Skip to main content

UK rail system to get interoperable smartcards

ESP Group has been appointed by the UK’s Rail Settlement Plan to provide personalisation, encoding and fulfilment services for a major smartcard programme that will simplify travel for millions of passengers on the UK’s busiest train network. The company’s smartcard operation Systex will produce and issue a range of powerful contactless smart tokens for short and long term use that will include high capacity microprocessor cards, lower capacity smart tickets, wristbands, key fobs and accessories. The
January 8, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
ESP Group has been appointed by the UK’s Rail Settlement Plan to provide personalisation, encoding and fulfilment services for a major smartcard programme that will simplify travel for millions of passengers on the UK’s busiest train network.

The company’s smartcard operation Systex will produce and issue a range of powerful contactless smart tokens for short and long term use that will include high capacity microprocessor cards, lower capacity smart tickets, wristbands, key fobs and accessories.

The 1837 Department for Transport’s South East Flexible Ticketing programme (SEFT) will set the standard for interoperable rail travel across National Rail. This programme is the most complex implementation of a smart ticketing service to date in the UK and will eventually offer travellers the chance to travel within the region using a smart card which is valid across many individual train operators and modes of transport.

ESP Group CEO Terry Dunn commented: “We are delighted to be working with RSP to deliver smartcards for such a ground-breaking project. The powerful microprocessor smartcard platform at the core of the system provides future proofing through its capacity, flexibility and compatibility with mobile solutions.”

Related Content

  • Translink’s ticketing system for Glider
    January 4, 2019
    Translink has launched its future ticketing system for the Glider bus rapid transit network in Belfast. The technology will provide riders with more flexible options to pay for journeys, the company says. Riders will be able to pay with cash, smartcard and contactless payment cards, mobile payments, online accounts and Translink smart cards. Flowbird developed the system and a back office architecture called CloudFare. It is intended to allow administrators to monitor and control ticketing devices dire
  • Vancouver's metro transport promotes alternatives to driving
    January 26, 2012
    David Crawford looks at Vancouver and the legacy of a Olympic transport success
  • IntelliDrive, connectivity, safety, mobility and the environment?
    January 30, 2012
    Shelley Row, Director of the ITS Joint Program Office, US Department of Transportation, details the new five-year ITS Strategic Research Plan. Imagine a world where vehicles of all types can talk to each other in order to reduce or eliminate crashes, where vehicles can talk to traffic signals to eliminate unnecessary stops, where travellers can get accurate travel time information about all modes and route options, and where transportation managers have data which allows them to accurately assess multimodal
  • Masabi named as finalist for global mobile award
    February 7, 2013
    The JustRide end-to-end Smartphone Ticketing system for transit developed by mobile transport ticketing supplier Masabi has been named as a finalist in this year's Global Mobile Awards in the Best Mobile Innovation for Smart Cities category alongside AT&T, Vodafone, Huawei, Streetline and ZTE. The first JustRide system was launched on Boston's commuter rail network in November 2012 and, says the company, within seven weeks had already sold more than 100,000 tickets and now accounts for almost 10 per cent of