Yorkshire rail passengers will soon get their first experience of contactless ticketing.
Described as a simpler and more flexible way to travel, a trial of the system will be run by York-based Northern Trains.
The trials will use satellite technology linked to a phone app. The Department for Transport (DfT) said this will track your location while you’re on the train, and ensure you pay the cheapest fare for the journey you take.
A barcode which can be scanned by ticket inspectors and station barriers will be produced by the app, the DfT said.
Existing examples of pay-as-you-go ticketing involve passengers using contactless credit, debit or travel cards to touch in and out on card readers.
Rail minister Lord Hendy said: “We’ve seen the success that contactless ticketing has on making journeys easier to navigate and attracting more people to our railways.
“It’s only right that we now look to expand contactless ticketing to other major cities across the North, ensuring they can reap the economic benefits that simpler ticketing offers and that passengers are having a better experience.”
The government has started the procurement process to find suppliers who will run the system on certain Northern and East Midlands Railway services.
Alex Hornby, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “Historically, ticketing across the rail industry has been far too complicated and so anything that makes the customer experience simpler has my vote.
“We’ve already seen a huge swing away from physical tickets to digital alternatives, which now make up over 80% of journeys on our network.
“The option to pay as you go is a development of that trend which we’re looking forward to introducing on selected routes very soon.”
The DfT said the trials will start later this year.