Rail Minister Claire Perry launched the South Eastern Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) smartcard at Cambridge on April 4, for season tickets used on Abellio Greater Anglia’s route to London Liverpool Street.
Perry said this was the way to really transform the way passengers travel, and that it was the first step to introducing a flexible card rather than a “tangerine piece of paper”.
AGA is the first train operating company to launch seasons on smartcards using SEFT’s IT infrastructure. It will start with annual and monthly season tickets and launch weekly tickets later in April. Smartcards are also available on the Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street route, and will be introduced on the Norwich to London route later this year.
When in full use, AGA c2c, Govia Thameslink Railway, South West Trains and Southeastern will cover 73% of the annual season tickets. The Department for Transport funded the scheme.
Speaking at the launch, AGA Managing Director Jamie Burles said: “Smartcards will transform ticketing in the area. It opens up possibility for integrated ticketing in the future.”
Andrewjgwilt1989 - 08/04/2016 20:39
So the South Eastern Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) smartcard which is been introduced on Abellio Greater Anglia could be the next thing for commuters to use smartcards that commute into London and is also to be used in all stations in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and even stations such as Peterborough, Ipswich, Norwich, Cambridge, Stansted Airport, Colchester, Chelmsford, Ely, Southend Victoria, Southend Airport, Clacton-on-Sea, Witham, Shenfield, Stratford, Braintree, Freeport Braintree Rayleigh, Billericay, Bishops Stortford, Hertford East, Sawbridgeworth and of course London Liverpool Street and the new Beaulieu Park and Lea Bridge stations will also have new SEFT smartcards to be introduced on all of Abellio Greater Anglia routes in & out of London and across the East of England.