New ‘smarter’ ticket barrier system on Northern line for Harrogate rail passengers

Harrogate passengers - and others using rail services operated by Northern - face a new regime of 'smarter' ticket barriers.

The new automated ticket checking technology will alert staff to potential ‘chancers’ using an incorrect ticket.

Called POLYGRAPH, the new system will quickly and accurately check that a ticket is valid, but also alert staff if that validity requires additional checks such as presentation of the appropriate railcard.

Staff will then confirm the ticket is being used correctly, taking the necessary action if it isn’t.

Mark Powles, customer and commercial director at Northern, said: “This technology will be invaluable for our gate line and revenue protection colleagues whose job it is to ensure ticket checks are carried out quickly and efficiently.

“Unfortunately, we know that a small minority of customers try to exploit the automated nature of barrier checks to travel on tickets they know they’re not eligible to use."

In a trial at Manchester Victoria earlier this month, the technology was used during a revenue protection exercise where it helped to detect 180 people in one day alone, with almost 900 caught during the full length of the trial.

Those attempting to travel using a ticket they were not eligible to use, included:

52 people benefitting from a railcard discount they were not able to present for inspection.

24 adults travelling on a children’s ticket.

As a result, the train operator was able to issue 79 penalty fares worth over £1,500 and launch 101 investigations into various ticket irregularities - the process by which Northern recovers money for the taxpayer lost by fraudulent travel.

Northern has worked with The Ticket Keeper (TTK) – an organisation that specialises in the development, marketing and roll-out of ticketing systems for the UK rail industry - on the new technology.

On Sunday, December 11, Northern’s new timetable will come into effect with extra services planned on the Harrogate line.

All Northern customers are advised to check new journey times online before they travel.