PlusBus Tickets

[MikeWh]

When setting up a Google Wallet pass, developers can set flags to tell the app to disable NFC automatically. I've made sure to set that up for tickets bought through TrainSplit/Raileasy/the forum, but evidently other retailers are not as customer experience focused!

This has piqued my interest. Can you elaborate on what happens and when?

The problem I'm getting is that I can use my phone to make contactless touches in London with no problem. However, if I try the same in York it won't work. As I have always just got off a train I wonder whether that has anything to do with it. Feel free to DM if you feel it's inappropriate for this thread.

 

[MrJeeves]

Only took 6 months! Out of curiosity, which zone(s)?

Gatwick, taking a northbound 420 bus from the South Terminal bus stops.

This has piqued my interest. Can you elaborate on what happens and when?

The problem I'm getting is that I can use my phone to make contactless touches in London with no problem. However, if I try the same in York it won't work. As I have always just got off a train I wonder whether that has anything to do with it. Feel free to DM if you feel it's inappropriate for this thread.

You might get luck opening up the Google Wallet app to the home screen where it shows you your list of payment cards, and swiping from one payment card to another one, and then back to the main one you want to use after a few seconds.

The NFC blocking feature should only impact the app when you have a wallet pass with the feature enabled currently showing. However, I'm not sure if this logic is correct within the Wallet app, and I think a similar issue could affect Google Pay usage at Tesco which people often seem to have issues with (Clubcard in Google Wallet is set up to block NFC).

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Oct 2025 ==

Gatwick, taking a northbound 420 bus from the South Terminal bus stops.

And another success taking another bus back to Gatwick later.

 

[markymark2000]

It seems that TFW and GWR have quietly updated their booking engine to enable e-ticket Plusbus sales (as well as LNER who already had their system sorted). Only down side is that for GWR they seem to insist that to use their e-tickets, you must have the GWR app.

Plusbus has also updated it's website to the new one developed by Passenger. I think it looks quite smart.

 

[CyrusWuff]

It seems that TFW and GWR have quietly updated their booking engine to enable e-ticket Plusbus sales (as well as LNER who already had their system sorted). Only down side is that for GWR they seem to insist that to use their e-tickets, you must have the GWR app.

That's outdated information on GWR's part, referring to when their website only offered m-tickets or the old Print@Home format. They've long since changed to issuing e-tickets (which can be downloaded as a PDF, to Apple Wallet or printed out) but have never updated the wording.

 

[Edvid]

It seems that TFW and GWR have quietly updated their booking engine to enable e-ticket Plusbus sales (as well as LNER who already had their system sorted).

Had a go with the TfW engine and there are still some stations - e.g. Bedford - for which it does not issue PlusBus eTickets. I don't believe it's (entirely) a TfW issue because I put Bedford in the OnTrack Retail (Thameslink) engine...



...and on the delivery page the add-on is now missing even though the total fare hasn't changed. Furthermore eTicket fulfilment is listed even though Thameslink do not issue PlusBus eTickets at present. This goes for OnTrack Retail users in general (GTR / Southeastern).



This doesn't affect stations where PlusBus eTickets are available on TfW, or other booking engines.

 

[DailyCommuter]

It seems that TFW and GWR have quietly updated their booking engine to enable e-ticket Plusbus sales (as well as LNER who already had their system sorted). Only down side is that for GWR they seem to insist that to use their e-tickets, you must have the GWR app.

Another issue with GWR's implementation, is that if you have a return on a different date it offers PlusBus options for both days but doesn't show the date each relates too:



Also if a railcard was included in the search, but then Advance tickets were selected (so railcard not applied) then the Plusbus add on is shown as the full price, rather than the railcard price.

Whereas the forum's ticket site does both correctly.

 

[Edvid]

I'll see what happens the next time I try to use PlusBus on TVB, which will probably be next week.

If they have configured their Ticketers to recognise ePlusBus it could be moot as the Reading Buses group will replace them with Transmach ETMs in due course.

