Rail firm to use smart tickets

New South Western Trains franchise to introduce Oyster card-style tickets

Passengers on the new south-western train franchise will be the first outside London to use smartcard-based tickets, says the government.

The Department for Transport (DfT) says the successful bidder for the franchise – which is up for tender and includes the South West Trains and Isle of Wight’s Island Line networks – will have to update ticket machines and electronic barriers throughout the region to handle the contactless cards.

Commuters will be issued with smart tickets containing fare details that can be updated electronically and charged online, and will reduce queueing for tickets at stations.

DfT expects to launch the scheme in 2009 and says the technology will be used to encourage commuters to travel to work at off-peak times of the day by discounting fares.

‘During peak times it can get very busy and this might help incentivise what times people travel,’ said a DFT spokeswoman. ‘The technology could allow some clever discounting.’

It is also hoped that the scheme will reduce travel fraud and combat ticket theft.

The DfT has stipulated that the smartcard must comply with technical specifications set out by ITSO, an industry group campaigning for interoperable smartcard ticketing standards in public transport.

The new south-west operator will also have to equip train stations within the London travel zone boundaries with devices that can accept the capital’s Oyster pre-pay smartcards.

Computing has also learnt that Transport for London (TfL) has delayed trials of its Oyster e-money project while it works with the financial services industry and the smartcard operating consortium Transys to define the scheme’s requirements.

TfL had planned to appoint a technology partner for the e-money project by the end of last year and commence trials in late 2005 or early 2006 (Computing, 28 July 2005).

Oyster e-money will allow commuters to use the smartcard to pay for low-value goods and services at newsagents, fast-food outlets, supermarkets and parking machines.

A TfL spokesman told Computing work is still ongoing and no major announcements are due.

‘Our main focus is on finding the right way forward rather than hitting the timescale announced last year,’ he said.

What do you think? Email us at: mailto:[email protected]