ITSO Standards Update Contract - Cubic

2026-11-03

The Department of Transport (DfT) has commissioned RDG to develop and deliver ITSO on Mobile and industry compliance with an updated ITSO specification (V2.1.5) for ticket retail and acceptance with TOCs and their supply chain. ITSO is one of three main ticketing technologies used by rail and other public transport (primarily bus and tram) within England, Scotland and Wales to offer digital (non-paper) ticketing for the benefit of passengers. The government's Plan for Rail White Paper sets out a plan to 'work with ... operators to continue the roll-out of digital ticketing on smartphones across the network... (and) bring forward benefits for passengers (of) contactless journeys'. To achieve these objectives, it is vital that the government empowers the rail industry to implement ITSO on Mobile ticketing. This new type of digital ticket will enhance the current range of ticketing options, providing customers with more choice and allowing the industry to plan for the retirement of magnetic stripe tickets. ITSO on Mobile ticketing combines the convenience of the highly successful smartphone-based eTickets with the speed and security of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Features and benefits: Reuses existing infrastructure - ITSO on Mobile will maximise the return on previous investments, avoiding costly hardware upgrades. Easy to use - Contactless card usage by phone is already commonplace. ITSO on Mobile tickets will be the same - intuitive and quick. Customers will simply be able to use their smart device (phone or wearable) by holding it to the reader that is already on every automatic ticket gate in the country. On newer handsets, tickets will still work even if the device battery is flat. Works first time - A recent study by RDG showed that contactless via a smart device is the fastest and most reliable ticketing interface at gatelines. Fast - ITSO on Mobile will make use of Express Mode for Skip Device Unlock features, which means there will be no need to unlock the phone or open any apps at the gateline. Customers will just hold their device to the reader and go. Contactless ticketing is up to 40% faster than some barcode tickets. Reduces fraud - ITSO on Mobile is designed to be a highly secure method of ticketing. The fraud prevention features of NFC ticketing are clearly evidenced in the event ticketing arena. Native Operating System (OS) commands allow fast, over-the-air cancellation of tickets if they are lost, stolen or refunded. ITSO on Mobile tickets can be deployed at pace and rolled out nationally as a software-only upgrade to the existing ITSO infrastructure, thus making ITSO on Mobile available everywhere that ITSO smartcards are accepted. With hardware to support ITSO already available across all rail stations nationally, as well as London Underground, buses and trams across the country, no new infrastructure is required. The implementation of ITSO on Mobile will: • Complement existing industry digital ticketing projects. • Support wider rail reform objectives. • Ultimately make rail ticketing more cost effective and customer friendly. The project will deliver upon the request from ITSO Ltd to update and publish a new version of the ITSO technical standard - (moving from version 2.1.4 to version 2.1.5) and to ensure a fast-tracked industry compliance. This new version not only unlocks the new specifications to allow the delivery of ITSO on Mobile, but also provides an opportunity to bring the ITSO implementation on National Rail up to a uniform level thus supporting better interoperability. To support this, RDG is putting in a number of contracts with suppliers in the industry to bring their solutions up to the new standards.

United Kingdom (UK)

2026-09-21