 

[kkong]

I've noticed my local PlusBus ticket (Aberdeen) has increased in price - for the second time in two months!

BR Fares says:
08 Jun 2025 — 06 Sep 2025: £3.70
07 Sep 2025 — 06 Dec 2025: £4.20

However, there was a period recently where they were £4.00:

• Bought on 02 Nov 2025: £4.00
• Bought on 10 Nov 2025: £4.00
• Bought on 16 Nov 2025: £4.20

Is there a method by which changes to PlusBus pricing can be made outside the usual fare change dates?

 

[MrJeeves]

Is there a method by which changes to PlusBus pricing can be made outside the usual fare change dates?

Yes, the price can change whenever they want. Just like Advances (and a lot of other tickets too, which are unregulated).

 

[kkong]

Yes, the price can change whenever they want. Just like Advances (and a lot of other tickets too, which are unregulated).

Thanks. Who are "they" in the case of PlusBus tickets?

 

[MrJeeves]

Thanks. Who are "they" in the case of PlusBus tickets?

It'll likely be the lead operator for the area, who tells Traveline they want to change the price, then Traveline tell RDG who update it in the data.

 

[Edvid]

Since my previous post 5 months ago, Ticketers in the Hitchin PlusBus zone have reverted to not recognising applicable eTickets. All Arriva/Centrebus drivers having accepted it on my travels yesterday (mostly without quibble) notwithstanding, this is a very disappointing development.

The fare was raised by almost a third recently, so I wonder if that change has anything to do with it.

I'll send messages to Traveline and the bus operators in due course.

 

[Edvid]

An update on Hitchin - the PlusBus team got back to me and said the non-recognition may have been caused by an out-of-date key. On request I sent a copy of my eTicket to them and their response was as follows:

Thank you for your email. We believe we have now identified the issue.

It appears that some retailers may have updated their keys, which are required to decode the barcode, and these had not been downloaded by the ticket machine supplier. They have now completed a download, so we’re hopeful that tickets should be scanning correctly.

The operator has also noted that they are still seeing scans in the area, which suggests the issue may have been isolated to a couple of apps only.

Please do let us know if you experience any further issues using PlusBus, and thank you again for bringing this to our attention.

So it wasn't a (general) reversion as I previously thought. I bought the ticket in question from the forum site, for what's it's worth (since then I've also purchased a Gatwick Airport +Bus eTicket from here and it scanned just fine on Metrobus services).

 

[Adam Williams]

Yes, it's caused by out of date E-Ticket decoding pubkeys. RDG provides access for these to be pulled down from a private API and recommends this is done every 24h, but for whatever reason Ticketer isn't actually doing that today and the buses are left with a stale set of keys, which means they cannot decode many tickets.

For what it's worth, the forum site submitted the underlying barcode key that's used when issuing these tickets back in summer 2023, so it's not likely it recently changed.

I have been talking back and forth with technical support at Ticketer about this over the last few weeks, following some assistance from a really helpful bus operator in one specific area who was willing to thoroughly test it and escalate the problem, working with Raileasy. We've got it fixed in a couple of places now across a couple of operators, but Ticketer can't just do a sweeping update across the all of their operators in one go for reasons I don't entirely understand, and fixes need to be applied in each broken area.

If you've experienced issues, I am told that what's important is:

• The exact timestamp at which the PlusBus ticket was scanned and rejected by the bus
• The specific operator and route number
• If you know the vehicle details, these are useful too - these can be looked up on https://bustimes.org

Please submit these to TrainSplit customer support and I will compile the issue reports and send over to Ticketer. Please do not send reports about:

• Manchester (Metroline)
  • We are told this has been fixed. Please do send reports if issues are experienced.
• Redhill (Metrobus)
  • We are told this has been fixed. Please do send reports if issues are experienced.
• Ipswich (Ipswich Buses)
• Glasgow (McGills)
• Burgess Hill (Compass Bus)
  • We are told this has been fixed. Please do send reports if issues are experienced.
• Derby (Arriva)

As all of these areas are (or were at one point) broken and have already been reported.

