Date: 08/02/2017

Technology such as biometric scanning and smarter trains could improve rail travel for customers, a body representing UK rail firms has said. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has unveiled its plans for the future of rail travel. Travellers could purchase fares after being identified via iris or fingerprint scans to enable faster ticket-free travel, it said. Digital signalling could also enable trains to travel more closely together. This would mean more frequent services could operate. In his last budget Chancellor Philip Hammond committed £450m to trials of digital signalling technology and other railway improvements as part of the Digital Railway project. Chiltern Railways is currently seeking volunteers to trial ticket-free travel via a Bluetooth app.

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Rail firms mull iris scan train fares

BBC News

Technology such as biometric scanning and smarter trains could improve rail travel for UK customers.