Every ticket gate on Govia Thameslink Railway‘s network will now accept pre-purchased eTickets, so that rail passengers with these tickets no longer have to queue to for tickets.

Barcode readers that are used to scan the eTickets held on smartphones or printed out from an email have been installed at all 710 ticket gate at every Govia Thameslink Railway managed station. That equates to a total of 1,420 barcode readers available at the 98 stations that are served by Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, and Thameslink train services.

As people become more familiar with smartphone technology, the use of smart ticketing has increased in popularity whilst there has been a corresponding reduction in the use of traditional paper tickets. During the last four years, the proportion of passengers buying barcode eTickets nationally has more than doubled, with an increase from 20% to 49%, while the percentage of customers purchasing buying traditional paper tickets has more than halved, with a reduction from 63% to 28%.

The popularity of eTickets is because they are convenient to purchase as they can be bought instantly on train company’s OnTrack app or websites and unlike some online booking sites there is no additional booking fee. Most types of tickets are available as eTickets, including advanced singles, peak and off-peak singles, and peak and off-peak day return tickets.

GTR Customer Services Director Jenny Saunders said: “Getting your ticket with to ride with Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink has just got so much easier.

“Barcode eTickets are quick to buy online and convenient to use. They can now be used at every one of our ticket gates across our vast network. They’ll make everyone’s journey simpler.”