Southeastern has rolled-out a new smart card, named “The Key”, as part of the government’s plans for smart card ticketing. Southeastern passengers can now swap their paper season ticket for the new smart card for weekly, monthly or annual season tickets. This is designed to make it much more convenient for passengers as it allows paperless commuting and speedy, tap-and-go travel.
Passenger Keys are blue and personalised with the holder’s name and unique passenger number printed on the front. The Key does not hold funds or credit, just tickets. Passengers will be able to check the status of their tickets and journey history in their online account or at any Southeastern ticket office.
Passengers using The Key can buy their weekly, monthly or annual Season Ticket easily online or, outside London, from Southeastern Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs). Tickets are loaded onto the Key simply by tapping it onto a smart card reader at the station, either on the automatic ticket barriers or on the TVM. Online tickets can be collected two hours after purchase, while tickets bought from TVMs will be loaded onto the card immediately.
The £5.5 million (EUR 6.4 mill.) project is part of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme.
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