Bristol-based Esoterix has secured £380,000 funding to accelerate the development of technology that aims to underpin fairer fares on rail.

The Department for Transport have awarded the grant through Innovate UK as part of the First of a Kind in Rail 2020 competition.

The project will advance machine learning algorithms to reward regular travellers who exercise flexibility in their schedules to use quieter trains. Under the current model, season ticket holders have carte blanche to use any train, irrespective of how busy trains are.

It is hoped that by incentivising quieter services utilisation of all services will be improved and aid the smooth running of whole network.

“This funding will accelerate our work towards a fully automated and scalable product,” said Esoterix chief executive David Stewart. “We are excited about the potential of this project to make a contribution to a new era in railway ticketing.”