Publicly owned train operators leading digital ticketing revolution
England's publicly owned train operators hit 80% usage of digital tickets.
Pay As You Go ticketing, improved customer experience on the train operator’s booking tools and the popularity of digital products such as barcode season tickets drives change.
Modernising fares and ticketing makes it simpler and easier for customers to find, buy and store the best value ticket.
Publicly owned train operators have witnessed significant increases in the usage of digital tickets over paper tickets on their services – achieving over 80% in 2025.
TransPennine Express achieved an annual average of 81% of passenger journeys made using a digital ticket in the year ending 31 March 2025, and a monthly high in January 2025, when nearly 85% of all journeys on TransPennine Express services were made using a digital ticket.
TransPennine Express has witnessed a significant increase in the usage of digital tickets in recent years. Usage has grown from 43% pre-pandemic to over 80% five years later. The increase has been steady with specific spikes driven by initiatives such as the introduction of digital flexi-season tickets in the summer of 2023.
LNER achieved an 84% annual average for digital ticket usage as a percentage of passenger journeys, with the highest monthly average in January 2025 coming in at 88%.
Meanwhile, Northern hit a monthly average of 78% usage of digital tickets in January 2025 and reached a single day high of 89% of passenger journeys.
Alex Hornby, Commercial and Customer Director at Northern said: “We are making rail tickets more accessible and easier than ever - and it clearly shows in the growth we are experiencing.
“When it comes to buying a ticket, customers tell us they value their time and money. By improving the digital ticketing infrastructure, we are able to provide a more convenient and flexible customer experience.
“Investment in digital products available online and on mobile apps, as well as contactless ticketing, is helping to make it easier than ever to search for, buy and store the best-price ticket for your journey, as well as enabling and enhancing the railway’s role in an integrated transport network.”
At South Eastern Railway, the monthly average for usage of digital tickets topped 80% for the first time in January 2025 and maintained an average above 80% of passenger journeys for the following two months.
One of the drivers of this increase was an impressive 10% year-on-year growth in the share of passengers using a barcode digital season ticket.
The number of South Eastern Railway app users has also risen dramatically in recent years, growing from 1,650 in March 2021 up to 621,240 in June of this year. The app has been designed to improve the ticket booking process and support customers, such as those with accessibility needs at all stages of their journey.
The Government’s drive for more contactless payment ticketing is another factor supporting the growth in digital ticketing. South Eastern Railway reported a little under 48 million contactless journeys in the year ending 31 March 2025, over 3 million more than the previous year.
Last week, the Department for Transport shared information on innovative digital ticketing trials in the North and Midlands - Cutting-edge rail ticket technology to be trialled across the Midlands and North - GOV.UK, which will allow passengers to check-in and check-out seamlessly on rail journeys, using a location-identifying app on their phone and ensure they are charged the best possible fare.
This programme builds on the progress seen earlier in the year in the South East, where an additional 53 stations in the region now enable passengers to use contactless ticketing, guaranteeing passengers the best value ticket available on the day.
This expansion of contactless ticketing areas means the latest operator to enter public ownership, c2c are able to offer customers an entirely contactless payment enabled network.