Thales to provide new contactless fare collection system for Taipei Metro
11 October, 2004
category: Contactless, Corporate, Financial, Transit
French company Thales has been chosen to supply a new fully contactless ticketing system for Taipei’s metro system, replacing a combination of contactless smart cards and recyclable mag stripe tickets. The system will be installed in more than 100 stations and will comprise around 1,500 access control gates, 700 automatic token vending machines, 250 ticket office machines and 160 information terminals.
Contract is part of an agreement to supply electrical and mechanical systems for the new Hsinchuang, Luchou and Nankang extensions
Brétigny-sur-Orge, France–Thales has announced that it has been selected by Alstom Transport and CTCI Corporation for the provision of the ticketing system for the Taipei metro. At the end of 2003, the two companies had won the contract to supply the electrical and mechanical systems for the Hsinchuang, Luchou and Nankang extensions to the metro system of Taipei. After approval from Taipei’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS), Thales’ Transport and Energy business line and its local partners MITAC and ACS have been selected to provide the ticketing portion of the contract, worth more than 40 million euros.
The existing ticketing system – most of which has also been supplied by Thales and MITAC – is based on a combination of EasyCard contactless smart cards and recyclable magnetic stripe tickets. The proposed new system will be fully contactless and will incorporate the use of contactless smart tokens for occasional or single trip travelers. These tokens will be directly recyclable in latest-generation access control gates with retractable flaps, which will help to facilitate passenger flows.
The system will be installed in more than 100 stations and will comprise around 1,500 access control gates, 700 automatic token vending machines, 250 ticket office machines and 160 information terminals. The initial installation at pilot stations is scheduled to begin in 2006. All existing lines will be equipped by 2009. The Hsinchuang, Luchou, Nankang and Neihu extensions, currently under construction, will be equipped by 2012. The EasyCard travel card is also used on the city’s 5,000 buses and at around 50 public car parks in Taipei.
Thales has a strong presence in Asia and has been a partner of the Taipei metro since 1989. This is Thales’ fourth major project in Taiwan. The latest one involved the supply and installation of a fare collection system for the Taiwan High Speed Rail, which links Taipei to Kaohsiung.
“Thales was the first company to offer the contactless token system for occasional travelers,” says Jean-Louis Olié, VP and managing director of the Transport & Services business of Thales. “This system has proved to be highly successful in Asia. The tokens are valid for a single journey and then recovered at the station exit gates, recycled and reused. Next to environmental advantages, the system delivers significant cost savings for transport operators.”
About Thales
Thales is an international electronics and systems group, serving defense, aerospace, services and security markets. The group employs 61,500 people worldwide and generated revenues of EUR 10.6 billion in 2003. The Transport & Energy activity of Thales (www.thales-transportservices.com) provides systems, products and services for automatic fare collection, operator support and access control applications. Thales’ references in the field of contactless technology include contracts in the Netherlands, Olso, Bangkok, Taiwan, Nanjing, Singapore, New Delhi, Hong Kong, France