Northern rail company to clampdown on ticket scam similar to ‘Netflix password sharing’

Rail company Northern, which operates trains in and around Manchester, has made it more difficult for fraudsters to cheat ticket checks on its trains. This is done in a scam the train operator says would have been akin to ‘Netflix password sharing’.

By introducing new Barcode Season Tickets, which ‘live’ within the Northern app and update repeatedly throughout the day, they have stopped fare evaders from being able to ‘screenshot and share’ season tickets for others to use. Customers are also required to upload a profile photograph when purchasing a Barcode Season Ticket, which displays alongside the barcode within the app and forms part of the ticket inspection.

Barcode Season Tickets offer up to 33%-off the regular cost of commuting between two stations on the Northern network and are available to adult customers as weekly or monthly options. For more information and details of how to buy a Barcode Season Ticket, visit the Northern website.

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “Our season tickets are no different to people’s gym memberships, store loyalty cards or indeed their Netflix account - they’re designed for use by the person whose name is on the bill.

“Whilst upwards of 95% of the journeys made on our network are by customers who do the right thing and buy a ticket before they travel – for the remaining 5% that are made by people who attempt to travel without paying their way, switching these particular sales to Barcode Season Tickets will ensure only the device that made the purchase is able to satisfy checks by our conductors and ticket gatelines.”

For customers travelling less frequently, Northern offers ‘Flexi Season Tickets’ which offer any eight days travel in a 28-day window. For the benefit of all customers, Northern has invested in the largest network of digital ticket infrastructure of any train operator in the country, making it easier than ever to buy a ticket via their app, website or one of more than 600 ticket machines across the network.