27.11.14
Abellio CEO unveils ambitious smart ticketing plans for ScotRail
Abellio has ambitious plans for smart ticketing for the ScotRail franchise, with the Dutch-owned company looking to introduce new contactless innovations that are already in use in the Netherlands.
Jeff Hoogesteger, CEO of Abellio Group, spoke about the company’s plans for its UK rail franchises at the Future of Rail Conference in London yesterday. He is particularly enthusiastic about smart ticketing and potentially bringing the Be-In-Be-Out system in use in the Netherlands over to the UK.
This allows passengers to pay for their journeys with a smartcard that is automatically detected by a reader, and doesn’t require tapping in and out, unlike contactless bank card payment and smartcards such as Oyster. He even sees this going further and phasing out smartcards for mobile phones, which will also then be able to be used to purchase items at stations in addition to journeys.
Another big part of Abellio’s vision for the new ScotRail franchise includes forming a 'deep alliance' with Network Rail to make improvements to the network and provide a better service to their passengers.
For more coverage of the Future of Rail Conference 2014 see the next issue of RTM.
(Image: c. Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)
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