Lilian Greenwood MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, responding to the Department for Transport’s plans to scrap their South East smartcard programme, said:

“The timing of this announcement is an insult to passengers. Tory Ministers have tried to bury the news that their £80 million South East smartcard scheme has been dropped by declaring it on the day before the latest rail satisfaction statistics are published.
 
“Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted on a botched IT project, leaving the Conservatives’ manifesto commitment to introduce part-time rail season tickets in tatters. The Government’s own pilot scheme found that the UK’s 8.4 million part-time workers could save up to 50 per cent on the cost of travel if part-time season tickets were introduced, but Ministers have effectively thrown in the towel.”