The UK's Chiltern Railways has become the first rail line to offer customers an integrated mobile ticketing system that enables passengers to buy, instantly receive and validate tickets through an app on their mobile phone.
The free mobile application - developed in conjunction with Atos Origin and Masabi - provides passengers with details of the cheapest prices and train times, and then delivers the ticket as a 2D barcode within the application.
The company has invested in special scanners on gates at stations to enable passengers to enter and exit as if they had a traditional ticket and also on equipment for ticket inspectors to read the mTickets.
The service is initially being launched with versions for iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and other popular handsets. An Android application is also in the works.