UK: The Rail Delivery Group has completed migration of smart ticketing back office services to a cloud-based Host or Operator Processing System which replaces the need for every train operator to run its own server.
The centralised HOPS supplied by Unicard replaces 16 individual back offices. This makes it quicker and easier to change configurations, roll-out new products, bring new train operators onboard and track smart ticket data and transactions.
The use of Amazon Web Services is more energy efficient than individual servers, and auto-scalable so it can handle the increased workload during peak times while ramping down in the early hours of the morning when fewer transactions are being made.
‘Flexible smart ticketing infrastructure provided by Unicard not only enables us to meet present customer demands with agility but also has the potential to accommodate other forms of smart ticketing in the future’, said RDG Chief Information Officer Simon Moorhead on March 5.
Unicard CEO Sean Dickinson said ’Unicard’s heritage in ITSO and working with transport operators and local authorities throughout the UK will allow us to support a more joined up approach to public transport across rail and multi-modal services’.
The HOPS migration is part of the wider RDG Smart Ticketing Hub programme to support a shift towards digital ticketing. Other parts of the STH programme include contactless bank card acceptance, pay-as-you-go tap conversion and smartphone-based ticketing.