For First Bus, we have been made aware that the following areas have been fixed very recently:

• First West Yorkshire
• First South Yorkshire
• First York
• First Leicester
• First Aberdeen
• First Eastern Counties

Reports for other First Bus areas are now useful and welcomed.

Obviously this is only relevant if the bus ETM is supplied by Ticketer.

 

[Bungle965]

Manchester (Metroline)

I didn’t realise it would be specifically down to the franchise operator, rather TfGM as a whole as they are the ones which supply the Ticketer machines for each of the tranches

 

[Adam Williams]

I didn’t realise it would be specifically down to the franchise operator, rather TfGM as a whole as they are the ones which supply the Ticketer machines for each of the tranches

Honestly I don't know how much is controlled by TfGM and how much isn't in Manchester, it appears to be some sort of configuration-level construct rather than a fundamental firmware upgrade. When we looked at Manchester we saw Stagecoach operated some services though, and it was unclear if Ticketer kit would be in use on those buses in the first place at all, so we've been tracking it internally by the actual operator of the buses. I don't know if TfGM will need to be involved to approve a fix or not.

 

[markymark2000]

I didn’t realise it would be specifically down to the franchise operator, rather TfGM as a whole as they are the ones which supply the Ticketer machines for each of the tranches

Honestly I don't know how much is controlled by TfGM and how much isn't in Manchester, it appears to be some sort of configuration-level construct rather than a fundamental firmware upgrade.

For Bee Network, while it's all Ticketer, each operator has their own Ticketer portal and set up. That is why issues such as this can be operator specific.

When we looked at Manchester we saw Stagecoach operated some services though, and it was unclear if Ticketer kit would be in use on those buses in the first place at all, so we've been tracking it internally by the actual operator of the buses. I don't know if TfGM will need to be involved to approve a fix or not.

The Stagecoach routes which run into Manchester (125, 127, 157) are still on VIX machines and you just show the driver the ticket on your phone.

 

[Adam Williams]

For Bee Network, while it's all Ticketer, each operator has their own Ticketer portal and set up. That is why issues such as this can be operator specific.


The Stagecoach routes which run into Manchester (125, 127, 157) are still on VIX machines and you just show the driver the ticket on your phone.

Suspected that might be the case, but good to have confirmation!

 

[Edvid]

Yes, it's caused by out of date E-Ticket decoding pubkeys. RDG provides access for these to be pulled down from a private API and recommends this is done every 24h, but for whatever reason Ticketer isn't actually doing that today and the buses are left with a stale set of keys, which means they cannot decode many tickets.

For what it's worth, the forum site submitted the underlying barcode key that's used when issuing these tickets back in summer 2023, so it's not likely it recently changed.

Thanks for the additional explanation.

I didn't know ePlusBus validations were also dependent on Ticketer acquiring retailer-specific keys, so my assumption a successful scan for one applies to all no longer holds. I now recall buying the successfully-scanned (in June) Hitchin +Bus from LNER so it's possible they didn't have active keys from TrainSplit back then either.

Obviously this is only relevant if the bus ETM is supplied by Ticketer.

What's your take on the routeone article suggesting that TransMach ETMs on Reading Transport buses may validate PlusBus eTickets in future?

On the separate readers for smartcards/contactless payment cards and QR codes, Reading Buses says that will remove an issue that can be created when cards are kept behind mobile phones and interfere with the scanner. It will also allow future development for acceptance of electronic PlusBus tickets.

 

[Adam Williams]

What's your take on the routeone article suggesting that TransMach ETMs on Reading Transport buses may validate PlusBus eTickets in future?

Transmach have implemented it properly, and we've had confirmation it works flawlessly from one of the bus operators we've been working with who are trialling this ETM.

