SNCF, the state owned French railway company in charge of all trains in France, released a pretty significant update to its Voyages SNCF iPhone app today, adding in app ticketing.
MacGeneration reports that once you’ve purchased your ticket, customers will simply have to select the e-ticket option and present their iPhone to the ticket inspector on the train.
Interestingly, Passbook was ditched in favor of the in app system, so there’s clearly a difference in opinion between companies as to which system is best.
Another shame is that it hasn’t yet been adapted for the iPhone 5 display, but that will come in due course, so it’s minor.
While it may not seem very significant to anyone outside of France, get this: SNCF operates ALL trains inside France apart from subways, so this will reach a huge amount of people and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see millions ditching the paper train ticket for good in France very soon.
I can’t wait to go back to France to try this system out. NFC payment and smartphone ticketing are really the next big things if you ask me, and cash is probably going to be the next thing on the verge of extinction. People will just use phones to pay for stuff.
