Commuters travelling from stations within the Witham constituency are set to benefit from smart ticketing through the roll-out later in 2015 of the South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme and free Wi-Fi for passengers to follow through the new forthcoming franchise agreement from 2016.
The new SEFT programme, which is funded by the Government, will be in the form of a smart card and initially rolled out to season ticket holders. It follows representations Priti Patel, Conservative Party parliamentary candidate for Witham, made for Greater East Main Line (GEML) services to be included in flexible ticketing schemes.
The roll out of free Wi-Fi is likely to take place as part of the new franchise, which begins in 2016.
Priti said: "Local commuters have wanted to be able to use smart and flexible tickets and I have supported them as part of my campaign for better rail services.
"The recent agreement between the Government and Abellio Greater Anglia to roll out the South East Flexible Ticketing programme later this year is very welcome and shows that services are getting better for commuters."
She added: "The future roll-out of Wi-Fi on trains is also good news for commuters and should be delivered through the new franchise.
"Wi-Fi is already being provided at some stations by Abellio and the only way to ensure that rail improvements can continue to be made is for a Conservative Government to be elected as rail investment and the future of the rail franchise will be put at risk by Labour."