Four barriers will be installed on platforms used by TGVs at Paris Montparnasse and Marseilles Saint-Charles stations and the trial will evaluate the operation of equipment from four suppliers: Thales, IER, Scheidt & Bachmann, and Xerox. One of these suppliers will be selected to provide technology for the rollout of ticket barriers at other TGV stations by 2017.
The barriers being used in the trial are equipped with contactless scanners which can read any ticket media, including traditional paper tickets, smartphones, and smartcards.
In a previous trial, where tickets were scanned by staff on the platform before boarding, SNCF found the rate of ticket fraud could be reduced by up to 25%.
SNCF says that a survey carried out by Ifop in August 2015 found that 88% of passengers want ticket checks to be carried out before boarding.
