22.10.14
New smart technology will enable flexible ticketing scheme
Ecebs has won the contract to provide the technology and back office transaction services required to deliver smart ticketing infrastructure and products to the south-east rail network.
As part of the Department for Transport’s South East Flexible Ticketing (SEFT) scheme, Ecebs will install its HOPS software that will enable all rail passengers in the south east to use one ITSO-compliant smart ticketing scheme, no matter which train operator in the region they use.
Twelve train operators are set to be involved in the scheme, including Govia Thameslink Railway, East Coast and Virgin West Coast. It covers an area that includes Milton Keynes to the north, Brighton in the south, Reading in the west, and Dover in the east.
Ecebs technology will enable smart ticketing to work across thousands of devices including railway station gates, validators and ticket machines. The system will enable rail passengers to use smart tickets to travel to London and then also use these same tickets within London at national rail stations.
Pat Curran, executive chairman of Ecebs, said: “This could be a watershed moment for the integration of smart ticketing in the UK rail industry. The group of passengers this system is targeting makes a third of all rail journeys in the UK. Paragon HOPS is the only system operating in the UK to have proven its reliability at managing high volume transactions on a regular basis. It should give other train operators confidence that they too can benefit from the infrastructure that is being put in place as part of the SEFT smart ticketing scheme.”
The contract has been awarded by Rail Settlement Plan Ltd, the body representing the UK rail operators, and will initially last for four years with an option included to extend.
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