Train companies have revealed plans to do away with the traditional orange train ticket and replace it with a paper receipt.
Orange tickets have been synonymous with British train journeys for decades, but we will soon be leaving them behind.
Train conductors are being armed with new handheld ticket machines that no longer print onto the orange-bordered cards we all know. Instead you will receive a paper receipt.
“The ticket itself will contain exactly the same information, but the big change will be it is no longer printed on the same orange card. What you get will be probably very similar to what you get at a restaurant, a printer paper receipt,” said a spokesperson for Arriva, a train company that has already introduced the new machines on its Cardiff-Treherbert line. Arriva plans to introduce 700 of the new ticket machines.
The new machines are similar to smartphones with printers attached to them; the paper tickets will contain a barcode that opens the ticket barriers for you.
However, there are concerns about whether train barriers will keep up with the new technology. At the moment they are designed to accept cardboard tickets that you insert into the barrier. It is not clear how many can cope with scanning a barcode in order to open.
Earn AirMiles when you spend with these credit cards
Rollout on track
Arriva isn’t the only train company getting rid of traditional orange tickets. Scotrail and Great Western Railway are also planning to introduce the new ticket machines throughout the year.
As well as the new style of tickets many train companies are planning to introduce mobile ticketing that will allow you to hold your train ticket on your mobile phone. Chiltern Railways already has a mobile app that allows passengers to do just that.
Many train lines have also brought in card systems similar to London’s Oyster cards that allow passengers to tap in and out.
All these changes are a result of a challenge from the Department of Transport for train companies to make more ticket options available to passengers.
Get a massive 5% interest on your current account with loveMONEY
Get the latest on household money:
How much money do you have to earn to be considered rich?