Smartphone as rail ticket trial on Leeds trains

A small test group of West Yorkshire Combined Authority staff will use smartphones with an app installed to allow the phone to be used as a replacement for a paper or smart card ticket.

Train services between Huddersfield and Leeds stations are being targeted for the trial.

Staff will be able to test purchasing and downloading tickets to their phone as well as using the phone for validation purposes at ticket barriers.

Coun Keith Wakefield, Chair of West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee, said: “I am delighted the combined authority is a partner in this exciting pilot.”

“It has the potential to benefit customers across the north and further afield, and we believe that customers will welcome the opportunity to use their smartphone to purchase a ‘smart ticket’, safe in the in the knowledge that the transaction is secure.”

The trial will involve smartphones with ITSO’s Host Card Emulation (HCE) app installed. ITSO is a government-baked not-for-profit organisation that oversees the specifications designed to ensure public transport operators’ smart ticketing systems are compatible.

David Brown, Transport for the North’s Chief Executive, said, “Shared payment platforms that allow truly smart ticketing across a number of devices, taking into account user preferences, are key to a positive passenger travel experience. This trial is one of a number of initiatives moving us closer to that vision.”