Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Thursday 19th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Jesse Norman]

As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have been looking closely at this issue and will make an announcement in due course.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to accelerate the availability of smart ticketing on the rail network.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Maynard)]

We are investing some £80 million through our smart ticketing on national rail programme, so that all passengers have a paperless option for their journey by the end of 2018. We are also working to facilitate a rail industry pilot of smartcards on mobile phones, as well as rolling out pay-as-you-go ticketing across the hon. Gentleman’s franchise.

[Henry Smith]

I welcome Southern railway’s plans to introduce smart ticketing across its network. I have also put in a request for the Oyster system to extend south of Gatwick airport to Three Bridges and Crawley stations. However, will my hon. Friend please speak urgently with GTR, the parent company of Southern, as their new ticket machines at many stations, including Three Bridges, have been malfunctioning, causing passengers significant disruption and queues? That situation needs to be resolved.

[Paul Maynard]

I am grateful for that comment. Ticket vending machines, which are meant to be among the most straightforward of equipment on our railways, seem to cause more problems than any other type of equipment. I understand that Govia Thameslink Railway is due to visit every ticket machine over the coming fortnight to make sure that the software is updated and that the machine functions properly, although I share my hon. Friend’s concern and will be meeting the supply chain in due course to emphasise the importance of getting this right.