31.10.13
Smart ticketing for South West Trains
South West Trains (SWT) is to introduce smart ticketing across its stations outside London, with £3.25m investment from the government.
The ITSO ticketing system will be upgraded, with smart ticketing available from 2014. The DfT aims to roll out the system across the entire south east by the end of 2015, providing shorter queues, easier purchasing and the ability to trigger automatic gates more quickly.
The funding is part of the DfT’s £45m South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) scheme, which will also assess the viability of flexible season tickets.
Rail minister Baroness Kramer said: “A modern railway system helps drive a strong and vibrant economy. Smart ticketing will help the tens of thousands of commuters who use these services every day, getting them to their places of work more quickly and on time.
“Smart technology also will also help pave the way for passengers to get the best deals for travelling, for instance part-time workers receiving discounts on season tickets for travelling three days rather than five.”
Tim Shoveller, managing director of the SWT-Network Rail Alliance, said: “This is great news for our customers and we are pleased to be working with the Department of Transport to expand our existing commitment to smart ticketing.
“We were the first train operator on the UK National Rail network to offer smartcard travel and passengers can already use this convenient technology at more than 100 of our stations. Integrating this with the SEFT investment programme means that travel on Europe’s busiest commuter network will become easier and more convenient.”
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