Passengers on the Metro light railway network in Tyne and Wear in the north-east of England can now buy and store electronic tickets on their Android smartphone without needing a physical ticket or a smart transit card.

Rail network operator Nexus has integrated the mobile ticketing functionality into its Pop card app, enabling users to access Metro services by tapping their mobile device on a reader at the ticket gate.

The service uses the ITSO on Mobile ticketing solution developed by Yotra and “brings ITSO, the UK’s trusted national smartcard, to passengers’ smartphones, using the Google digital wallet platform”.

“Once purchased, a secure ticket is delivered over the air by Yotra’s ticket fulfilment service, which is integrated with both the operator’s back office and with Google Pay,” Yotra explains.

“The ticket on the handset emulates the ITSO-compatible Nexus smartcard, Pop, and is instantly recognised by the Metro’s ticket gates when the smartphone is tapped on the reader.”

Tyne and Wear Metro is one of the busiest light railway networks in the UK outside London and is used by around 37 million passengers a year.

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