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There are no additional charges for using a debit or credit card. You will only pay for the price of your ticket.
Conductors will not be able to sell you a ticket to load onto your smartcard on the train. They will however be able to check the key to confirm that the ticket products you have already purchased are valid.
Break of journey functionality is not currently available on the key, therefore you will not be able to touch in or touch out on the ticket gates at a station on route.
You will need to show your key card to the gate-line staff to let you out if you need to exit or re-enter at one of the stations along your line of route. For example, if you have a season ticket valid from Lewes to Brighton, you will need to show your key card to the gateline staff at Falmer if you need to exit the station.
Anyone wishing to travel to and from stations currently enabled for key card use will be able to go online and order a key smartcard.
Yes. An application form will be available from the ticket office or by calling Customer Services on 08451 27 29 20. A card issued without an online registration will mean tickets can only be purchased directly from the self service ticket machines.
No but you can apply for a refund for the unused balance of your paper season ticket and load a new season ticket on to your smartcard.
You can also apply for a key in advance of your current ticket expiring to ensure there is no interruption to your travel.
No, currently the Brighton & Hove smartcard will not be valid on our Southern trains nor will our Southern smartcard be valid on buses. However Plusbus in the Brighton and Crawley areas is available if you wish to add a weekly bus ticket on to your Southern key card.
We will be working towards this during 2013 and will provide further information on this website as to when this will be available.
Not at the moment but smartcards will be available on Gatwick Express services when our rollout arrives along the relevant section of the Brighton Main Line later in 2013.
Yes everyone must touch in and out to ensure that their journey has been ‘validated’. This will give us a better understanding of the types of journeys people make and when they make them so we can be better at tailoring ticket products for individual travellers.
Yes. However, the key should not be kept in the same wallet as an Oystercard as the reader will get confused as to which card to read.
You can buy tickets through your online account at southernrailway.com/thekey, via Southern’s online ticket sales or at a self-service ticket machine.
You can then ‘load’ your ticket at a station by touching the key onto a smartcard reader positioned on the ticket gateline or on station validators. You should allow two hours between buying a ticket online and seeking to load it onto the key at a station.
You can view our online FAQs to give you all the information you need about our new key smartcard or call our Southern Customer Services team on 08451 27 29 20, or email thekeycomments@southernrailway.com/thekey, for more information.
The key can currently be used at all outer London stations (outside London fares zones 1-6), on the Southern network, excluding stations between Epsom and Dorking which will be coming soon (see ‘Where can I use the key?’ for a list of all stations). The online process for getting the key will be as follows:
If you do not have online access, an application form can be obtained from a Southern ticket office along the key enabled route.
Refunds on season tickets are calculated from the date the refund was applied for. Your season must have at least 7 days remaining on a monthly or longer season and at least 3 days for a seven day season to be eligible.
Refunds are not calculated on a pro rata basis and in some cases the residual value less a £10 administration fee may result in no refund being payable.
In order to apply for a refund, please contact Customer Services
The easiest way for you to find out when your ticket expires is by logging into your key account online.
The self-service ticket machines at the station will also let you know what tickets you have on your key at any given time and if using a validator to touch out, this will display your ticket expiry.
You can also setup your online account to send you reminders when your ticket will expire, just as with paper tickets purchased in this way.
Go to your online account at southernrailway.com/thekey or contact the Southern Customer Services team on 08451 27 29 20, or email thekeycomments@southernrailway.com/thekey
The key works through contact with smartcard readers positioned on ticket gates, self service ticket machines (TVMs) or validators at stations. The steps for this are below:
NB: Please do not have the key and your Oystercard in the same wallet when touching in/out; this will confuse the reader as to which card to read.
The key will cost you nothing, and no deposit is required. However, if you lose a registered card there may be a fee for replacement. If a crime reference is produced for a lost or stolen card there will be no fee applied for a replacement card.
On train staff will be able to check the key using hand held machines that they will carry with them. This will allow them to read products loaded onto your smartcard.
For your safety and assurance, our payment systems are market leading; counter fraud services and encryption technology keep your payments secure. The personal information we hold in relation to your key, including your online key account, is protected using the latest encryption technology and is in line with the latest data protection law making sure your information is secure.
No, key cards are not transferable and are only valid for use by the person who’s name is on the card and for whom the card has been registered to. If someone else tries to use your key it will be confiscated and both the person to whom it was issued and the person to whom it was transferred or attempted to be transferred will be liable to prosecution.
Non-photo smartcards can be transferred
Weekly and monthly PlusBus tickets can be purchased on your key for the Crawley and Brighton areas (excluding Newhaven and Seaford stations).
You can buy PlusBus tickets in the following ways:
The key is based on the national specification for smartcards which is ‘ITSO’; Oyster cards are not currently compatible with this system. However, the Department for Transport and Transport for London are working to ensure that Oyster readers are compatible with ITSO in the future so that the key will work across the London Underground network.
Yes,the categories are – adult, child, and Southern staff passes.
Where the key is for an adult who wishes to buy monthly or longer season tickets or for a child, a photo will be required to load onto the card and the card will not be transferrable to another passenger.
A card which is only used to purchase weekly season tickets will not require a photo and will therefore be transferable.
Go to your online account at southernrailway.com/thekey, or contact the Southern customer services team on 08451 27 29 20 or see staff at one of our Tickets Offices along the route to let us know so that your smartcard can be ‘cancelled’ and a new card can be issued within 24hrs. You will then receive this within 3 – 5 working days.
