The Shere SMART is a desktop-based railway ticket issuing system, developed by the Guildford-based company Shere Ltd, utilising Newbury Data ND4020 ticket printer, first introduced in Britain in 2003. Since the first trial installation of the system in the ticket office at London Bridge station

London Bridge station

London Bridge railway station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the London Borough of Southwark, occupying a large area on two levels immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1.6 miles east of Charing Cross. It is one of the oldest railway stations in the...

, approximately 300 terminals have been installed at stations on the Southern

Southern (train operating company)

Southern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Officially named Southern Railway Ltd., it is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, and has operated the South Central rail franchise since October 2000 and the Gatwick Express service...

 and former Thameslink

Thameslink (train operating company)

Thameslink was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, run by Govia . It operated the London commuter railway line known by the same name...

 networks.

Origins

After the railway network was privatised

Privatisation of British Rail

The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...

 in the mid-1990s, it was decided that when the existing "Heritage" ticket issuing systems (APTIS

APTIS

APTIS was the Accountancy and Passenger Ticket Issuing System used on Rail transport in Great Britain until 2007.It was widely known as the All-Purpose Ticket-Issuing System, a description which was used during the development of the...

, SPORTIS and the Quickfare passenger-operated machines) needed replacing, the contracts should be put out to competitive tender. Although the Rail Settlement Plan

Rail Settlement Plan

Rail Settlement Plan is a division of the Association of Train Operating Companies in the United Kingdom. It provides a wide range of common services to the UK's franchised passenger rail operators and third party providers of information and retail services.The company was established on the...

 (RSP) scheme, overseen and controlled by the newly created Association of Train Operating Companies

Association of Train Operating Companies

The Association of Train Operating Companies is a body which represents 24 train operating companies that provide passenger railway services on the privatised British railway system. It owns the National Rail brand. The Association is an unincorporated association owned by its members...

 (ATOC), would set various requirements and regulate the introduction of such systems through an official accreditation process, any company which wished to set up a ticket issuing system and offer it for accreditation could do so. Once it had been accredited, the system could then be offered to the individual Train Operating Companies once they were ready to replace their existing equipment.

Accordingly, having met RSP's requirements, the SMART Terminal began to be installed on a trial basis in 2003. London Bridge was the first station to gain one, in January of that year, when Connex South Eastern

Connex South Eastern

Connex South Eastern was a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It was owned by the Connex Group and operated between 14 October 1996 and 9 November 2003. The company operated passenger services in South London and Kent...

 elected to put the system on trial. Over the next 18 months, more machines were trialled at various locations by other TOCs as part of the tendering process. (Train Operating Company names shown in the table are those current at the time of installation.)

Train Operating Company	Location	Machine No(s)	Date	Outcome of trial
Connex South Eastern Connex South Eastern Connex South Eastern was a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It was owned by the Connex Group and operated between 14 October 1996 and 9 November 2003. The company operated passenger services in South London and Kent...	London Bridge London Bridge station London Bridge railway station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the London Borough of Southwark, occupying a large area on two levels immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1.6 miles east of Charing Cross. It is one of the oldest railway stations in the...	5010	January 2003	APTIS reinstated, then replaced by Fujitsu STAR
South Central Trains	Gipsy Hill Gipsy Hill railway station Gipsy Hill railway station is in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London. It is situated on the outer route of the South London Line. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Southern, and it is in Travelcard Zone 3....	5011	February 2003	Still in situ
South West Trains South West Trains South West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...	Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames railway station Walton-on-Thames railway station serves the town of Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England. The station is located in the Ashley Park area of the town. The station originally opened as Walton for Hersham.Only the two outer platforms on the slow lines are currently used...	5012-5014	August 2003	Replaced by Fujitsu STAR
Arriva Trains Northern Arriva Trains Northern Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company that operated passenger trains in Yorkshire and the North East of England. The company had previously been known as Northern Spirit before being taken over by Arriva....	Bradford Interchange Bradford Interchange railway station Bradford Interchange is a combined railway, coach and bus station in Bradford, England. Designed in 1962 and hailed as a showpiece of European design, the building was opened in 1971.-Bus station:...	5016-5021	December 2003	5016 removed without replacement; others replaced by Cubic FasTIS Cubic FasTIS Cubic FasTIS is the latest TIS introduced to the UK National Rail Retailers. The prototype was piloted at Chiltern Railways High Wycombe station from April 2005, the second pilot machine was deployed at Banbury station...
Thameslink Thameslink (train operating company) Thameslink was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, run by Govia . It operated the London commuter railway line known by the same name...	London Blackfriars Blackfriars station Blackfriars station, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the City of London, England. Its platforms will eventually span the River Thames a short distance downstream from Blackfriars Bridge. The current entrance is located on the...	5023 and 5072	December 2003 (5023) July 2004 (5072)	Replaced by terminals 5201 and 5202
Arriva Trains Wales Arriva Trains Wales Arriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...	Neath Neath railway station Neath railway station is a mainline railway station, serving Neath, Wales. The station is located at street level on Windsor Road in Neath town centre...	5024-5025	April 2004	Replaced by Fujitsu STAR
First Great Western First Great Western First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....	Reading Reading railway station Reading railway station is a major rail transport hub in the English town of Reading. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, close to the main retail and commercial areas, and also the River Thames...	5194-5195	September 2004	Replaced by Fujitsu STAR
Merseyrail Merseyrail Merseyrail is a train operating company and commuter rail network in the United Kingdom, centred on Liverpool, Merseyside. The network is predominantly electric with diesel trains running on the City Line. Two City Line branches are currently being electrified on the overhead wire AC system with...	Moorfields Moorfields railway station Moorfields station is an underground railway station in Liverpool, England. It is situated on both the Northern and Wirral Lines of the Merseyrail network and is the only station on the network which has services to all other Merseyrail stations....	5222	October 2004	Replaced by Fujitsu STAR
Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...	Banbury Banbury railway station Banbury railway station serves the town of Banbury in Oxfordshire, England. The station is currently operated by Chiltern Railways, on the Chiltern Main Line, and has four platforms in use.-History:...	5374	March 2005	Replaced by Cubic FasTIS Cubic FasTIS Cubic FasTIS is the latest TIS introduced to the UK National Rail Retailers. The prototype was piloted at Chiltern Railways High Wycombe station from April 2005, the second pilot machine was deployed at Banbury station...

