Skip to main content

UK’s Southern Railway trials smartcard

A smartcard trial on Southern Railway has been officially launched by the UK transport minister, Norman Baker. ‘The Key’ offers rail passengers a quick and simple alternative to paper tickets and sees the installation of Vix smartcard platform validator units on the Coastway East service at stations between Brighton and Seaford.
March 23, 2012 Read time: 1 min
A smartcard trial on Southern Railway has been officially launched by the UK transport minister, Norman Baker. ‘The Key’ offers rail passengers a quick and simple alternative to paper tickets and sees the installation of Vix smartcard platform validator units on the Coastway East service at stations between Brighton and Seaford. These units will enable passengers to use smartcards to ‘tap and go’ for a range of journeys and ticket types, including popular season passes. Around 100 passengers will take part in the trial which is expected to be expanded in the near future.

Related Content

  • Growing passenger numbers, fare rises for UK rail
    December 16, 2014
    According to Rail Travel, a new market report from business intelligence provider Key Note, in 2013/2014 the total value of passenger receipts for UK rail travel increased by 6.2 per cent year-on-year, and grew by 32.5 per cent over a five-year period. In addition, passenger journeys grew by 23.5 per cent over the five-year review period, with passenger kilometres travelled also growing by 17.9 per cent over the same timeframe. For the purpose of this report, the rail industry in the UK has been split in
  • Smart railways market worth US$39.20 Billion by 2018
    December 5, 2013
    MarketsandMarkets’ report, "Smart Railways Market [Passenger Information Systems, Freight Information Systems, Rail Traffic Management, Operations Management, Security Monitoring, Communications, Ticketing, Rail Analytics]: Worldwide Market Forecasts and Analysis (2013 - 2018)", defines and segments the Smart Railways Market into various sub-segments with in-depth analysis and forecasting of revenues. It also identifies drivers and restraints of this market with insights on trends, opportunities, and challe
  • UK government to invest in autonomous cars, low emission vehicles
    November 24, 2016
    Presenting his Autumn Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced investment in transportation, including £390 million for future transport and a major new investment in the UK transport infrastructure. The £390 million investment in future technology includes: investment in testing infrastructure for driverless cars; provision of at least 550 new electric and hydrogen buses, reduce the emissions of 1,500 existing buses and support taxis to become zero emission; installation of more charging points fo
  • Conscience versus convenience
    June 8, 2015
    David Crawford looks at new ways forward for public transport. By 2025, nearly 60% of the world’s population will be living in towns and cities, increasing their extent and density, and the journeys that people make within and between them. In response, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) wants to see public transport’s global modal share doubling (PTx2) by the same date. “Success in 2025,” a spokesperson told ITS International, “will save 170 million tonnes of oil equivalent and 550