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Budapest awards state-of-the-art automated fare collection system contract to Scheidt & Bachmann

Posted: 10 October 2014 | Scheidt & Bachmann

BKK has confirmed the award of the design, build and five-year operation of an automated fare collection system for public transport in the Hungarian capital to Scheidt & Bachmann…

BKK has confirmed the award of the design, build and five-year operation of an automated fare collection system for public transport in the Hungarian capital to Scheidt & Bachmann. Following a competitive tender the Contract Agreement was signed by Mr Dávid Vitézy, CEO of BKK Centre for Budapest Transport and Mr Matthias Augustyniak, the Managing Director representing Scheidt & Bachmann GmbH from Germany, after introductory remarks by the Mayor of Budapest Mr István Tarlós. Financing of the project is secured by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the amount of EUR 54.5 million while Municipality of Budapest provides BKK HUF 5.3 billion. The tendering process of the project proceeded according to Procurement Policies and Rules of EBRD.

As one of the leading companies in automated fare collection systems worldwide, Scheidt & Bachmann will design, build and operate the system for a total contract value of EUR 91 million. The project will transform public transport in Budapest by providing a high level of sales service and state of the art tariff scheme to city-dwellers, commuters from the metropolitan area and tourists. Budapest’s fare collection scheme will be world class and on a par with those in cities such as London, Chicago and Hong Kong.

Scheidt & Bachmann

Following a competitive tender the Contract Agreement was signed by Mr Dávid Vitézy, CEO of BKK Centre for Budapest Transport and Mr Matthias Augustyniak, the Managing Director representing Scheidt & Bachmann GmbH from Germany

As part of the programme of Mayor István Tarlós, the General Assembly of the Municipality of Budapest assigned BKK Centre for Budapest Transport to prepare the project. Partners of BKK in the project implementation will be Scheidt & Bachmann and its subcontractor Octopus Transactions Ltd. from Hong Kong. Scheidt & Bachmann will be responsible for building the revenue system, the creation of the required innovative server-centric central system and IT architecture that will accept contactless bank cards as well, the installation of nearly 800 automatic access gates at metro and suburban railway stations in addition to the installation of 10.000 validators on 2.500 vehicles. Moreover, the ticketing specialist will issue more than 1.5 million personalized and anonymous contactless travel media as well as nearly 9 million smart papers.

Scheidt & Bachmann is not an unknown actor in the public transport of Budapest: the Mönchengladbach-based company founded in 1872 supplied – as a subcontractor – the new ticket vending machines of which more than 200 are already operating successfully in the capital and in surrounding towns.

As a result of the introduction of an automated fare collection system, public transport service levels will increase significantly. The tariff scheme will be enhanced by the introduction of time-based tickets, while sales services offered by the new ticket vending machines and customer service centres will be supported by online and mobile phone based purchasing options. In addition to that, revenue protection will also be reformed. As a result of these changes paper-based passes and tickets will soon disappear from Budapest.