Easier, Quicker, Smarter travel

Smart ticketing is revolutionising train travel, however the buying habits of commuters are deeply ingrained and there is a certain reassurance offered by a paper ticket. Obstacles that needed to be overcome.

Our launch of Smartcards promised to solve a known pain point for peak-hour passengers. The start of the working week is historically the busiest time to renew season tickets, with almost half of renewals made on a Monday morning and facing the lottery of a queue, or not. Smartcards would replace this last-minute rush to renew with more choice and convenience for the customer, giving them back precious time and added peace of mind. And as a more durable product, Smartcards also promised to help customers glide through the gatelines and avoid the need for replacements.

Despite all this potential, moving across 50,000 people to a new platform is no mean feat. As we all know, meaningful movements are all about hearts and minds.

Time to say ‘goodbye’ to paper

Working closely with ticket retailing colleagues and leveraging a network that makes 180,000 weekly journeys to 500 stations, we turned highly inventive, owned formats into regular opportunities to get more Smartcards into season ticket holders’ hands. Mediums such as tanoy announcements, ticket machine screens and promotional receipts were deployed as media channels for the first time. Coupled with an upgraded renewal experience via digital channels and rapid loading of tickets via NFC, word quickly spread amongst early adopters.

Attention then turned to the majority, who would be met with even more hands-on assistance and a whopping £500,000+ ‘win back the cost of your season ticket’ incentive.