Skip to main content

Cubic unlocks ‘the key’ to Southern Railway

The UK’s Southern Railway has extended the use of its ‘the key’ smartcard across the entire Oyster network in London. Passengers on the Southern rail franchise can now use the single smart card from most stations to travel by rail, bus and Tube across the capital. Supplied by Cubic Transportation Systems, ‘the key’ was first trialled in November 2011 on Southern’s Brighton to Seaford line. It was subsequently rolled out across most of their network for journeys outside the Oyster network and those termin
September 26, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The UK’s Southern Railway has extended the use of its ‘the key’ smartcard across the entire Oyster network in London. Passengers on the 4271 Southern rail franchise can now use the single smart card from most stations to travel by rail, bus and Tube across the capital.

Supplied by Cubic Transportation Systems, ‘the key’ was first trialled in November 2011 on Southern’s Brighton to Seaford line. It was subsequently rolled out across most of their network for journeys outside the Oyster network and those terminating at mainline stations in London.

Passengers have the option to upload their Travelcards to the smart card, rather than using a paper ticket. The functionality extends to the majority of ticket types including season, returns and Travelcards, available on most of the Southern network outside the London boundary.

Roger Crow, senior vice president and managing director of Cubic Transportation Systems’ European operations said, “We are delighted that this project has come to fruition. Users of ‘the key’ card can access the entire Oyster network in London now that Travelcards have been added. What started as a limited scheme has become completely integrated into the existing Oyster network. We fully support Southern’s other new and innovative products which show how versatile the ITSO cards can be. We are proud that this teamwork-based approach sets the standard for the way to design, implement and deploy ITSO rail schemes across the country.”

Southern’s commercial director Alex Foulds said, “We are delighted that our vision has now become a reality. It’s fantastic news for thousands of our London commuters who can now use their ‘key’ smart card for their entire journey to and from work. We have worked very closely with the Department of Transport in developing this new product and the commitment shown by 1466 Transport for London and our suppliers has been crucial in making this the success that it is.”

Related Content

  • MTA's Bronx bus route re-jig 'streamlines' trips
    February 28, 2023
    New York's transit agency says commute times for bus riders have been cut
  • PPP helps speed Chicago’s transit fare upgrade
    December 15, 2014
    David Crawford on a fast-tracked payment upgrade. This July saw the completion of the final stage of the implementation of Chicago’s new Ventra open fare payment system on the services of two of the region’s three transit providers, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and regional bus operator Pace. Ventra has been introduced to accept any contactless general purpose payment card, including personal debit and credit cards.
  • Mayor’s plans for London’s road network step up a gear
    February 10, 2015
    The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has revealed further details of plans to deliver his bold vision for the future of London’s road network, aimed at reducing congestion, creating new public spaces and encouraging more people to walk and cycle. The Mayor unveiled proposals to redesign a number of key road networks in the capital in order to unlock growth and make the capital a more attractive place to live and work.
  • Hyperloop Transportation Technologies adds key industry partners
    August 21, 2015
    JumpStartFund's Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) has added key industry partners to the core team working on the full scale hyperloop. Oerlikon, AECOM, and Hodgetts & Fung are all providing key technological and infrastructure support to the HTT as they head towards a groundbreaking in 2016 in Quay Valley California. "Our team continues to grow and, along with these new alliances, is representative of the collaborative spirit of HTT and are key to our success in breaking ground in 2016," said