Skip to main content

Accreditation guidance

Overview
ticket machinesEvery machine or system which sells inter-available tickets for travel on the National Rail network is subject to Accreditation.

The purpose of Accreditation is to ensure that:
  • for whatever journey the passenger wants to make they are offered the right choice of tickets at the correct price;
  • that payment is taken securely;
  • that details of the ticket sale are recorded correctly and submitted for settlement, so that the revenue is distributed between about 30 train operators and hundreds of other parties; and
  • that the tickets are produced in a consistent format, clearly-recognisable as valid by staff and passengers, secure against fraud and which can be correctly read by people and machines throughout the journey.
In order to achieve Accreditation, Suppliers of rail Ticket Issuing Systems (TIS) and rail ticket Retailers need to present evidence to demonstrate that their system meets the requirements of Compliance Standards. Any new supplier or retailer will need to engage in discussions with RDG Accreditation and Licensing teams at an early stage to learn about the environment and industry.

ticket machinesTo build a compliant viable TIS requires a thorough understanding of Compliance Standards, the rail industry, its retail environment and data structures. Compliance Standards define the requirements for journey planning, retailing and after-sale processes, the recording of sales data for settlement, and the various methods of fulfilment. Thus, the evidence provided for the Accreditation must cover the User Interface for all business processes, the Settlement data and a range of fulfilled tickets.

Accreditation Guide
The Document Library (rspaccreditation.org) provides an overview of accreditation, including scope, objectives, process, costs, retail options and system interfaces.

Ticketing and Settlement Agreement
The Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA) requires all train operators to retail using accredited software.

ASSIST
Please note that only TIS suppliers and operators will be granted accounts, as the information contained within ASSIST is confidential between RSP and each TIS supplier or operator. Go to the Accreditation Members area