TRIALS are about to get underway on Scotland's railways of the UK's most advanced electronic payment smartcards, The Scotsman has learned.
Commuters on the main Edinburgh-Glasgow line will be the first passengers to test the cards this autumn following a pilot by ScotRail staff, which starts within weeks.
The credit card-sized smartcards are effectively electronic tickets, which can
be renewed or "topped up" at ticket machines or online, or automatically via bank direct debits.
However, unlike other travel smartcards such as Oyster in London, ScotRail's version will also enable passengers to pay for other things, such as hotels, visitor attractions and events. The train operator believes smartcards will eventually replace most paper tickets owing to their flexibility and ease of use.
The innovation is being funded as part of £72 million of improvements pledged by Aberdeen-based FirstGroup, which runs ScotRail, as part of its seven-year franchise being extended by three years to 2014.
ScotRail managing director Steve Montgomery said the cards would be initially used for season tickets, but could later cover other train fares and bus and ferry tickets.
This could enable season ticket holders to automatically pay for one-off rail journeys on other routes without having to buy a separate ticket. Travel offers that include hotels, or admission to visitor attractions and events like the Leuchars Air Show, would follow.
Mr Montgomery said: "People do not want to stand about in queues at stations and ScotRail is at the vanguard of train operating companies who see smartcards as the way forward. We plans to test over 10,000 smartcard tickets over the next two years, before rolling them out across the Scottish network."
Payments for tickets would be automatically deducted by sensors on ticket gates, or by machines carried by staff on trains.
The only similar cards in use elsewhere are on a limited five-station pilot on a rail line in Berkshire.
Passenger watchdogs said the cards must be easy to use and that travellers must continue to have the option of buying tickets at stations.
Robert Samson, the Passenger Focus manager for Scotland, said: "We are interested to see the results of this pilot as smartcard technology will make travelling easier and quicker for passengers. Most passengers will welcome them as long as the technology is simple and uncomplicated.
"It is also essential that passengers can continue to buy their tickets at the station."
The Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency, which is responsible for the ScotRail franchise, predicted that smartcards would encourage more people to take the train by removing the hassle from buying tickets.
