Train passengers were unable to buy tickets online with several operators or a major retailer due to a technical glitch. Among the companies who reported being affected by the problem on Tuesday morning (October 4) were Greater Anglia, Northern and Southeastern.
Trainline, the UK’s largest train ticket retailer, was also hit by the fault. Greater Anglia and Northern said passengers could not make card payments on their apps or websites, while Southeastern warned that ticket-buying at stations was also affected.
Northern posted a message on Twitter at 8.14am which stated: “We are aware of an issue with our app/website whereby customers cannot complete their booking. This is being looked into and we hope to see a fix soon. In the meantime please use ticket buying facilities at stations to purchase your tickets."
In an update posted at 11.22am, it wrote: “Issues with our app/website have now been resolved, customers are able to purchase tickets as normal. We are sorry this has affected our customers this morning."
Trainline told customers that its booking system was "experiencing a technical glitch", before later stating that "all booking services are back up and running".
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union, which has claimed there are plans for a mass closure of station ticket offices, tweeted: “Numerous train operating company ticket purchasing apps, and Trainline, are down this morning. This merely highlights the short-sightedness of Government plans to close up to 1,000 ticket offices."
