Customers on Arriva buses in the Wigan and Bolton area will soon be able to pick up a weekly or 4-weekly bus ticket with their loaf of bread and pint of milk - thanks to a partnership between Arriva and PayPoint.

From 8 May, the tickets will be available from stores that carry the PayPoint logo - ensuring that more and more Arriva customers can take advantage of this convenient way of buying their tickets.

Market research and customer feedback indicated to Arriva that customers wanted the company to introduce easier ways to buy bus tickets.  In response to this, Arriva has now made weekly and 4-weekly tickets available from PayPoint outlets. There is no need to fill out forms or provide photographs - all people have to do is ask for the ticket they want and then hop on whatever Arriva service suits them best.

With no need to find change at the bus stop, boarding times will be faster - although customers can still buy daily and weekly tickets direct from their bus driver if they wish.

Nick Gordon, marketing manager for Arriva North West and Wales, said: "We believe this represents a significant improvement to the service we offer customers, especially as so many of the PayPoint outlets are within just a short walk of an Arriva bus service.

"Many of our customers will already be familiar with the convenience of topping up their mobile phones or paying their gas or electricity bills at PayPoint outlets. Now they can buy their bus tickets at the same time."

There are currently more than 11,000 PayPoint outlets across the UK and Northern Ireland, processing around four million transactions a week.  PayPoint is not only fast and efficient but also gives customers a wider choice of how, when and where to make their payments. 

Mark Astbury, Sales and Marketing Director of PayPoint, said: “PayPoint is working with Arriva to make it easier for customers to purchase bus tickets, whilst bringing benefits to our retailers at the same time.  We expect this new service to be extremely popular with customers as many of them are regular bus passengers and most PayPoint outlets are located in residential areas.”

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For further information please contact Nick Gordon, marketing manager, Arriva North West and Wales on 0151 522 2832, or Arriva plc Corporate Communications on 0191 520 4106. For media enquiries outside normal office hours, Arriva can be contacted via its media pager service on 0762 392 0615.