Train passengers will be tracked by GPS as part of a trial that could cut down on fare dodging.

New digital ticketing technology is being rolled out on East Midlands Railway (EMR) that tracks when passengers enter and leave train stations and automatically works out their fares.

It works in a similar way to London’s Oyster Card system, where travellers tap in and tap out and trust computer systems to calculate how much they have to pay for their journeys.

Government officials have promised that the new GPS technology will give “the best-value fare on the day”, while a spokesman for Trainline – whose technology is powering the trial – added that “daily and weekly caps” would be available so commuters would not overpay for their travel.

GPS tracking of rail passengers could close a loophole exploited by fare-dodgers known as “doughnutting”, where dishonest passengers buy a ticket for the start and end of their journey to get through automatic barriers – leaving the middle empty, or unpaid.

“[This scheme] deters abuses like so-called ‘doughnutting’ and helps protect industry revenue while making rail travel simpler for everyone,” said the Trainline spokesman.............