Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Thursday announced an app that will allow Metro-North commuters to purchase tickets through their smartphone before boarding the train.

Called eTix, the app can be used to buy one trip, 10 trips or a monthly pass. It goes into effect Monday for riders of the railroad's New Haven Line.

All that's required of users is clicking the "activate ticket" button in the app and showing the phone to a conductor, reducing the need for paper tickets.

The app comes as Metro-North is proposing a controversial 5 percent fare hike, which Gov. Malloy calls necessary.

"Much of our transportation dollars come from the fuel tax, and people are using substantially less fuel," Malloy says. "And as the price of fuel has gone down, so has the revenue - very, very precipitously."

The eTix won't be saving customers any money, however, as Malloy says they will cost the same as those bought at the station.