Rail passengers using Felixstowe station can now purchase their tickets on the platform – thanks to a new £28,000 machine.

The machine has been jointly-funded by Abellio Greater Anglia and Suffolk County Council and will mean travellers can purchase their train tickets beforehand, and even collect tickets which they have bought online, from the machine.

Graham Newman, mayor of Felixstowe and county cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: “Councillor Nick Barber and I are delighted to have supported this project to improve facilities at Felixstowe station from our county council locality budgets.

“As the use of the Felixstowe to Ipswich line increases, hopefully the majority of passengers will buy their ticket, or collect pre-ordered tickets, before boarding, enabling the train operator to maximise income, and to help us all obtain a more accurate record of the growing popularity of the service.

“In addition to Suffolk County Council also supporting the project, it is also very heartening that Abellio Greater Anglia have not only contributed to it as well, but have also invested in the latest passenger information display and public address system at Felixstowe.

“We will continue to work with all our partners, including Felixstowe Travel Watch, to promote the service to the best of our ability.”

The new ticket machine has the most up-to-date screen layout helping to simplify the method for ticket purchase by reducing the number of steps for a ticket transaction.

When purchasing a ticket, the screens also display relevant information concerning any travel restrictions applying to a particular ticket type to help ensure customers purchase the correct and most appropriate ticket for their journey.

The project to install new ticket machines aims to improve services at some of the busier rural stations which do not have a ticket office.

Last year, Abellio Greater Anglia installed automatic ticket machines at Beccles, Saxmundham and Woodbridge stations in Suffolk and these have proved very popular.

Other recent improvements for the Felixstowe to Ipswich line include new customer information screens and automatic announcements.

Jonathan Denby, head of corporate affairs for Abellio Greater Anglia said: “We are pleased to complete this important upgrade for passengers at Felixstowe which will make ticket purchase much easier.

“We are grateful for the support of Suffolk County Council in taking this customer and community-focused improvement forward.”