A smarter way
to travel
Your smart guide
Introducing
South West Trains Smart
Smartcards are shaped liked a plastic credit card and
hold your ticket details electronically. The cards are much
more durable than paper tickets and can be used over
and over again. Not only will they save you time, they are
good for the environment too.
If you travel through a station with automatic ticket gates you’ll no
longer need to feed your ticket through the gate to enter or exit
the station. Simply touch your Smartcard on the reader, ensuring
you keep all other ‘contactless’ cards away from the reader (e.g.
Oyster card, bank card, or building pass) to avoid ‘card clash’. It is
important that you only touch the reader with the card you intend
to use for your journey.
Using South West Trains Smart is simple. Once you have received your
Smartcard you can book just 2 hours in advance online or by phone,
or instantly purchase a ticket from a self-service ticket machine at one
of our stations outside of the London Travelcard Area1.
Using South West Trains Smart is a faster and more convenient way
of buying your ticket, which can be used for travel into and around
London with a London Zones 1-6 Travelcard.
For more information go to southwesttrains.co.uk/smart
Registering for
South West Trains Smart
South West Trains Smartcards are issued free of charge
to all customers and can be ordered online at
southwesttrains.co.uk/smart or by calling
0345 810 1010. It will then be posted to you (please
allow at least 7 days for the Smartcard to be delivered by
post), and you can then collect the ticket at your chosen
station by placing the Smartcard on the reader at the
automatic ticket gate or platform validator.
Where a Season Ticket is loaded to a Smartcard, the
ticket is only valid when accompanied by a National Rail
photocard. Smartcards have your name printed on them
and you’ll need to show our Smartcard in conjunction with
your photocard when asked. The name on the photocard
and Smartcard must match. If you do not have a National
Rail photocard, you can get one from any staffed station
when you present a passport sized photograph.
1
Our TVMs within the London Travelcard area are enabled for Oyster cards only. It is not possible for the
TVM inside the London Travelcard area to recognise both Oyster and South West Trains Smartcards.
Buying tickets
Tickets for your South West Trains Smartcard can be purchased in
advance (2 hours or more) from southwesttrains.co.uk or by
calling 0345 810 1010. Check if the journey you are making is
available on South West Trains Smart by using our Smart journey
check swtsmart.co.uk
You can also purchase tickets instantly using a self-service
ticket machine at South West Trains stations outside of the
London Travelcard Area. You’ll need to enter your National Rail
photocard number and postcode when buying a Season Ticket at
a ticket machine.
When purchasing online or by phone you will need to choose a
station to ‘collect’ your ticket from, this can be any South West
Trains station outside the London Travelcard area. This can be in
advance of your day of travel. Once at your chosen station you
can then ‘collect’ your ticket from a Smartcard reader.
We offer Weekly, Monthly, Monthly Plus and Annual seasons
tickets on South West Trains Smart. You can also purchase Single
and Return tickets. To check which ticket types we can offer on
South West Trains Smart, please see
southwesttrains.co.uk/smart
If you purchase an Annual Season Ticket and load this to your
Smartcard, you will be sent a separate Gold Record Card. This
contains the relevant Season Ticket information that will enable
you to obtain additional Gold Card discounted tickets for
yourself and others travelling with you for all journeys across the
Gold Card area.
For more information on Gold Card visit
nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/46573.aspx
Loading
Tickets
If you purchased your ticket online or by phone, your ticket can
be collected and loaded to the Smartcard after 2 hours, when you
‘touch in’ via the reader at the automatic ticket gate or platform
validator. It is important that you allow time for your ticket to load
onto the Smartcard; just hold your Smartcard on the reader for a
few seconds and remove when the gate opens or when the platform
validator makes an audible “bleep” and shows a green light.
If you are purchasing your ticket from a self-service ticket
machine at the station, the machine will prompt you to load your
ticket to your Smartcard after purchase. You do this by placing
the Smartcard on the ticket machine reader and waiting for
confirmation that the ticket has been loaded. It’s important that you
load your ticket(s) to your Smartcard before boarding the train.
