A new pay-as-you-go rail ticketing system is being trialled on East Midlands Railway between Leicester, Derby and Nottingham from Monday, September 1. The scheme will extend to Northern Rail services between Harrogate, Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster and Barnsley from the end of September.

The new system will use GPS-tracking technology to follow passengers as they travel through England and they will be automatically charged at the end of the day. People will be able to check in and out of rail journeys using an app on their phone instead of digital or paper tickets.

The app will track passengers’ journey using GPS while they travel, and when passing through ticket barriers they will scan a unique bar code that appears in the app.

Up to 4,000 people will be able to take part in the trial this month by signing up on the train operators’ website.

The new tech, which is already being tested in Switzerland, Denmark and Scotland, is designed to replace the need for paper tickets and mobile tickets which use a QR code. Ministers hope the trial will help to save passengers both money and time while travelling on the rail network.

Rail minister Lord Peter Hendy said: “The railway ticketing system is far too complicated and long overdue an upgrade to bring it into the 21st century. Through these trials we’re doing just that, and making buying tickets more convenient, more accessible and more flexible. By putting passenger experience at the heart of our decision-making we’re modernising fares and ticketing and making it simpler and easier for people to choose rail.”

Oli Cox, head of commercial strategy and business planning at East Midlands Railway, said “more than 500 people” had already registered an interest in taking part in the trial and there is still time for passengers to sign up. 

He continued: “We’re delighted to announce the launch of our digital pay-as-you-go trial. We’ve had a fantastic response from customers keen to take part – with more than 500 people registering their interest so far.

“We know that complex fares can be a real barrier to travel, but this trial removes that uncertainty, making it easy to simply tap in and out on your phone, safe in the knowledge you’re always getting the best-value fare on the day.

“It is exciting to be one of the first train operating companies to trial this new technology, and we’re looking forward to hearing from customers as they start using the app to travel between Derby, Nottingham and Leicester in the months ahead. There is still time for customers to sign up and try it for themselves and anyone interested should visit our website for more details.”