Amsterdam's public transport company GVB has joined the nationwide contactless e-ticketing system currently being implemented by the East-West Consortium, made up of Thales, Accenture and Vialis. GVB is the fifth operator to join the initiative, which goes by the name of Trans Link Systems and already boasts NS (Dutch national railways), RET (Rotterdam public transport), HTM (The Hague public transport) and Connexxion (bus and tram operator). The Trans Link alliance now covers more than 80% of the public transport market in the Netherlands.
In the 120m euro program launched two months ago, each East-West Consortium member has its part to play: Thales is drawing on its expertise in smartcard technology and the conception and implementation of secure, large-scale, integrated fare collection systems to lead the production, installation and test phases. The Group will thus supply the systems equipment and software. Accenture will subsequently become the leader for the operational phase, integrate the system's technology infrastructure and handle back office duties. The Dutch company Vialis & Traffic will be responsible for installation and maintenance. The program will initially be deployed in the Rotterdam area with full nationwide coverage for the electronic ticket scheduled for 2007. The new system covers all forms of public transport - trains, buses, trams, metros and ferries - and when the system is fully operational, more than two million passengers per day are expected to use the system.