Swiss rail operator SBB has launched a new option in its application ‘SBB Mobile’. It provides the customers with a better search for the cheap tickets. The new feature is available for the iOS devices, the Android version will be launched soon. On the company’s website, this option will be open by the year’s end.

The option of a savings price comparison makes it easier for the passengers to benefit from the discounted tickets and to look for the connections with the cheapest discount tickets directly in the timetable. To use it, a customer should activate by clicking the ‘price display’ in the ‘advanced search’. The displayed prices correspond to the cheapest half-fare price in the second class for the selected connection.

Self-service channels

SBB will continue to develop the self-service and digital channels for distribution its tickets. Currently, the company invests in the modernisation of its travel centres at the railway stations, adds new options for digital services such as automatic ticketing or forecast of the train occupancy. In the future, SBB plans to make possible the purchase of train tickets anonymously, without any digital account.

More and more SBB’s passengers use the self-service channels for buying tickets. Over 3 million customers per month use SBB Mobile application, around 800,000 of them buy tickets with their smartphones. According to the company’s data, more than every second SBB ticket (51.5 per cent) is sold via the official website and the mobile application. Taking into account the ticket machines, over 90 per cent of all SBB tickets are sold via the self-service channels. The company predicts that this trend will continue over the next few years.