A new paperless ticketing system that works by tracking passenger journeys via GPS is being trialled on railways in the United Kingdom, in a bid to make buying tickets “more convenient, more accessible and more flexible,” as well as tackling the waste caused by ticket fraud.
Starting from 1 September on the East Midlands line between Leicester, Derby and Nottingham, and expanding into Yorkshire between Harrogate, Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster and Barnsley at the end of the month, the pilot scheme is designed to involve up to 4,000 participants.
To take part, passengers are invited to sign up on train operators’ websites, with over 500 people registered to do so at the time of writing, according to Oli Cox, head of commercial strategy and business planning at East Midlands Railway.
The system relies on bar codes issued to participants for scanning on an app when using ticket gates. Their journeys will then be tracked using GPS (global positioning system) location services on their phone. Payment for rail journeys is then made at the end of each day.
More than 200 customers signed up to our new Pay As You Go trial within 10 days of registration being open.
— East Midlands Railway (EMR) (@EastMidRailway) June 19, 2025
The trial will run between Leicester, Derby and Nottingham, using GPS-based technology to track journeys and automatically charge the best-value fare.
Interested in… pic.twitter.com/vtLWgT0Ikw
Paper tickets are no longer necessary under the scheme, which claims to be more modern, financially beneficial for passengers, and more time-efficient, removing the need to plan and buy journeys in advance. Rail minister Lord Peter Hendy hailed the “upgrade” as “long overdue,” saying it would bring Britain’s railways “into the 21st century.”
He explained that the overhaul places “passenger experience at the heart of our decision-making” and that the move would be a step toward “modernising fares and ticketing and making it simpler and easier for people to choose rail.”
But the scheme is also about law and order. By tracking journeys, the system will reduce fare-dodging, authorities say, including the practice known as “doughnutting”, where passengers purchase tickets only for the start and end of their journey to pass through ticket barriers, leaving a hole in the middle of their actual travel itinerary unpaid for.
Good news! We're making things fairer for our fare-paying customers by introducing several new Penalty Fare Routes to combat fare evasion.
— East Midlands Railway (EMR) (@EastMidRailway) August 21, 2025
These will be introduced following updates to our Penalty Fare Scheme, part of ongoing work with our partners to develop ticketing…
Fare dodging, which has been in the news in the UK recently due to the illegal use of criminal courts to pursue cases, causes losses up to €460 million per year in the UK where rail companies received more than €14 billion in subsidies in 2024, which The Telegraph has reported means over three per cent of subsidies could be saved by tackling offenders.
Already trialled in Switzerland and Denmark, and in Scotland, where a Tap&Pay process was introduced in January and where peak fares on Scotrail have just been abolished, the new pilot is being framed by some as part of a transport strategy for the north of the country.
Ticketless services have long been in place across Transport for London services, and Hendy said in February 2025 that it was “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.”
