A competition was held in December 2014 for a trial to gather evidence on flexible rail ticketing, which has the potential to provide a better deal for passengers who work part-time or are not daily commuters. Positive expressions of interest were received from seven operators in the South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) programme area; we are working with them so they can introduce flexible ticketing products as soon as possible following the roll out of smart ticketing in 2016 and 2017. The Department is also considering a report by Southern Railway, on their flexible ticketing trial, and is discussing with Govia Thameslink Railways and c2c, their franchise, obligations to introduce flexible ticketing products by 30 September 2015 and 31 May 2016 respectively.