Photos uploaded must be in a passport photo portrait format (similar dimensions and clearly showing your face head on) and below 100KB. Photos must be portrait format, roughly 170 pixels high.
As the key is registered to you as an individual on registration you will be asked for:
Children will need to upload a photo when registering. Adults wishing to buy Monthly or longer Season tickets will also have to upload a photo.
You are required to always touch in and touch out on every journey as per the conditions of use. If you do not touch in and touch out we reserve the right to disable your smartcard.
Go to your online account at southernrailway.com/thekey to update your details or contact the Southern Customer Services team on 08451 27 29 20, or email thekeycomments@southernrailway. A new card will be required for any changes to name or photo and this can be requested at the same time.
The key is a reusable smartcard which can have various types of ticket, including season tickets, added again and again.
The key is based on ITSO (www.itso.org.uk) which is a Government backed specification and is being used across the country’s public transport for all future smartcard schemes. With all transport providers using the same ticketing system, integrated transport will be easier to promote with the potential for operators to link up and provide more multi-modal ticket products.
The key is similar in nature to London’s Oyster card. You hold it against a smartcard reader to ‘touch in’ and ‘touch out’, accessing the network through ticket gates or via the validators at stations.
The smartcards will evolve over time with many possibilities for the future. For example, they could be used in the future to hold car park tickets or indeed to hold ‘cash’ which could be used at station or train retail outlets making the overall journey more straightforward for the passenger.
Ticket products that can be loaded onto the key are:
All other ticket products can still be bought as paper tickets.
Following the pilot we needed time to refine the system before rolling out the key to other parts of the network. The timescales for this depended on feedback and analysis as we want to make sure that any teething troubles were fixed before making the key available to more people. The plan is to continue to roll out along the coast and continue up into London for all stations to be completed by the end of 2013.
The key is being rolled out along the Southern network in a phased approach until the end of 2013.
The key can currently be used at all outer London stations excluding stations between Epsom and Dorking which will be coming soon.
London Road, Moulsecoomb, Falmer, Lewes, Southease, Newhaven Town, Newhaven Harbour, Bishopstone, Seaford, Glynde, Berwick, Polegate, Hampden Park, Eastbourne, Pevensey & Westham, Pevensey Bay, Norman’s Bay, Cooden Beach, Collington, Bexhill, Preston Park, Hove, Aldrington, Portslade, Fishersgate, Southwick, Shoreham-by-sea, Lancing, East Worthing, Worthing, Horley, Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, Crawley, Ifield, Balcombe, Haywards Heath, Wivelsfield, Burgess Hill, Hassocks, Horsham, Warnham, Ockley, Holmwood, Faygate, Littlehaven, Plumpton, Cooksbridge, Earlswood, Salfords, Redhill, Merstham, Reigate, Arundel, Amberley, Pulborough,Billingshurst, Christ’s Hospital, West Worthing, Durrington on Sea, Goring by Sea, Angmering, Littlehampton, Ford, Barnham, Bognor Regis, Chichester, Fishbourne, Bosham, Nutbourne, Southbourne, Emsworth, Warblington, Woldingham, Oxted, Hurst Green, Edenbridge Town, Hever, Cowden, Ashurst, Eridge, Crowborough, Buxted, Uckfield, Lingfield, Dormans and East Grinstead.
Smartcard readers are located on all Southern Ticket Gates. Validator Posts are also available at all stations and are positioned at the entrance/exit to the station, including those used when ticket offices are closed.
You will need to touch in and touch out on the smartcard readers located on the Ticket Gates or Validator Posts at the start and the end of your journey.
If you lose your key or there is a query with your key we want to make sure that we can get any unused tickets back to you or that you can talk to us about your key.
Information we collect from you includes, title (Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss etc), first name, and surname, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth and gender.
If you have ticked the relevant box on the application form, we may also contact you to keep you updated with information about other Go-Ahead group services and also to inform you of special offers and other related products and services from Go-Ahead Group Companies. You can opt out from receiving emails, by logging into your account at southernrailway.com/thekey and changing your preferences.
The key is being rolled out along the Southern network in a phased approach until the end of 2013 to help with testing and implementation. A pilot for testing was conducted on the route between Brighton and Seaford. This route was chosen because:
If you wish to purchase tickets online, the key will need to be registered to an individual user which will require a unique email address. An application form is available if an online account is not required and a smartcard can be issued for ticket purchases from a self service ticket machine only. To request an application form please ask at a Southern ticket office or call Customer Services on 08451 27 29 20.
Yes, a birth certificate, medical certificate or passport will need to be provided as proof of age for a child smartcard.
Once an online application is completed the authorisation of a child smartcard must be finalised at a Southern ticket office where the birth certificate, medical certificate or passport can be checked. Once verification has taken place, the child card will then be posted direct to the address provided on application.
Please ensure that adequate time provision is made for the authorisation of a child smartcard prior to any required ticket purchase or travel.
Railcards will continue to be separate from your smartcard, although you will be able to buy concessionary tickets on your smartcard.
We are working to add the ability to have concession railcards added to smartcards in the future.
Yes
Tickets purchased on smartcards will always be cheaper or the same price as the equivalent paper ticket.
We are considering a ‘pay as you go’ product for shorter, local journeys though this is not available currently.