Touching in
You must ‘touch in’ at the start of your journey by placing your
Smartcard on the reader as you pass through the automatic ticket
gate onto the platform or, where there are no gates, using the
platform validator.
Be sure to keep any other ‘contactless’ cards, e.g. Oyster cards,
bank cards or building passes, away from your South West Trains
Smartcard when touching a Smartcard reader to avoid ‘card clash’.
To check the validity of a ticket on your Smartcard prior to travel,
place the Smartcard on the reader at any self-service ticket
machine outside of the London Travelcard area or call
0345 810 1010.
On-train
ticket checks
Once on-board, your Smartcard will be read by staff using
a handheld reader to check that the ticket loaded onto the
card is valid for the journey being made. If you are a Season
Ticket holder you will still need to produce your photocard as
identification along with your Smartcard when asked. The name
on the photocard must match the name on your Smartcard.
Touching out
You must ‘touch out’ with your Smartcard to validate the end of your
journey. This is done by placing the Smartcard on a reader at the
automatic ticket gate, or platform validator if there are no gates.
FAQS
How do I get a South West Trains Smartcard?
Your Smartcard can be ordered online at
southwesttrains.co.uk/smart or by calling 0345 810 1010.
It will then be posted to you (please allow 7 days for the
Smartcard to be delivered by post).
What happens if I lose my Smartcard?
If your South West Trains Smartcard is lost or stolen you should
call 0345 810 1010 as soon as possible. We will cancel your
card so that it cannot be used by anyone else. A replacement
card can then be issued and will take up to 7 days to be
delivered.
If you had a Season Ticket loaded onto the lost or stolen
Smartcard with more than 1 week left before its expiry we will
also arrange for this to be loaded onto your new Smartcard.
An administration charge will apply to a duplicate Season Ticket
loaded onto a replacement card. You will need to purchase
paper tickets from the station whilst a replacement Smartcard
is sent to you. These may be refunded once the replacement
Smartcard is received.
If your lost or stolen Smartcard had other tickets stored on the
card, please discuss this with the Customer Service Centre by
calling 0345 810 1010.
What happens if I leave my Smartcard at home?
Leaving a Smartcard at home is the same as leaving a paper
ticket at home - you will need to purchase a new ticket for your
journey. If you are a Season Ticket holder you may be entitled to
a refund of the paper ticket purchased to complete your journey.
The paper ticket must be kept and you should enquire at the
Ticket Office for a refund within 28 days of travel.
Can someone else use my Smartcard?
South West Trains Smartcards are not transferable and therefore
must not be given to any other person for their use.
What is the difference between Oyster and
South West Trains Smart?
Oyster is only valid within the London Travelcard area. It can be
used to either store a ticket, a Season Ticket for example, or to
store a monetary value, which is then used for ‘Pay as You Go’
travel. The South West Trains Smartcard is able to store tickets,
but not monetary value.
What happens if I forget to ‘touch in’ or touch out’?
We are encouraging customers to ‘touch in’ and ‘touch out’ to
enable your journeys to be registered.
For more information on South West Trains Smart please visit
southwesttrains.co.uk/smart or call 0345 810 1010
Visit us at
southwesttrains.co.uk
• Buying tickets online
• Special offers and days out
• Live train information
• Plan your journey
• Train times
• Latest news
Free Travel Alerts
southwesttrains.co.uk/jca
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service running information, delays and alterations.
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@SW_Trains
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Customer Service Centre
0345 6000 650
Our UK based team are available 7 days a week
from 6am to 10pm for: Ticket sales by credit or
debit card Comments and suggestions.
Assisted Travel
0800 5282 100
Textphone 0800 6920 792
A freephone service open 6am - 10pm for older
and disabled passengers. We recommend booking
assistance at least 24 hrs in advance.
National Rail Enquiries
03457 48 49 50
Train times, fares and rail information.
South West Trains accepts no liability for any inaccuracy in the information contained in
this publication which is subject to alteration. Please check before you travel.
Stagecoach South West Trains Limited. Registered in England and Wales 5599788.
Registered office: Friars Bridge Court, 41-45 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NZ.
A part of Stagecoach Group plc.
SWT4790615
The information in this leaflet was correct
at the time of printing in September 2016.