Passengers can sign up for digital rail ticket trials on East Midlands Rail and Northern trains
Passengers across the East Midlands can now benefit from simpler and more flexible tickets, with the launch of new digital trials.
From today (1 September 2025), rail passengers travelling between Leicester, Derby and Nottingham will be able to take part in these trials, with more taking place in conjunction with Northern Trains in Yorkshire from the end of September.
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The digital ticketing trials will allow passengers to check in and check out seamlessly on rail journeys, using a location-identifying app on their phone. The app will track journeys using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology and then automatically charge passengers the best fare at the end of the day. For ticket inspections and to go through ticket barriers, a unique bar code will pop up in the app to be scanned.
This technology replaces the need for paper tickets or more commonly used mobile tickets using QR codes bought online or in-app ahead of your journey. Doing away with the need to plan and book journeys in advance, the app tracks your journey and determines which trains you took, detecting when you’ve left the rail network.
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Up to 4,000 passengers can take part in these trials by simply signing up via the relevant train operator’s website, taking advantage of simpler and more flexible train travel, and a guarantee of the best value fare on the day.
This technology has already been tested widely in Switzerland, Denmark and Scotland, however, this marks the first time these trials are being brought to England’s rail network.
Sign up for the East Midlands Rail digital ticketing trial.
This demonstrates the government’s commitment to boosting passenger experience and trialling innovative technology to encourage more people to choose rail. By saving both time and money on thousands of journeys, digital ticketing will help improve living standards and make working people better off – delivering on the government’s Plan for Change.
Rail Minister, Lord Peter Hendy, said:
Oli Cox, Head of Commercial Strategy and Business Planning at East Midlands Railway, said:
Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands, said:
From the end of September, thousands more passengers will be able to take advantage of the simplified ticketing, with trials running on Northern services to Harrogate, Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster and Barnsley.
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Northern passengers are already moving to modern ticketing, with January figures showing Northern hit a monthly average of almost 78% usage of mobile tickets and reached a single-day high of 89%. In June last year, Northern reported the growing preference for mobile tickets amongst its passengers had led to a reduction of 2.3 million orange ‘magstripe’ tickets across the previous 12 months.
Alex Hornby, Commercial and Customer Director, Northern, said:
Backed by nearly £1 million of government funding, the trials are part of plans to modernise our transport system, putting passenger experience at the heart of every journey and encouraging more people to take the train – building on the government’s mission to deliver growth.
The government is delivering the biggest overhaul of the railways in a generation through the creation of Great British Railways, which will help to deliver better and more reliable services for passengers.