MCard travel smartcard goes totally paperless
MCard travel smartcard goes totally paperless
27 March 2019
West Yorkshire's money-saving MCard travel smartcards go totally digital next week with rail passengers no longer needing a paper counterpart for their train travel.
From Monday 1 April, rail ticket inspectors will be using smartcard readers to scan and validate MCards. This means rail ticket machines, Travel Centres and Payzone stores will no longer issue customers with paper rail counterparts to show on the train as proof of purchase.
Leading smartcard travel scheme in the North
MCard is the leading multi-operator smartcard travel scheme in the North and one of the largest and most successful outside of London's long-established Oyster card. People in West Yorkshire now use MCards to make over �31 million worth of bus and train journeys each year and as many as 400,000 journeys per week.
As well as ticket machines, Travel Centres and Payzone stores, Android smartphone users can download the free MCard app and use it to buy and load daily, weekly and monthly West Yorkshire bus and rail tickets anytime, anywhere.
Download the app from Google Play store.
Richard Armitage, Chair of the West Yorkshire Ticketing Company, a not-for-profit joint venture between West Yorkshire's bus and rail operators and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, said: "This is great news for MCard. We've worked closely with rail operators to ensure their ticket inspectors have the technology to validate smartcards. Now all customers need is their MCard to travel on the bus and train. No paper counterparts are required.
"This also means that customers can now top-up their MCards with weekly and monthly bus & rail travel from MCard ticket machines at Bradford Interchange, Castleford, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Keighley, Leeds, Pontefract and Wakefield Bus Stations."
"Plus by not printing counterparts, we'll be using less paper which can only be a good thing for the environment. I would urge anyone who has never used MCard before to give it a try. Our tickets offer unlimited travel on all bus and rail operator services throughout West Yorkshire and it's easy to find out more online at m-card.co.uk."
MCard is owned and promoted by the West Yorkshire Ticketing Company Limited (WYTCL), which is a joint venture between the bus and rail operators of West Yorkshire and its delivery partner, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. WYTCL develops, manages and promotes the full range of MCard travel products for use in West Yorkshire, with the majority of their products available as smartcards sold through a wide network of Travel Centres, ticket machines, Payzone shops and through the MCard app.