Thales broadens services portfolio with tolling in the Netherlands

Thales has been awarded the contract for a free-flow tolling solution for the Blankenburg connection in the Netherlands by Emovis. Emovis is specialised in the implementation of technology platforms and operation services for intelligent mobility in urban and interurban environments. 

The Blankenburg connection is a new highway near Rotterdam (the A24), connecting the A20 with the A15 from 2024: a major infrastructure project with two tunnels to reduce traffic congestion and improve journey times for commuters and freight. 

Emovis is working with Thales in the Netherlands as a local partner to best serve the Netherlands Vehicle Authority (RDW). Emovis supplies all pieces of hardware and software, namely the Road Side (RSE) and Operational Back Office systems, and Thales is responsible for the installation of the RSE equipment and servicing of the RSE hardware. 

Thales has a team of 50 field service engineers and a 24/7 help & service desk. They currently maintain the technical equipment for our public transport customers.

The project started in May with a six-month test period on the A12 to prove that the system works well.

“Thales is very pleased to work on this new project. Thales will do periodic maintenance as well as equipment repairs. This maintenance is quite different from servicing the gates at stations and validators in buses, but Thales has a very good expertise in technical maintenance. The hardware is on the Rijkswaterstaat portals above the highway and in cabinets next to the highway. This means the field service engineers have to go up in an aerial platform at night on a road that is closed for traffic and has to reopen at 5am. This job is quite different from being at a station during the day, but I am really confident that Thales experts could maintain this equipment excellently too."-Martijn van Eijk, sales & business development manager, Thales