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GWR Closes Ticketing Loophole That Let Seat Reservations Pass Barriers Nationwide

SilverRail blames a coding error introduced during GWR’s February software switch.

Overview

  • Standalone digital seat reservations were mistakenly treated as valid tickets at station gates and displayed as an 'anytime single' in train crew apps.
  • A Telegraph journalist demonstrated the flaw by completing roughly 500 miles of First Class travel across multiple operators.
  • GWR and SilverRail say the vulnerability was patched by March 11 after it was flagged about a week earlier.
  • The operator has not said how many trips used the workaround, and reports indicate some customers saw pre-booked digital tickets vanish from accounts.
  • GWR reiterates that reservations are not travel documents and advises customers to use emailed receipts or contact support to retrieve purchase records.