29.07.15
Southeastern to implement smart ticketing
Southeastern passengers in Kent and parts of East Sussex will benefit from new smart ticketing as part of a deal with the DfT.
The upgrade is part of a £5.5m plan to modernise ticketing systems as an alternative to paper tickets. Smartcards will be initially exclusive to season tickets and will eventually roll out across most of the network from December 2016.
It follows a deal with the DfT as part of the South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme, funded by the government.
The £80m programme aims to “promote seamless and convenient travel on different types of transport” across London and the South East by encouraging new ITSO-compliant ticketing technologies. It hopes to swap paper tickets for smart cards in 202 million yearly journeys and for 250,000 season ticket holders.
Work will now begin to upgrade ticketing systems and equipment across most of the network to provide passengers with more ‘convenient, straightforward and smoother’ journeys.
It was announced in October 2014 that Ecebs will install its Paragon HOPS software, which operators in the south east can use as a shared service. IT services firm Smart421 is delivering the transaction management system for SEFT.
Rail minister Claire Perry MP said: “Smart ticketing is a common sense of innovation that makes life easier for passengers.”
It will be easier to buy online tickets and to collect paper tickets at stations, meaning shorter queues at ticket offices, more durable tickets, and quicker passage through automatic ticket barriers.
David Statham, managing director at Southeastern, said: “These will allow our passengers to beat those Monday morning queues as they will make it much easier and quicker for passengers to buy weekly, monthly or annual season tickets online and load on their smart card before setting off on their journey.”
Smart ticketing in the north has also received government backing of £30m directed to Transport for the North (TfN) as part of the summer budget announcements, part of which will be directed at Oyster-style tickets.
Individual operators that have signed similar ticketing deals include c2c, South West Trains, Govia Thameslink Railway and Abellio Great Anglia.