Will the proliferation of electronic train tickets mean the end of paper ones? - Yorkshire Post Letters

A big thank you to The Yorkshire Post (National World) for its promotion with Northern Rail to enable the purchase of a Day Ranger ticket covering travel on the whole Northern network on one day up to March 31 for £10.

We purchased a ticket each and set of on a grand tour, first into Leeds then via a wonderful route via Brighouse, the Calder Valley to Rochdale and into Manchester Victoria, coffee stop and a walk up to Manchester Piccadilly for a train to Sheffield on the Hope Valley Line through the Peak District on a sunny afternoon, great scenery.

Short stop in Sheffield to view the Winter Gardens and back to Leeds and home. All trains reasonably modern, comfortable with high levels of patronage particularly on the Hope Valley section and all five trains on time, congratulations Northern. Bought individually, the tickets could have a total cost £40 each, so a good value day.

One item that struck us regarding the production of tickets for checking so many times was the number of people with electronic tickets being religiously checked and the sparing glances at real card tickets.

Clearly the Train Operating Companies are gathering substantial information on electronic ticketing use, but what comes next? Oh, not many people buy those old fashioned (but reliable) card tickets so let’s make all our travellers buy via smart phones. Potentially another step on the digital discrimination ladder in addition to closing ticket offices referred to in my (June 30, 2022) and others letters over recent months and by YP journalists too?