Ipswich-based IT services company Smart421 has won a new contract to help deliver a next generation “smart ticketing” system for the UK rail industry.

The contract for a Transaction Management System (TMS) for South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) has been awarded by the Rail Settlement Plan Limited, the commercial arm of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), and comes after a rigorous competitive tender process.

The SEFT programme will deliver ITSO smart ticketing – the nationally-agreed specification for transport tickets on smart media – to the rail network in the South East region surrounding London.

The system will make it easier to buy tickets online and to collect them at stations, and will also offer security benefits as tickets can be blocked and replaced if lost or stolen.

Eventually, the platform will also enable use by mobile phones using contactless technology called Near Field Communications which will make it even simpler to buy and use tickets.

Smart421 will design, develop, deliver and support the TMS over the next four years, with the system involving many of the same performance, security, scalability and integration attributes also required for the Live Sales Management (LSM) solution which was delivered by Smart421 for the rail industry earlier this year.

TMS will use a modern open-source Java based software platform, customised and integrated by Smart421, and will be hosted in a cloud-based environment in Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Neil Miles, managing director at Smart421, said: “The SEFT contract reinforces Smart421’s leading position and role in digital transformation in the rail sector.

“Smart421 delivered the Live Sales Management system for Rail Settlement Plan as well as a separate Service Integration and Management (SIAM) project for National Rail Enquiries. We are delighted to be involved in SEFT which will contribute directly to improvements that both the Government and rail passengers want to see.”