A PIONEERING project to introduce smart ticketing across the south’s railway network has been branded a failure by a national spending watchdog.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) showed how the government’s South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) program overspent its initial £45m budget by £9m but failed to deliver promised benefits.

The scheme was created to accelerate the introduction of smart cards – a pre-paid card which can be topped up similar to London’s Oyster card system, which allows the passenger to travel anywhere within the capital by scanning their cards at each end of the journey.

The DfT upgraded more than 450 stations and created a hub for smart ticketing to be introduced across the entire rail network.

But since the start of the scheme in 2012 only eight per cent of season ticket holders switched to smart cards – far short of the DfT target of 95 per cent, said the NAO report.

The program was closed by the DfT this month following a ministerial decision that the rail industry should take the lead on smart ticketing.

In Hampshire, South West Trains launched its own smartcard scheme in 2012.

However, South West Trains’ smart card holders must pre-book their journey and the card – which cannot be used across the whole network – merely acts as a plastic alternative to a paper ticket rather than a go-anywhere system like the Oyster.

A spokesperson said: “South West Trains' Smartcard is more secure, durable, compact and convenient than a paper ticket and we are pleased to work with the Department for Transport and others in the rail industry to make ticketing simpler and more convenient for passengers.”

However, Lianna Etkind, public transport campaigner at Campaign for Better Transport insisted the scheme has squandered millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money.

“Delivering smart ticketing was a 2015 manifesto commitment, not only is this wasted money, it’s a wasted opportunity. Without government leadership, the UK risks falling behind the rest of the world on smart ticketing.

“South West Trains' scheme is limited and more or less does what a paper ticket does but on a piece of plastic.”

Denis Fryer, chair of the South Hampshire Rail Users Group added: “The National Audit Office shows the DfT’s scheme has been pretty poor and a waste of money.

“Paper ticketing is quite old fashioned so smart cards could be the way forward and have been pledged by the incoming operator of the South Western franchise."

A DfT spokesperson said: “Smart ticketing is a priority for the government and we continue to work with the Rail Delivery Group and train operators on its roll-out.”

A spokesman for the FirstGroup, which is taking over the south west franchise in August, said: “We will introduce a smartcard scheme across the entire franchise.”

Regarding SEFT, it is of course a Government programme and the NAO report is a matter for the DfT.