A new ticketless rail app is to be trialed on England’s rail network for the first time over the next few weeks.
The trial, commencing today and using almost £1m of government funds, will take place on the East Midlands rail network across Leicester, Derby and Nottingham.
Similar trials will happen on Yorkshire’s Northern Trains later in the month.
Aimed at simplifying rail travel, the tech being trialed is a digital ticketing app that digitises the process of checking into and out of a train station.
When approaching a ticket barrier at a train station, users simply open up the app and scan a QR code instead of a physical ticket.
The app will also generate a QR code that travellers can show to ticket inspectors on trains.
It calculates the users’ rail fare by tracking their location, the trains they traveled on and when they stopped using them via the global positioning system (GPS), and automatically takes the money from their bank accounts.
This trial is currently limited to 4,000 people travelling across the East Midlands, who can sign up via the train provider’s website.
Such technology is already used in Scotland and in European countries like Switzerland and Denmark, but never in England.
It’s hoped the technology will simplify rail travel in England and make it more sustainable by cutting down on paper usage for tickets.
Lord Peter Hendy, rail minister, described England’s current rail ticketing system as “too complicated” and said it was “long overdue an upgrade to bring it into the 21st century”
He added: “Through these trials, we’re doing just that and making buying tickets more convenient, more accessible and more flexible.”
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