 

[markymark2000]

Transmach have implemented it properly, and we've had confirmation it works flawlessly from one of the bus operators we've been working with who are trialling this ETM.

Can you, as a retailer, see any of the Plusbus scans or know exactly which operator the tickets work for? The Plusbus site is full of out of date info on operators accepting the ticket and so it'd be useful if you are in a position to nudge to get that updated if you can see the acceptance scans.

 

[MrJeeves]

Can you, as a retailer, see any of the Plusbus scans or know exactly which operator the tickets work for? The Plusbus site is full of out of date info on operators accepting the ticket and so it'd be useful if you are in a position to nudge to get that updated if you can see the acceptance scans.

If the PlusBus site is out of date, you'd be best emailing Traveline via the PlusBus site to tell them. I've had very good experiences contacting them in the past.

 

[Adam Williams]

Can you, as a retailer, see any of the Plusbus scans or know exactly which operator the tickets work for?

I would only really be comfortable referring back to statements made publicly by Traveline in relation to this query, sorry.

 

[markymark2000]

If the PlusBus site is out of date, you'd be best emailing Traveline via the PlusBus site to tell them. I've had very good experiences contacting them in the past.

I know someone who tried and Plusbus passed the buck onto the 'local scheme managers' and nothing got fixed.

I would only really be comfortable referring back to statements made publicly by Traveline in relation to this query, sorry.

No problem.

 

[MrJeeves]

I know someone who tried and Plusbus passed the buck onto the 'local scheme managers' and nothing got fixed.

Then I'd be replying to Traveline after a week or two and asking for them to continue passing more bucks until it's fixed

 

[Edvid]

In the past week I've used Luton +Bus on PRT issued by Thameslink ticket offices. Scans were validated on Arriva B&B and Centrebus services but not on Grant Palmer. Haven't tried it on Arriva H&E or Uno.

On another topic, I noticed a small group at Luton Interchange join route LAX with CCSTs that had right-angled corners instead of the rounded corners common to RSP ticket stock. I could only see the reverse side (magstripe, text on white background) and all that comes to mind is that the driver accepted LU-issue non-PlusBus rail tickets for some reason.

 

[Fiyero]

When setting up a Google Wallet pass, developers can set flags to tell the app to disable NFC automatically. I've made sure to set that up for tickets bought through TrainSplit/Raileasy/the forum, but evidently other retailers are not as customer experience focused!

Seems this still isn't set on a plusbus from trainpal as I had an accidental tap with scan (another app had turned NFC back on).

Annoying that I can't have NFC on (I know you say your site is ok but train pal keeps giving me vouchers!)

 

[MrJeeves]

Seems this still isn't set on a plusbus from trainpal as I had an accidental tap with scan (another app had turned NFC back on).

Annoying that I can't have NFC on (I know you say your site is ok but train pal keeps giving me vouchers!)

I understand it will be a requirement soon. Hopefully it'll be one that actually gets followed.

 

[kkong]

I've noticed my local PlusBus ticket (Aberdeen) has increased in price - for the second time in two months!
...
However, there was a period recently where they were £4.00:

• Bought on 02 Nov 2025: £4.00
• Bought on 10 Nov 2025: £4.00
• Bought on 16 Nov 2025: £4.20

Just to note yet another increase in the Aberdeen PlusBus fare!

From 01 Mar 2026: £4.65

That's an over 25% increase in 6 months (they were £3.70 until 06 Sep 2025).

 

[Edvid]

Travelled with Leagrave +Bus today (PRT again) and the Aztec code was successfully scanned on all Ticketered services that I used, bar 1 of 3 Grant Palmer services* (2 of them worked, so it looks like my recent message to Traveline after post #326 bore fruit) and an Uno service.

[* On this occasion it was probably an error specific to that ETM. Funnily enough the driver recognised it as PlusBus on sight even though only the date and Aztec code were visible during my attempted scan]