Transport for Wales has signed a £1.9 million contract with multinational information equipment and service company, Fujitsu.
This is to upgrade ticket office machines and mobile handsets across the rail network.
In addition to this, the partnership is to include a five-year support and maintenance agreement for the new hardware, which is worth another £5.1 million.
As the first train operator in the UK to commit to the upgrade, the rail company's new Star Ticket Office Machines(TOMs), installed by Fujitsu, are to provide a more efficient ticketing system for customers at railway stations, allowing tickets to be issued faster.
The machines are to be smart enabled so staff can add season tickets to customer smart cards, allowing rail passengers the option of using more robust and secure paperless tickets as well as making the overall process much easier for customers and staff.
Train and station staff handsets will be also replaced with Fujitsu's STARmobile technology, enabling staff to provide passengers with improved travel information on board trains, so that passengers can better plan their journeys.
What did the officials say?
Colin Lea, Customer Experience Director for Transport for Wales, said:
“We're delighted to announce this partnership with Fujitsu and look forward to seeing our retail offer improve significantly over the coming months. With passenger numbers continually rising, it's important that we are providing the best solutions to improve the rail experience, for both our employees and our customers.
“This new, faster and more effective ticketing system will make travelling by train in Wales and the borders easier and allow us to bring forward new forms of ticketing in the future such as ‘pay as you go', where customers will automatically get the best fare by just tapping in and out with a card.”
Paul Patterson Senior-Vice President, EMEIA Sales & Country Leadership, Fujitsu, said:
“The passenger journey is becoming increasingly digital year-on-year, with expectations around real-time information, connectivity, personalisation and simplified ticketing putting Transport Operators under mounting pressure to modernise. Customers are used to a vast array of choice at their fingertips, that means delivering services as fast, efficiently and conveniently as they are used to.
“With the UK rail network forming a crucial element of our nation's economic infrastructure, we are delighted to see Transport for Wales leading the way by both upgrading their station and on-train retailing through deployment of Fujitsu's STAR solutions throughout Wales and England. Helping to deliver a more efficient ticketing system for our customers means we can play our part in helping them transform their passengers experience and ultimately support the Welsh economy grow. now and in the future.”
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