DIGITAL tickets could be introduced at Oxford’s railway stations to relieve queues.

Rail companies are considering the move as part of the continuing upgrade of the city’s transport infrastructure.

Chiltern Railways said the new technology, which allows customers to ditch physical tickets for smartphones, would be part of Oxford Parkway Station, at Water Eaton.

And Network Rail and First Great Western confirmed they would consider putting in place ticket gates that accept the ‘mtickets’ as part of a redeveloped Oxford Station.

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The development came as John Howson, county councillor for St Margaret’s in Oxford, called on First Great Western to introduce the technology for its stations in Oxfordshire.

The tickets are loaded on to devices such as smartphones and can be displayed on-screen to railway staff.

Some phones can also be “tapped” on contact points to open ticket gates.

They are aimed at passengers who do not travel often enough for a season ticket but do not want to queue for single journeys. The feature is available for advance fares on selected First Great Western routes elsewhere in the UK, but not in Oxfordshire.

Mr Howson, a former chairman of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group, said the firm should introduce them at rural stations outside Oxford.

He said: “At those stations that don’t have ticket machines people have to get on for their 10-minute journey and then get off and queue at Oxford Station.

“It’s ridiculous that someone from a village like Radley might spend as much time queuing in Oxford as they would sitting on the train itself.”

Along the Cotswold Line, Shipton, Ascott- under-Wychwood, Finstock, Combe, Radley, Culham and Appleford do not have ticket machines or a ticket office.

Hanborough has 240 parking spaces but only two ticket machines and no ticket office.

The Office of Rail Regulation said Appleford, Charlbury, Combe, Culham, Finstock, Hanborough and Radley were used by 340,711 people in 2013 and 2014.

Mr Howson added: “If this feature is introduced it would encourage more people to travel by train because it would make getting a ticket easier.”

First Great Western’s competitors in Oxfordshire, Cross Country and Chiltern Railways, already offer limited numbers of ‘mtickets’.