WEST Yorkshire’s answer to the Oyster Card is taking off with passengers, according to transport bosses.

And there are now ambitious plans to expand it across the whole of the North.

The tap-and-go MCard was unveiled in 2014 and can be used to pay for fares on both buses and trains.

Latest figures show passengers used MCards to pay for more than 16.3 million journeys in 2016, a 20 per cent rise on the previous year.

MCard chairman Richard Armitage welcomed the news that use of the cards was increasing.

He said: “We’re proud to run one of the largest SMART ticketing schemes outside of London.

“We have one clear goal and that’s to offer passengers a joined-up transport experience across the region; our customers can access any bus or train in West Yorkshire with one smart card – the MCard.

“Over the past 12 months we’ve introduced the ability to top-up at 38 train station ticket machines across our network and we’ve just installed new MCard top-up ticket machines at five Metro bus stations: Bradford Interchange, Castleford, Huddersfield, Leeds and Pontefract.

“The increase in smart journeys is testimony to our customers wishing to access best value travel in an easy and convenient way.

“The trend is continuing too, in the first two months of 2017 there have already been over 2.25 million smart journeys made.

“This is happening because bus operators, rail companies and the Combined Authority have created an effective way of working together, through the West Yorkshire Ticketing Company.

“Together we’re able to provide a smart offer that is truly connecting people and places, something we’re delighted to be able to deliver.”

MCard is the brainchild of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and is owned and managed through a ticketing company, in partnership with West Yorkshire’s bus companies and train operators.

There are different types of MCard for different types of passenger.

Pink cards don’t have a photograph, so families and friends can share it to make savings.

White pay-as-you-go cards can be topped up in £5 increments.

Blue photocards, for young people, and green versions, for students aged 19 to 25, enable the user to buy weekly or monthly bus travel.

Now a team at the Combined Authority is leading on an ambitious project for transport body Transport for the North, which would expand smart ticketing across the whole of the North of England.

The idea is to create a scheme where people are able to travel throughout and between northern city regions using one smart ticketing system, safe in the knowledge that they have paid the cheapest possible fare for their journey.

Transport for the North’s chief executive David Brown said: “We are working in close collaboration with partners to deliver our Integrated and Smart Travel programme to transform passenger travel by rail, bus and light rail, right across the North.

“The programme will build on the successful MCard in West Yorkshire to develop smart ticketing, payment and information technologies, making travel simple, attractive and convenient.”