased and displayed using most standard mobiles as well as iPhone, BlackBerry and Android handsets*. Tickets, purchased via the customer’s credit or debit card through a free to download app, can be bought up to three days in advance and can be stored and activated on the phone. The tickets are displayed as a ‘flash pass’ ticket with no electronic reading required, a visual check of the mobile phone screen by NI Railways employees at the ticket barrier or on-board the train is all that is needed.

“Rail passengers can purchase monthly, weekly or new 3 day flexi tickets** from their mobile phones, enabling users to avail of more flexible travel services to suit lifestyles and working patterns.

“This also offers excellent value for money; for example, the majority of our rail customers will save over £30 per month with a rolling monthly ticket. So, mLink now makes it even easier for our customers to enjoy great savings of over 28% with a monthly ticket, over 19% with a weekly ticket and over 15% with the new 3 day flexi ticket. In addition, from now until the end of February, we are also offering an extra 10% discount for mLink weekly and monthly customers. ***

Mrs Mason continued, “With Northern Ireland having the highest mobile phone penetration in the UK at 92% and almost one quarter of people using smartphones[i], we are confident that mLink will soon prove to be the preferred option for train travel.

“We are encouraging as many people as possible to experience mLink as rail travel becomes more convenient, attractive and flexible. With the added convenience enabling customers to easily check prices in advance of travelling, buying tickets on the go is quick, easy and secure.

“Rail travel represents good value, especially in the current climate where the costs involved in running a car, for instance petrol and insurance costs, continue to rise.

“Additionally rail travel is an environmentally-friendly form of transport so the move away from paper tickets to mobile ticketing will make it an even greater form of sustainable transport in the future”, concluded Ms Mason.

Trapeze Group (UK) Ltd assisted Translink in developing the technology and Managing Director Peter Bell commented;

“Trapeze Group is pleased to help Translink offer an exciting and easy to use way for its customers to buy tickets using their mobile phones.

Trapeze’s M-Ticket suite has been built with a focus on convenience and ease of use for the traveller, combined with the latest security and anti-fraud technologies. The products are designed to work across nearly all mobile devices, regardless of how “smart” they may be, and they are designed to give both user and provider the comfort and certainty that the transactions and tickets are fully protected. This enables transport providers such as Translink to sell more tickets whilst reducing the costs associated with fraud and traditional transaction charges.

Within Trapeze Group, the M-Ticket suite forms a part of an integrated traveller information hub allowing the provision of context & location specific public transport intelligence. Our goal is to help encourage modal shift and to help public and private sector transport providers realise the environmental, social and economic benefits of increasing ridership.”

To purchase the mLink app for free simply text ‘mlink’ to 82500 or register online by visiting www.translink.co.uk/mlink or download the free Translink mLink app from the App store or Android market.

References

*mLink is compatible with over 80% of mobile handsets and all UK mobile phone networks – the only requirement is that you must be able to access the internet (mobile phones must be GPRS enabled). A full list of compatible phones can be found at www.translink.co.uk/mlink

** new 3 Day Flexi ticket is only available to purchase as an mLink ticket and allows the customer to travel on any 3 out of 7 days from date of 1st activation.

***Savings are based on the cost of buying:
– (3 Day Flexi mLink ticket) 3 full price day return rail tickets
– (Weekly mLink ticket) 5 full price day return rail tickets
– (Monthly mLink ticket) 20 full price day return rail tickets
– Additional 10% mLink discount valid from January 9 – February 29.
– Monthly tickets over the value of £75 also offer customers free unlimited travel at weekends, across the entire NI Railways network.

[i] Ofcom Communications Market Report 2011 (August): Northern Ireland Communications Market