Barcode tickets to mobiles will rapidly replace smartcards

Barcode tickets sent direct to mobile phones will rapidly supersede plastic smartcards as the future of rail ticketing outside the large commuter networks, the Association of Train Operating Companies has predicted.

Speaking at the CILT rail conference last week, ATOC director general George Muir said it was hard to imagine that storing money on a smartcard would be an attractive proposition to the large number of intercity passengers who make relatively infrequent trips. The relatively high...