The UK’s Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has awarded IT services provider Atos a seven-year contract to manage it’s new smart ticketing program, reports Consultant News.

TfGM is implementing a plan to introduce e-tickets and enable payment with contactless bank cards for its Metrolink tram network. The plan also anticipates being able to offer a prepaid travel card for use on buses, trains or trams.

The program will be implemented in stages, with the first stage covering the Metrolink network and TfGM’s park and ride sites and cycle hubs. Further stages include integrating buses, then rail into the program. The system will be ITSO compliant and support contactless EMV payments.

Atos will be responsible for the design, construction and management of the hosted service to run the plan. It will also deploy and manage ticket machines and validation devices from a number of suppliers.

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