Transport minister Andrew Jones hailed this week’s expansion of the Greater Birmingham's bus and tram smartcard to include rail as well, as a 'significant new development' for the region.
The new Transport for West Midlands’ (TfWM) Swiftcard will initially benefit around 3,000 commuters who are signed up to a monthly nNetwork season ticket direct debit scheme.
Smaller versions of the Swiftcard are available
So far, seven Birmingham and Coventry city centre stations have equipped their faregates for the new card.
By the end of the year, a further 12,000 passengers will be able to load their rail-only nTrain season tickets onto the card. On-train guards and revenue protection staff can read the cards using handheld equipment.
TfWM managing director Laura Shoaf said: 'We are the first transport body outside London to deliver a truly multimodal smart ticketing solution that does not require a paper counterpart, and this is just the start.'
The agency is currently working with the Midlands Connect Partnership (MCP) of 28 local authorities and 11 local enterprise partnerships to extend the scheme across the East as well as the West Midlands.
The MCP is due to publish its overall transport strategy in March 2017.
Meanwhile, Kent County Council and Medway Council are launching a joint 'Oystercard'-style smartcard for bus users on Friday (23 September). It will be available for use from Monday next week and follows a successful 2014 trial in Maidstone.
There are long-term plans to extend the scheme to users of Southeastern rail services.
In April the National Audit Office said it would consider a probe into the £80m South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme which ministers once promised would promote flexible and multimodal travel across London and the South East but does not appear to have achieved any of its key goals.
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