When you purchase your mLink ticket, it will be sent to your mobile phone handset (see later for details on how to purchase mLink tickets). 

You MUST activate your mLink ticket for travel before you board the train. 

If you do not activate your mLink ticket prior to boarding, you must purchase a full price cash ticket which is non-refundable.

mLink is compatible with most mobile phones and all UK mobile phone networks.  The requirement is that you must be able to access the internet using an internet enabled phone at the time of ticket purchase.  Check with your mobile phone operator if you are unsure whether or not your phone is GPRS-enabled. 

The phones you cannot use are those with green screens, which typically are 5 or more years old. Please review list of supported handsets.

You may use this mLink ticket for any 3 days in a 7 day period between your two chosen stations. The 3 days don’t have to be used consecutively.  The 7 day period commences when you activate the 1st day of travel. Your mLink ticket will self-delete at 04:00 on the day following the expiry date shown on the ticket.

If you do not activate your ticket within 3 days of purchase, it will automatically self-activate and therefore will be immediately ready for use.  We therefore advise that you don’t buy your mLink ticket any more than 3 days before you want the ticket to start.  For example, mLink tickets purchased on a Friday at 7am will automatically self-activate on Monday at 7am.

You may use this mLink ticket for any 7 consecutive days travel starting on any day of the week between your two chosen stations.  The 7 day period commences when you activate the 1st day of travel.  Your mLink ticket will self-delete at 04:00 on the day following the expiry date shown on the ticket.

If you do not activate your ticket within 3 days of purchase, it will automatically self-activate and therefore will be immediately ready for use.  We therefore advise that you don’t buy your mLink ticket any more than 3 days before you want the ticket to start.  For example, mLink tickets purchased on a Friday at 7am will automatically self-activate on Monday at 7am.

Unfortunately not. We are however investigating the possibilities and associated implications of expanding range of tickets available via mLink. Once mLink is firmly established we may possibly introduce more tickets such as a One Day ticket.
 
Before introducing any new ticket types we need to ensure that it is technically possible to do so and that no risk arises in relation to ticket cancellation and deletion once the ticket has been used e.g. Single ticket can only be used for one journey between two specific stations.

We are currently investigating whether the mLink app can be adapted to allow Students to purchase discounted Single and Weekly NI Railways tickets and will provide more details of future mLink functionality online at www.translink.co.uk/mlink  
 
Aside from whether it’s technically possible we also need to ensure any changes align with other future planned developments such as possible introduction of a Young Persons Smartcard.

For data protection reasons, parents who wish to register their child’s mobile phone handset to receive mLink tickets will essentially enter their own (i.e. the parent’s) personal details when registering.  The only two pieces of information belonging to the Child will be the Date of Birth and the Child’s mobile phone number.

The process for registering a Child’s mobile phone depends on the type of phone the Child will be using for mLink.

If your Child has a Blackberry or a standard phone (i.e. not iPhone or Android), you must register your Child’s phone online at www.translink.co.uk/mLink .  A text message will be sent to your Child’s mobile phone containing a link to download the mLink application to their handset.

If your Child has an iPhone, you must download the ‘mLink’ app from the App Store and select the Child registration process within the app.

If your Child has an Android phone, you must download the ‘mLink’ app from the Market Place. 

Please note that iPhone or Android customers cannot register online.

Please also note that Child customers must be under 16 years of age at time of registration.   

To activate a ticket simply select ‘Use Ticket’ menu option. Upon 1st activation you will be asked ‘Are You Sure?’ which gives you the option to exit in case you have gone into the wrong ticket or have pressed ‘Use Ticket’ by mistake.

Once the ticket has been activated it becomes valid from that moment, so 1 day from a 3 Day Flexi ticket will be valid for that day only, a Weekly ticket for activation date + 6 days, and a Monthly ticket for 1 month later (e.g. activate on 14 January, valid until midnight on 13 February).

Please note that your ticket is automatically removed from your phone as soon as it expires and that all tickets expire at 4am on the day following the expiry date on the ticket display.

Whenever you need to show your activated ticket to a member of Translink staff, simply select the ‘Use Ticket’ option and the activated ticket will be displayed on your screen.

The Colour of the Day may take a while to load and “No Signal” or “Loading” message may appear whilst the Colour of the Day is downloaded. The ticket is still however valid for travel though the conductor will return later in the journey to recheck your ticket when the Colour of the Day is eventually displayed.

Please note that you must always have your ticket available to show a Translink member of staff should they request it and that the ticket must always show the current date and time.

You MUST ensure that you have activated the ticket you wish to use for your journey before you board the train and that it is displayed clearly on your phone screen.

A message detailing “No Signal” will be displayed around the border of your mLink ticket until a Mobile Phone signal is obtained. 

Once a signal is achieved the valid Colour of the Day will then be displayed around the border of your ticket.
Once you have activated your ticket you then simply show the ticket to the conductor when travelling on the train or NI Railways staff at the ticket barrier when you board or alight. The backlight on the screen needs to be on so when you show the ticket to staff it can be easily read.

If you are unable to obtain a mobile phone signal you can still travel if you have activated your ticket before boarding.  In this case the Conductor will return to you later in your journey to check the Colour of the Day is displayed once you have obtained a mobile phone signal.

It is your responsibility to ensure you can display a valid activated mLink ticket to a Translink member of staff before & after travelling and throughout your journey.

If you fail to activate your ticket before boarding or fail to display it when requested at any point during your journey you must pay the full cash fare which is non refundable.

We advise that your phone should be fully charged before travelling and that the screen should be kept in a good condition free from any damage. 

Child mLink tickets can be purchased by authorised adults. Children (i.e. persons under the age of 16) cannot register or purchase tickets via a mobile phone. 

1. For customers with a Blackberry or standard mobile phone (i.e. not Android or iPhone), the authorised adult (parent) registers their details online at our mLink registration page at www.translink.co.uk/mlink.  For children using iPhone and Android, the parent can register their Child’s details within the app sent to the phone.
2. Once registered the mLink app is uploaded to the Child’s phone, ready for immediate use.
3. Once the app is installed, the Adult can only purchase tickets online from our dedicated mLink site.  mLink tickets are then instantly sent to the Child’s phone.

Please note that once you register a mobile phone as a Child’s phone only Child tickets can be sent to this phone.  It is also important to note that only Child customers (under the age of 16) can use Child mLink tickets to travel on NI Railways services.  Adult customers can not use a Child ticket to travel under any circumstances and anyone who does so is liable for prosecution.