Ukrzaliznytsia from Feb. 5, 2013 started service testing electronic tickets for Intercity+ trains, the press service of Donetsk railways has reported.
The press service said that from now on, passengers can board a train after booking a ticket online, paying for it using a bank card and printing the ticket on paper. Using a mobile ticket control terminal, conductors check the information and allow passenger onto the train.
The ticket contains information on the passenger’s trip, the 20-bit number of the ticket, the last name and name of the passenger and a unique identifier of the conditions of the transportation agreement (direction, date of departure, number of train, number of wagon, number of seat, etc).
If the tickets are registered via electronic servicing channels, non-used tickets can be returned to the ticket office no later than one hour before the departure of the train from the first station on its route.
The technology for creating and checking the ticket is a part of the sophisticated technology required to introduce electronic tickets.
The press service said that the e-ticket is registered only for high-speed Intercity+ trains. Tickets for passengers who are not entitled to benefits and tickets for children can be registered and bought online. Tickets for other passengers who are entitled to benefits and group orders are registered and bought only at ticket offices.
As reported, in Nov. 2012, referring to the then Vice Premier and Infrastructure Minister Borys Kolesnikov, the sale of electronic tickets for passenger trains using QR codes in Ukraine is to start from Dec. 25 for the Intercity+ Ukrainian Express trains.
A QR code is a two-dimensional bar code with graphic information coding. It was designed by Japan’s Denso-Wave firm.
