UK Trains Set For Oyster-Style 'Smart Cards'

Train passengers will use "smart cards" similar to London Oyster cards as part a shake-up of the railways announced by the Government.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening has set out her response to a review of train services which called for costs to be cut across the board.

The Minister said train companies should get longer franchises as a way of encouraging investment and called for inflation-busting prices to be reduced.

"It's time to bring fares out of the 1970s and into the 21st century," she told MPs.

"We will expand smart tickets to give more passengers the kinds of benefits travellers in the capital already enjoy with Oyster cards.

"Working with industry, we will roll out smart ticketing across England and Wales and also across different operators, increasing convenience for passengers."

The Government will be stripped of day-to-day involvement in the industry, she added.

However, the Labour Party has accused her of putting the vested interests of train companies ahead of passengers and trade unions fear the changes will lead to higher fares and job losses.

Ms Greening's statement follows a Government-commissioned report published last year.

Conducted by Sir Roy McNulty , it found wages were too high, working hours too short and suggested some ticket offices be closed. However, such changes may lead to higher fares, the report added.

"It is an imperative on the industry to give taxpayers and passengers a better deal than they are getting at the moment. The problems we have are substantial but they can be fixed," Sir Roy said.

He argued there were 10 barriers to efficiency, including the way fares are structured and the Government's role in the railways.

But the unions are worried any overhaul will cost staff their jobs. The RMT warns as many as 12,000 roles could be axed.

General secretary Bob Crow said: "If the Government wants to cut the costs of running Britain's railways, they could do it at a stroke by returning them to public ownership and eliminating the waste of fragmentation and profiteering that has bled the network dry.

"Instead they are prescribing more of the same."

He continued: "We have said from the outset that McNulty is the biggest threat since privatisation a generation ago and will be met by a national campaign of resistance including the use of industrial action.

"Winding back the clock to the days of Railtrack and the disasters of Hatfield (in 2000) and Potters Bar (2002), through the break-up and privatisation of infrastructure, will recreate the same poisonous cocktail of failures that led us to unnecessary loss of life in those grim days," Mr Crow added.

The TSSA has launched a Save Our Stations campaign, with leader Manuel Cortes warning: "If the local booking office goes, then the station itself will not be far behind it."

He said he expected Ms Greening to allow train companies to increase off-peak fares immediately after the morning and evening rush-hours.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the priority was to have a train network that was as "affordable and sustainable as possible".

More people must be encouraged "out of their cars and onto public transport, including rail," he added.

Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle has warned profit will become the priority, not passengers.

Speaking before the statement, she said: "It's no surprise that the party that brought us the botched and costly privatisation of the rail industry is hell-bent on finishing the job of handing control of Britain's rail network to private train operating companies."