BUS passengers in Oxford will soon be able use contactless payment methods to buy tickets when a pilot scheme is introduced in the city.

Go Ahead Group, which owns Oxford Bus Company, said the scheme would ‘shortly be introduced’ here before being rolled out across the rest of its companies throughout 2017.

The company said it plans to invest in other areas as it announced its revenue had grown by 1.5 per cent in the period from July 3, 2016 to April 1 this year.

In a statement the company said: “We look forward to rolling out the latest contactless technology across all our operations throughout this calendar year, bringing benefits to customers and efficiencies to our business.

“We continue to invest in WiFi and USB charging points, and ticketing and journey planning apps.”

The company said its finances were performing as expected.

The statement said: “Our full year expectations for both bus and rail divisions are unchanged from the update given at the half year results on February 28, 2017.

“The group remains in a strong financial position, with good cash generation and a robust balance sheet.”

Go Ahead runs a number of franchises including Southeastern rail operator.