Beginning of the end for the orange travel ticket?

From meeting new people to doing your shopping there isn't much you can't do on a smartphone. And soon, they may replace your train ticket too.

Those familiar bright orange tickets could be replaced with a simple barcode sent straight to your phone.

The new system would see rail passengers travelling using ‘m-Tickets’, which will be gradually rolled out over the next three years.

The rail industry has piloted a new flexible barcoded m-Ticket, which passengers download to smartphones or other mobile devices, and wants it to be available nationwide as soon as possible.

Before now m-Tickets were limited for use only on one specific train operator’s services. More than 40,000 have been bought so far.