Has any bus operator in the UK ever offered SMS tickets.

[stadler]

Does anyone know if any UK bus operator has operator ever offered SMS tickets in any point in the past?

This method is very popular in Mainland European countries. France and Belgium in particular use it extensively in almost all towns and cities and have done so for years. Some of the Eastern European countries offer it too.

You just send a text to a number and it automatically sends you a ticket. It is either a text message that you show to the driver or a text message with a barcode that you can scan. The exact ticket format depends on the operator.

The fare gets deducted from your phone credit or added to your phone bill. If you are on pay as you go then the ticket price gets deducted from your phone credit. If you are on pay monthly then the ticket price gets added to your monthly phone bill.

I am just curious whether any UK bus operator has offered SMS tickets in the past even if it was just a trial?

 

[Megafuss]

Back in the mid 2000s, Go North East trialed a scheme named txt2go

You had to set up an account on the website and add credit. You could then text a dedicated number and a ticket would be sent via SMS.

Due to the convoluted nature, you can guess how long it lasted.

 

[mlambeuk]

I think First York did something like that in 2007, when they launched the FTR service.

 

[ecb124]

Scottish citylink offered this for years, not 100% if they still do. They used to charge 99p for it. Just checked and it appears to still be an option.

 

[Segedunum]

Back in the mid 2000s, Go North East trialed a scheme named txt2go

You had to set up an account on the website and add credit. You could then text a dedicated number and a ticket would be sent via SMS.

Due to the convoluted nature, you can guess how long it lasted.

A Scania Omnicity even received txt2go branding, per the image below.

(Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons and stated to be in the public domain).

 

[scottishtrains]

Scottish citylink offered this for years, not 100% if they still do. They used to charge 99p for it. Just checked and it appears to still be an option.

They still do with a £1 fee

 

[BuhSnarf]

I think UK bus companies were mainly behind the times when it came to ticketing options and so went straight from the paper ticket to app tickets / contactless touch instead of doing the SMS middle ground.