Thales’s TRANSCITY ticketing solution chosen for the upgrade of Taipei’s metro network
Key Points
- 4th export contract for the TRANSCITY™ fare collection solution for the Taipei metro network.
- Future proof solution by moving key management in the back office for fast validation and secured revenues
- Thales has been providing its ticketing solutions in Taipei since 2000, when the EasyCard was introduced.
Thales has been selected by the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, to upgrade the city’s metro network fare collection system with its new generation TRANSCITYTM solution.
The Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, which operates the concession for the metro network in Taipei, has chosen Thales’s latest fare collection solution, to be rolled out progressively throughout 2016 with no service disruptions.
The upgrade covers the entire metro network including more than 1500 fare gates across 120 stations. Thales is proposing a comprehensive solution, including the replacement of contactless smartcard readers for all the existing fare gates and, above all, management in back-office of the keys necessary to protect the transactions.
The solution will enable the fast and secured validation of any card: Kaohsiung Metro’s smartcard, 7Eleven smartcard, Taichung Metropolitan smartcard or HappyCash smartcard. It ensures the fast flow of any passenger, coming from Taipei, Kaohsiung or Taichung, using his own card, through the gates to enter or exit the Taipei metro network.
This project follows the initiative of Taiwan’s Ministry of Transport and Communications to respond to the need for wider interoperability. Public transport operators and smartcard issuers have been working on building a nationwide integrated fare-card system and Taipei will be the first step. Thales will bring its unique expertise in nationwide system implementation, already operational in the Netherlands and Denmark.
Thales had previously contributed to the transition to smart ticketing in Taipei, when the EasyCard was introduced in early 2000 for seamless travel on the city’s public transport system.
With operations on five continents, Thales is a global leader in fare collection solutions and services, particularly for public transport operators. Thales systems are installed in more than 100 cities around the world and handle ticketing transactions worth 15 billion euros every year. In Asia, Thales’s systems are today deployed in Hong Kong, Delhi, Singapore, Bangkok, Beijing, Nanjing, Manila and Taiwan.