From concert-goers to super commuters; Passenger extends partnership with Edinburgh Trams

Edinburgh Trams has extended its contract with Passenger, the UK’s leading digital transport services provider, taking the partnership at least to 2027.

With travel patterns changing post-Covid, Edinburgh Trams wanted to offer new products to suit commuters with regular and flexible working patterns. Commissioning the ‘et app’ from Passenger in 2021 enabled travellers in Edinburgh to buy unlimited tram season tickets and discounted bundles of tram day tickets conveniently, supporting emerging commuting behaviours.

The new tram line extension, which opened to the public in June 2023, significantly increased mobile app ticket sales as more travellers made tram travel their first choice. The extension’s opening runs three miles from Edinburgh city centre to Newhaven by the sea and has created a spine across the city.

As well as being targeted at Edinburgh’s “super commuters”, since launching in October 2021, the highly rated app from Passenger has enjoyed some unexpected audiences. The team at Edinburgh Trams quickly identified how the app could support concert-goers in travelling safely on public transport in Scotland’s capital city, including crowd management as big names performed at Murrayfield’s record-attendance music events.

Singers Bruce Springsteen and Harry Styles played record-breaking gigs at the stadium last summer, with over 65,000 fans watching the former One Direction star perform his Love On Tour show.

According to the concert venue, Styles’ event broke the record for Scotland’s biggest-selling stadium show, toppling his former band from the top spot, which it had claimed after selling 64,000 tickets at Murrayfield almost a decade ago in 2014. With high numbers of concert-goers heading to the stadium, one of the easiest ways to make the journey is on Edinburgh’s tram. As such, the Edinburgh Trams app saw a huge surge in downloads as fans bought tram tickets via their smartphones – the highest number of app downloads in a single day since it launched.

Instead of queueing at tram stops to buy tickets from ticket vending machines, concert-goers were encouraged to download and buy their tickets in advance from either the Edinburgh Trams app or the Transport for Edinburgh app to ensure quick boarding. The apps supported the extra staff manning these events and moved the crowds more quickly.

Jamie Swift, Marketing Manager at Edinburgh Trams comments, “Passenger have delivered exactly what we needed to enable the introduction of new flexible tram ticketing products. Take-up has been really positive, especially following the opening of the extended network to Leith and Newhaven line last year. The retail tools we have access to with Passenger have supported engagement with our stakeholders beyond expectations, and we’re delighted to continue working with them.”

Kerrie Grant, Customer Success Manager at Passenger, comments, “I am over the moon that Edinburgh Trams hasn’t hesitated to extend its partnership with Passenger. Edinburgh is a fantastic city, and the tram is a huge driver of its economic growth. The Edinburgh Trams team have been working hard to develop new ticketing products for commuters as they understand how Edinburgh is adjusting to new travel patterns. We’re delighted to continue supporting this with our highly flexible Passenger app solution.”

Already in 2024, Passenger launched a brand new online training platform and fares information capability. The training platform, Passenger Academy, supports new operator staff in making the most of the Passenger platform, which is used daily by the team at Edinburgh Trams.