Northern Rail has announced new arrangements for passengers to exchange tickets if their plans change.

Northern has teamed up with rail ticketing app, Seatfrog, to offer passengers who have bought Advance Purchase the opportunity to swap their ticket to another train on the same day. This feature, which Northern describes as “game-changing”, reduces barriers to changing trains, making it easy for passengers to swap their tickets from just £2.50, through the Seatfrog app in just a few taps.

Previously, Advance Purchase tickets, once purchased, were only valid on one service.

To make a swap on Seatfrog, customers will need to enter their original booking reference or train time and destination. The system will then display a list of all the possible trains the customer can switch to and highlight any difference in the fare. Once a new service has been selected and any fare difference has been paid, the customer will receive their swap token direct to their email inbox. They will need to present their original ticket and swap token to satisfy ticket checks.

Using Seatfrog, Northern customers are able to change their ‘Advance Purchase’ ticket starting from one day before their original departure date, up until just ten minutes before their original train is due to leave the station.

Seatfrog has already made waves in the rail industry with its simple and passenger-friendly technology, and Northern believes that the partnership “comes at a perfect time” with the Easter holidays starting this week.

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “Railcard discounts aside, ‘Advance Purchase’ tickets offer the cheapest fares on our network. But with those low prices came strict restrictions on travel dates and times.

“As such, we know some customers that had ‘Advance Purchase’ tickets were frustrated when their plans changed but they couldn’t easily change their train ticket.”

Iain Griffin, co-founder of Seatfrog, said: “Two thirds of the 1.8 billion train tickets purchased every year are advanced tickets which cost less, but lock passengers into rigid travel plans with no wiggle room. We know life doesn’t work to a set timetable and from today Northern passengers will no longer have to miss out on unplanned life moments because of ticket restrictions.”