EANS-News: German premiere: E-ticketing without borders
Hanover/Germany, 03/12/2010. (euro adhoc) -
Hoeft & Wessel produces first interoperable solution conforming to VDV-KA
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Subtitle: Hoeft & Wessel produces first interoperable solution conforming to VDV-KA
With the e-ticket that is valid on two separate transport networks, Germany for the first time has a cross-border, trans-regional e-ticketing solution. The Almex division of Hoeft & Wessel Group has just implemented an interoperable solution of this kind for the Schwäbisch-Hall and Ostalbkreis districts in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Passengers can use their e-ticket on scheduled buses belonging to different transport companies both in "their own" and in the neighbouring region. Previously a separate ticket had to be purchased for travel in the neighbouring region.
This is a first for Germany. Despite the existence of the VDV-KA e-ticketing standard, which covers the whole of Germany, only closed solutions catering for individual regions had been realised to date. "Our objective is to make it possible for e-tickets issued by individual transport networks to be used throughout Germany. Once this has become a reality, even more passengers will switch to bus and rail," says a confident Thomas Wolf, member of the Management Board of the Hoeft & Wessel Group.
Thanks to the intelligent solution developed by Almex, the two separate e- ticketing systems in the Schwäbisch-Hall and Ostalbkreis districts were successfully linked up. And this despite the differences in the way the two systems operate: in the Ostalbkreis district, the fare is deducted when a passenger boards a bus, but the Schwäbisch-Hall district runs the check- in/check-out system made by Almex, where the cheapest fare is calculated at the end of the journey (using the "best price" method).
The software specialists from Almex have now upgraded both systems in such a way that they can handle e-tickets from the neighbouring region. The VDV-KA system from Almex provides German regional transport companies with a proven solution from a single source.
The e-ticketing application implemented by Almex in the Schwäbisch-Hall district was a German first, back in the year 2006. Having obtained certification for the dominant e-ticketing standards - VDV-KA in Germany, ITSO in the UK and Calypso in southern Europe - Almex is one of Europe´s leading providers in this market and has already successfully completed a large number of projects in Germany, the UK, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain.
The Almex division of the Hoeft & Wessel Group is one of the largest manufacturers of ticketing systems for public transport in Europe. The division also supplies mobile GSM-R communications solutions for railways.
www.almex.co.uk
Press folder with photos: http://www.presseportal.de/pm/12945/hoeft_wessel_ag/
About the company The Hoeft & Wessel Group is the leading German IT and engineering technology group for ticketing, parking and mobile solutions. Founded in 1978 by the two entrepreneurs of the same name, the company has developed into a corporate group with sales revenues of just under EUR 100 million and a workforce of 500 employees. Its headquarters are Hanover, Germany, and Swindon, UK, to the west of London.
end of announcement euro adhoc
Further inquiry note:
Arnd Fritzemeier
Tel.: +49-511-6102-300
E-Mail: PR@hoeft-wessel.com
Branche: Technology
ISIN: DE0006011000
WKN: 601100
Index: TecDAX, Prime All Share, Technology All Share
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