Rail Takes Centre Stage at Transport Ticketing Global

Fares innovation, latest technologies and new business models for rail are set to take centre stage at Transport Ticketing Global 2023, Olympia, London, on 7 and 8 March 2023

As the world’s largest public transport event for smart ticketing and mobility professionals, the event will showcase the very latest in smart ticketing, mobility solutions and passenger experience. And with the rail industry witnessing some of the largest changes to fares and ticketing in decades, rail will feature prominently across the conference agenda.

Highlights from amongst the 100+ industry leading speakers include:

• Deutsche Bahn outlining the Open Sales Distribution Model (OSDM): Improving Seamless Passenger Experience Through Integration of Rail Distribution Systems.

• London North Eastern Railway detailing the use of biometrics to improve customer experience at ticket barriers.

• Great Western Railway and Transport for London discussing the changing nature of fare evasion and how it is being tackled in UK.

• Rail Delivery Group outlining how the Rail Data Marketplace can be used to enable innovative passenger-facing applications, operational efficiencies and improved transparency.

The event will also host a special workshop from Great British Railway’s Fares, Ticketing and Retail team. Open to all attendees, this interactive workshop will take attendees through their plans to deliver a transformation in rail retailing, delivering a better experience for customers and improving the financial sustainability of the railway.

And for the first time ever the programme features speakers from South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Columbia. They join over 35 countries from North & South America, Europe, Southern Africa and South & East Asia all represented on the programme.

Talking about new developments for this year’s event, Event Manager Andrew Earle highlighted the innovation that we are seeing in Rail ticketing and fares.

‘It’s great to see so many rail specific projects on this year’s agenda, highlighting some fundamental changes to ways in which ticketing and fares are managed. The industry is seeing real innovation and it is no coincidence that rail projects feature heavily in the list of TT Awards finalists.’

The awards that Earle mentions will take place on the evening of 7 March. The finalists include entries from TrenItalia, Rail Delivery Group, Virgin Trains Ticketing, Greater Wellington Regional Transit, My Train App and many more.

Rail Operators and Transport Authorities can apply for a complimentary pass to the event. With so much to do and see, the event has become a must attend for many rail operators. As Earle says: ‘Transport Ticketing Global has become a firm date in the diary for many rail professionals. It’s not just about the great content – it’s also a fantastic chance to network with Rail professionals from around the globe.

‘This year we’re welcoming delegations from countries including Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Saudia Arabia, South Africa, Columbia etc as well as regular attendees from across Europe. And we’re including new formats such as roundtables to help make the most of information sharing opportunities. If you work in ticketing and fares for the rail sector, I encourage you to come along.’

Speakers include:

• Andrew Anderson – Head of Customer Payments, Transport for London.

• Stewart Fox-Mills – FTR Programme Director, Great British Railways.

• David Maitland – CEO, Vix Technology.

• Sonia Segade – Head of Technological Transformation, Renfe.

• Neil Shah – IT & Digital Director, Arriva UK Trains.

• Megan Spencer-Rigby – PAYG Director, Great British Railways.

• Andrew Anderson – Head of Customer Payments, Transport for London.

• John Backway – Head of Central Back Office, Rail Delivery Group.

• Matthew Lewis – Technical Director SWIFT, Transport for West Midlands.

David Maitland, CEO of Vix Technology starts off the first day by giving the Keynote Presentation which will explore how the challenges of the pandemic have remained for many agencies and operators, with ridership looking to have permanently changed. He will ask how do we, collectively as an industry, work together to better engage passengers to drive loyalty, and ensure public transit remains for decades to come.

Thea Fisher, Senior Director, Head of Value-Added Services at Visa follows this with a presentation on the latest global trends in Urban Mobility payments, from hundreds of cities and billions of taps and provides updates on the global initiative to leave no rider behind.

Before breaking for lunch there will be talks on The Evolution of Open-Loop and Closed-Loop Systems, Innovation in Ticketing and Fare Structure and Improving the Passenger Experience with Innovative Technology.

Lessons from overseas

There will be multiple talks by representatives from international transport agencies. Helmut Eichhorn, Managing Director of Alliance SwissPass, highlights what has led to the launch of a new project trying to define a fully integrated nationwide fare system in Switzerland.

Joyce Tay, Director, Public Transport Promotion and Ticketing at the Land Transport Authority of Singapore describes the city state’s e-payment journey to encourage commuters countrywide to switch to using fare payment methods compatible with Singapore’s open loop payment platform branded SimplyGo, and use e-payment rather than cash for top-ups done at Ticketing Machines.

Sindile Msibi, Executive Director and Tony Huynh, Chief Operating OfficerTransport at ICT-Works discuss the implementation of Account Based Ticketing Systems in the African environment and the associated challenges.

Other talks look at the Benefits and Challenges of Jakarta's Integrated Multimodal Fare Policy, Improving the Public Transport Experience in Saudi Arabia, Combined tickets in Sweden, Encouraging the shift to EMV ticketing In Amsterdam, Modernizing a public transit system in Latin America: a path to open loop and ABT in developing countries and how INIT delivers an open architecture, multi-operator, multiclient, account based ticketing system for MTS in San Diego.

Great British Railways

There will be three workshops from the Great British Railways transition team. In each session the Fares, Ticketing and Retail team from Great British Railways transition team (GBRtt) share what they’re doing to deliver a transformation in rail retailing to deliver a better experience for customers and improve the financial sustainability of the railway. There will be several GBRTT subject matter experts available to answer your most pressing questions.

Learn more and book tickets at www. transport-ticketing.com. Free tickets are available for Rail Operators, Transport Authorities and Government. Those that don’t qualify can use the code RP20 for a 20 per cent discount on tickets.