The Key (smartcard)

The Key is a contactless smartcard that is being progressively introduced to replace paper ticketing in public transport in Britain. It stores electronic tickets for use on bus and rail services in the United Kingdom, mainly those operated by the Go-Ahead Group.

The Key is an ITSO compatible smartcard, ITSO being the UK Department for Transport’s chosen standard for interoperable contactless ticketing.[1] It is also the format that ENCTS concessionary passes are required to be issued in. All Go-Ahead bus services which accept The Key also process ENCTS cards electronically.

The Key brand is owned and operated by the British public transport company Go-Ahead Group. The Key is available to customers on the majority of the deregulated bus services operated by Go-Ahead Group in towns and cities across England.

In addition, Southern and London Midland train operators have introduced The Key as a new smart ticketing system on a phased basis across a series of routes and stations since 2010.

The London Oyster card system was not originally compatible with ITSO.[2] ITSO cards can now be used on Oyster card readers.[3]

Bus and rail operators accepting The Key

As of 21 January 2013, the position is:

Full range of ticket types means that tickets can be purchased for single rides, daily, weekly, monthly and season tickets.

Mode of Transport Region Introduction Zones Accepting
transport operators 		Ticket types Comments
Bus Bournemouth and Dorset January 2012 7 Wilts & Dorset
Full range		 Zonal coverage includes overlap with Bluestar Buses
Bus Brighton and Hove September 2011 Single Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company Ltd Full range
Bus Crawley and Surrey, Sussex and Kent region January 2012 4 Metrobus
Full range
Bus Isle of Wight April 2012 Single Southern Vectis
Full Range
Bus Newcastle, Sunderland and North East region July 2010 (pilot) April 2011 (full rollout) 7 Go North East
Full Range
Bus Oxford 2007 Initial introduction, converted to ITSO in October 2010
August 2011, Oxford SmartZone launched adding Stagecoach		 3 Oxford Bus Company
Brookes buses
Thames Travel
Stagecoach 		Full range Cityzone does not cover Stagecoach buses
Bus Plymouth August 2011 2 Plymouth Citybus Full range
Bus Southampton and Hampshire January 2012 7 Uni-link
Bluestar Buses 		Full range
Full range 		Zonal coverage includes overlap with More Buses / Salisbury Reds (Wilts and Dorset)
Rail Birmingham - the West Midlands Rail Franchise February 2010 n/a London Midland Limited range
Rail Sussex - the South Central Rail Franchise October 2011 n/a Southern
Limited Range 		Extending to full network coverage by late 2013, including integration with Transport for London's Oyster card scheme

Statistics

The key has now been issued to 300,000 customers and is used for over 100,000 journeys per day [4]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ dft.gov.uk | Commercial Review of ITSO Limited, 2009
  2. ↑ "ITSO Oyster Interoperability – Closing down the technical work packages". Department for Transport. 14 July 2006. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  3. ↑ "SPENDING REVIEW 2010" (PDF). TRANSPORT FOR LONDON. 4 November 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  4. ↑ | Go-Ahead Group website
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