Northern Rail warns that paper tickets will disappear within five years

• Last year, 2.3 million fewer paper train tickets were issued
• The number of people using Northern Rail e-tickets increased by 19 percent

Paper train tickets – a hallmark of rail travel since the first passenger service in 1825 – could become a thing of the past within five years, a train company warned today.

Northern Rail said the classic orange train ticket – known as the ‘magstripe’ because it has a magnetic, machine-readable stripe on the back – will soon be a museum exhibit.

They will be replaced by tickets carried on mobile phones or by technology similar to that of the London Underground, where passengers board and disembark at the gates using the bank card they used to pay for their ticket.

Critics are expected to see this move as another step towards a cashless, paperless society.

Over the past twelve months, the number of paper tickets issued has fallen from 20.3 million in 2022-2023 to 18.3 million.

In the same period, the number of people using digital tickets on Northern services increased by almost 19 percent – ​​from 54.8 million to 65.2 million.

Critics fear that phasing out paper tickets could pose problems for people, including the elderly, who don’t have a smart mobile phone – or no mobile phone at all – and for travelers whose batteries run out during long journeys.

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A spokesperson for Northern said: ‘All of our standard tickets are available in electronic format and people are clearly enjoying the flexibility of purchasing their ticket ‘on the go’ and saving it to their mobile phone or tablet.

‘We can also increasingly offer real ‘paper’ tickets through our ticket counters and vending machines for those who prefer physical proof of purchase.

‘While ‘magstripes’ can evoke a sense of nostalgia, it’s important to remember that because they are made from more than one material, they are less recyclable and could end up in landfill – while paper cards can be easily recycled with other materials. paper products.

‘At the current rate of decline and with an increasing focus on digital and paper alternatives, ‘magstripes’ are definitely approaching the end of the line. Within five years they could be a kind of museum exhibition.’

Northern Rail made the announcement to mark UN World Environment Day.

The current version of the orange ‘magstripe’ ticket was first used in 2014 after Northern was selected by the then Association of Train Operating Companies – now known as the Rail Delivery Group – to pilot a trial at stations in the north of England.

The orange tickets became the standard ticket for all train operators and remain in use to this day.

Northern is the second largest train operator in Britain, with 2,500 services daily at more than 500 stations across the North.

MailOnline has approached the Rail Delivery Group.

Passenger watchdog Transport Focus declined to comment.

The move comes shortly after new figures suggested Kearsley, near Bolton in Greater Manchester, was Britain’s worst-performing train station.

According to analysts Ontimetrains, the number of unmanned stations served by Northern Rail trains stood at 2,625 in the past four weeks, with only 17 percent of services at the station on schedule.

Another 43 percent were one to four minutes late and 14 percent were five to nine minutes late.

Five percent of trains were delayed by ten or more minutes, while as many as twenty percent were canceled in total.

The station opened in 1838 and is on the line between Stalybridge and Southport, with direct services to locations such as Manchester, Bolton, Wigan and Salford.