Plans by Dutch railway company NS to ditch paper tickets from January 1 have been postponed because of technical problems, the state-owned railway operator confirmed on Wednesday.

The problem centres on the prices paid by passengers who use NS and regional rail services to make a single journey. They are currently worse off using the public transport smart card than a paper ticket because of a complicated discount system.

A form of paper ticket will remain for occasional users but this will have a chip and will also need to be scanned boarding and leaving the train.