Stagecoach, one of the UK’s largest bus and rail operators, has partnered with mobile operator Everything Everywhere to trial NFC payments in Cambridgeshire, UK.

The trial, dubbed “the UK’s first Government-standard commercial deployment of mobile contactless transport ticketing,” enables a small group of bus users to receive, store and validate their bus tickets using their mobile phone.

Everything Everywhere is providing each customer in the trial with a Quick Tap-enabled mobile handset on its Orange mobile brand. The handsets feature NFC technology as well as a specially designed app, making them compatible with the local bus network’s smart card readers.

The new service can be used on buses across Cambridgeshire, including the Cambridge Park & Ride and Guided Busway services. Pending successful completion of the trial, the partners may expand NFC payments to Stagecoach’s buses and rail services nationwide in 2013.

The trial, which uses the ITSO smart ticketing technology, contributes to the government’s vision to enable smart ticketing across most of the UK’s public transit network by December 2014, according to Stagecoach.