Mobile transport ticketing specialist Masabi has developed an all-in-one ticket app for rail operator First Great Western. It’s the latest success for Masabi, which already provides services for a number of operators in the UK and the USA.
Customers can download the mobile application to a compatible smartphone or tablet and buy tickets for use with any UK train operator. These can then be collected from any ticket vending machine using a reference number that’s provided when the transaction has been completed.
However, there’s no physical ticket required when buying First Great Western Advance Purchase tickets. These will be displayed on-screen as an ‘mTicket’ barcode that can be checked by train managers or staff at ticket barriers.
The app - which is available for Android, Apple iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Phone - also remembers previous journeys and stores payment information securely.
Stuart McLay, Retail Channel Manager at FGW, said “Technology has fundamentally changed the way that we travel. Not only distances covered, but in the way we access information about services and in our ability to purchase ‘smart’ tickets while already on the move. As one of the UK’s leading transport providers, First Great Western is committed to providing innovative solutions to keep people moving in these increasingly congested times. That is why we have developed our online and mobile ticketing service, ensuring we continue to put our customers first and help communities to prosper.”
First Great Western operates routes between London Paddington and Bath Spa, Bristol, Exeter, Oxford, Plymouth, Penzance, Cardiff, Swindon and Reading.