”Era of paper tickets may be drawing to a close,” acknowledges a House of Commons Transport Select Committee, but the government”s approach to promoting an integrated smartcard system for rail tickets similar to the London Oyster card is ”fine in theory but not producing results in practice.”
Watchdog Passenger Focus” own research has shown nearly one in five rail travellers are unhappy with ticket buying facilities at the station and they want queuing times cut.
”However, passengers don”t want a complicated solution,” said Passenger Focus CEO Anthony Smith. ”They believe a low-tech solution like a smartcard could be the answer.”
The Committee”s report said the government must listen carefully to the transport operators and technology industry, and articulate a clearer strategy for the development of smartcards.
”The current laissez-faire approach is inadequate,” it read.
”Technologies now exist that enable more sophisticated and integrated ticketing arrangements. The most intensively-used system is the London Oyster. Launched in 2002, there are now 15m Oyster cards in circulation, used for some 7m journeys each day.
”They are also significantly quicker to read than magnetic paper tickets and this has increased passenger through-put at busy Underground stations.”
It said smartcards are likely to be commercially viable for a wider range of transport uses in future- ”In the right circumstances, they can also provide operators with major benefits, including reduced costs of ticket sales, better monitoring, and more accurate allocation of costs and revenues.”
An Association of Train Operating Companies spokesman told ABTN: ”Smartcard technology is very much a requirement for new franchises. In more recent ones - and invitation to tenders ” operators including South West, and West Midland, Arriva CrossCountry have given commitments to add smartcard technology in their franchises.”
The Committee also noted though, that the government must ensure suitable guidelines on differential pricing (Oyster fares are heavily discounted compared with paper tickets) are included in decisions on rail fares, rail franchises and other fare regulations.
”It is reasonable to charge a modest differential to encourage uptake of smartcards and to reflect any additional costs of issuing paper tickets, but those passengers who cannot or choose not to opt for smartcards should not be heavily or unfairly penalised,” said the report.