RAIL commuters across the North now have the chance to beat the Monday morning rush by renewing their weekly tickets online.

Northern Rail is giving customers with a seven-day season ticket the chance to renew online up to two weeks in advance and then collect their ticket at any time from any Northern ticket vending machine.

This means customers renewing a seven-day season ticket no longer have to buy their next ticket on the day their current season ends, often a Monday morning.

Northern has invested £50,000 to update its ticket machines and website to give customers a choice.

Richard Allan, commercial director for Northern, said: “Giving our customers more choice is very important to us. This is the first of several improvements to our retailing during 2015.”