Southeastern, has introduced digital season tickets, known as sTickets, which aims to provide a streamlined and hassle-free way to purchase and store season passes directly on smartphones.
The operator is the first in the country to accept and retail Flexi Tickets as sTickets.
The tickets are readily available through the Southeastern app and website, allowing passengers to purchase season tickets for journeys within south-east London, Kent, and East Sussex. It is hoped the digital format will eliminate the need for ticket machines or queuing at stations, and make the experience for passengers more efficient and quicker.
Southeastern did confirm that eTickets will remain for non-season travel with the operator recently reporting that they are becoming Southeastern’s most popular ticket format, with over 700,000 sold between 11th November and 8th December, the equivalent of over 2,500 per day. The company also confirmed that the usual booking fees associated with sTicket purchases would not apply as they are directly acquired from Southeastern.
Alicia Andrews, Southeastern's commercial director, expressed her enthusiasm for the introduction of sTickets, stating: "sTickets are a fantastic innovation that will benefit our regular customers by saving time and simplifying the purchase of season tickets.
“They can be conveniently stored and accessed directly on smartphones, eliminating the need for ticket machines or queues at stations. Additionally, sTickets incorporate anti-fraud measures to safeguard against misuse."
Southeastern operate one of the busiest commuter routes in the country and the innovation has been developed and introduced to help the company’s many commuters. The operator recently saw its busiest day on its network since the pandemic ended with 394,000 entries and exits in one day at its South London stations.
Recently, Southeastern installed new technology on 292 ticket vending machines on the network to allow customers to purchase tickets between any two stations in England, Scotland and Wales, regardless of the vending machines locations.
Photo Credit: istock