There was also a machine (number 5029) in an Excess Fares office at London Paddington

Paddington station

Paddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates...

, from August 2004 until June 2006. First Great Western

First Great Western

First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....

 have replaced this with a Fujitsu STAR terminal.

Installation Programme

The Southern and Thameslink TOCs, both at that time owned and operated by the Govia

Govia

Govia is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. A joint venture between Go-Ahead and Keolis SA it is a key operator of commuter services in London, the South East and on the West Coast Main Line...

 company, signed contracts in 2004 to have SMART installed in ticket offices at their stations. Southern began by putting in two terminals each at Balham and Norwood Junction (the latter in conjunction with a major station refurbishment project) during the summer; once these had "bedded in" successfully, the roll-out continued across the rest of the network, with a number of small stations waiting until April 2005 for their APTIS machines to be replaced. Delayed installations occurred at Woodmansterne (September 2005) and Littlehaven (December 2005). The smaller Thameslink network had all of its stations equipped with SMART Terminals between September and December 2004.

Features

• SMART can be operated using a standard keyboard and mouse interface, or by using the terminals' touch-screen
  Touchscreen
  A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
  
   capability.
• A programmable list of the 24 most popular tickets from the "home" station is displayed on the screen by default. These can be changed locally or centrally according to temporary requirements - for example, Off-peak Day Returns to Twickenham
  Twickenham railway station
  Twickenham railway station is in Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and is in Travelcard Zone 5. The station and all trains serving it are operated by South West Trains.-History:...
  
   could be added just before a major rugby game at the stadium there.
• All tickets available for a given journey are listed on the screen in price order, allowing the ticket clerk to discuss ticket options with the passenger more easily.
• Full integration with the database of season ticket holders; this allows renewals to be done much more quickly, removes the need to update the database manually, and ensures that discounts for failure to meet service level targets are automatically applied.
• Integration with the RJIS (Rail Journey Information System), a central database of station names, routes etc.; CRS (Central Reservation System, for booking seats); and LENNON (an accounting system which gives TOCs next-day reporting of sales and settlement of revenue owing).
• Use of "Common Stock" blank ticket stock (code RSP 9599) - see below.

Common Stock ticketing

Whereas the APTIS system used different blank cards for almost every type of ticket, SMART prints almost all tickets on the same, orange-banded stock with no pre-printed headings (batch reference RSP 9599). The main examples are shown here:

Tickets printed on "Common Stock"	Tickets printed on dedicated stock
Travel Tickets	Young Persons Railcards
Platform ticket Platform ticket A platform ticket is a type of rail ticket issued by some railway systems, permitting the bearer to access the platforms of a railway station, but not to board and use any train services. It allows people to walk with their friends and loved ones all the way to the passenger car at stations where... s	Network Railcards
Rail Rovers and Rangers	Senior Railcards
Car Park Tickets	Longer Period Season Tickets (Over One Month)
One Day Travelcards (London)	Annual Season Tickets (Gold Cards)
Seven Day Travelcards (London)	Family Railcards
Seven Day Season Tickets	One Day Bus Pass
One Month Season Tickets
Excess Tickets
Seat/Cycle Reservations
Supplement Tickets
Advance Purchase Tickets
Credit/Debit Card Vouchers
Receipts

Links

• List of known Shere SMART positions as of 2006, with dates of installation
• Article in Rail Professional, March 2006; note that the sentence "Chiltern Railways, another Shere customer, opted for SMART" should read "...opted for FAST"