Virgin Trains is to make barcoded mobile telephone tickets available to passengers travelling on the West Coast and East Coast Main Lines.

The m-Tickets can be downloaded to smartphones or other mobile devices via the Virgin Trains East Coast website or the Virgin Trains mobile application. Passengers will be able to buy tickets on their mobile telephones both in advance and on the day they travel.

The operator says it has sold more than 170,000 tickets since a pilot scheme began in July 2015, and that it is the first franchised train operating company to offer such a service.