Mobile phones could be used to pay for train and bus journeys across the country Norman Baker, local transport minister, has called the operators in to push ahead with the initiative. "I want to see passengers able to use one card to pay for a tube journey in London, a bus trip in Bristol and a ride on the Metro in Newcastle," he said. Using the single card or mobile phone device for long distance travel is seen as posing greater challenges. But a number of long distance operators including Virgin Trains allow passengers to buy and their tickets on their mobile as do companies operating shorter routes, such as Heathrow Express. However the difficulty arises when a passenger wants to make a journey using different train operators. For example somebody travelling from Bath to Bristol on First Great Western can buy and store the ticket on a mobile. The passenger could also do this on Cross Country travelling from Bristol to Birmingham. But a trip from Bath to Birmingham would require the customer to buy a paper ticket which would have to be picked up from the station. Ministers hope to solve this problem by what they describe as "interoperability" between companies who use mobile phone ticketing. Not only would companies have to use the same technology but a method would have to be devised dividing the fare income between the companies when a ticket is bought electronically. This is already done when passengers buy a paper ticket, with the fare being allocated between the different operators by Rail Settlement Plan, a company set up by the industry to share fare revenue. "I want travel to be easier for the passenger," Mr Baker added. Hopefully this would drive down costs with the savings being passed on to passengers in lower fares. A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: "We are working with the Department for Transport on a £45 million scheme to roll out smart ticketing across the south east. Several train companies are using smart ticketing including smart cards, print-at-home tickets, barcodes and smartphone technology. Train companies are always looking to improve services and the industry is actively looking at how flexible ticketing can be used to benefit passengers.