Train passengers in the East Midlands are to test technology that will let them tap in and out for journeys and be charged the best fare for their trip at the end of the day.
Trials of digital rail tickets based on GPS tracking will begin on Monday as part of the government’s plan to improve the rail network’s complex fare system.
Passengers will check in for travel on their phones with an app and have their journey tracked using satellite location technology.
The app will automatically charge them the best fare at the end of the day’s travel and provide a barcode when needed for ticket inspections or to pass through ticket barriers.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said the technology, if it proves successful, would replace the need for paper tickets and mobile tickets using QR codes, which have to be bought before travel. Passengers will be able to travel without planning or booking journeys in advance.
The technology, which has previously been tested in Switzerland, Denmark and Scotland, is being piloted in England first on East Midlands Railway services between Leicester, Derby and Nottingham, with trials to be extended to Northern Trains in Yorkshire from the end of the month. Up to 4,000 passengers are expected to take part in the pilots.
The DfT said the scheme demonstrated its commitment to improving the passenger experience and trialling innovative technology to save time and money.
The rail minister, 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.”
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Despite widespread consensus on the need to overhaul ticketing, the DfT and rail industry have yet to find a solution. The previous government had pledged to tackle England’s complex fare system, although attempts to make savings by automating ticketing and closing ticket offices were widely resisted by MPs as well as unions.
Labour pledged a “best price guarantee” as part of fares reform under its plans for a nationalised Great British Railways, which it hopes will be up and running in 2027.
Oli Cox, the head of commercial strategy at East Midlands Railway, said more than 500 people had registered for its part in the trial. He said: “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.”