THALES has announced a series of metro ticketing contracts involving contactless smart card technology.
Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp has awarded a consortium of Thales, LG and local company Beikong a contract to replace the existing system of paper tickets inspected at gate lines with a contactless system covering 1184 entry and exit gates and 470 point-of-sale terminals on Lines 1, 2 and 8. Re-usable single journey tickets will be offered in addition to weekly, monthly and multi-trip passes, which will eventually also be used as e-purses accepted on buses and taxis.
On June 27 Thales announced it had been selected by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to provide gates, vending machines and back office systems for the Red and Green metro lines being built in Dubai. This was followed on July 11 by the award of a €2·9m contract covering the 11 stations on the Metronorte line in Madrid. 12 of the 103 gates will be wide enough for wheelchairs, and the barriers will accept both magnetic and contactless cards.
