This contract comes as part of a major civil upgrade project to the Circumvesuviana network. Following the successful completion of two similar projects in the Naples region, Thales has been chosen to ensure the full control of passenger flow in the Circumvesuviana stations and throughout the railway itself. The Thales system will also create a steady flow of revenue for Circumvesuviana s.r.l through the issuing of tickets. Additionally, users of the Circumvesuviana railway and bus network will experience greatly increased levels of security throughout the duration of their travel.

The metro project has a two year completion deadline, while the secure ticketing solution for the bus network has 400 days in which to be implemented. There is also an option in the contract for Thales to supply the secure access control and ticketing system to an additional 14 stations.

The access control and ticketing system utilises Thales’ expertise in developing contactless card systems. Controlled by a central system Head Office in Naples, the rail solution will comprise 215 gates, 110 semi-automatic ticket issuing machines (TIMs) for both magnetic and contactless tickets, 30 station computers, 189 magnetic ticket handling units and 189 contactless card and contactless ticket handling units. The solution will be fully compatible for disabled users and Thales will provide full staff training and maintenance support for 24 months following completion of the project.

The secure ticketing system for the bus network will include 270 control units on 200 buses and five portable ticket verification units.

Dott. F.Origo, CEO of Circumvesuviana s.r.l., said: “Secure access control & fare collection are a primary concern for us and we place great importance in ensuring the safe running of our public transport systems. This project is part of a major upgrade to civil transport systems in the region and we know that with the introduction of Thales’ access control and ticketing system we are ensuring the highest levels of day to day security for commuters.”

Ian Woodroofe, commercial and marketing director at Thales, commented: “The Circumvesuviana project is the latest in an array of impressive security and modernisation upgrades to Italian public transport systems that Thales has been involved in recently. It is clear that the importance of improved and secure public transport is now higher on the agenda of transport authorities and that Thales is recognised as the leading provider of expert solutions.”