13 January 2015Saudi Arabia
  • The multinational is to implement its contactless ticketing systems, and its access control and cell phone payment solutions in the new public transportation system currently under construction in the capital of Saudi Arabia
  • The project includes the most advanced technology for pricing control, a control center, systems for 1,000 buses, and access control and ticketing equipment for six subway lines and bus stops
  • Indra strengthens its position in the Middle East and reaches a new milestone in Saudi Arabia's infrastructure market, where Indra is the technological partner of the high-speed railroad project between Medina and Mecca

Indra has signed a €266 M contract to implement the entire ticketing and access control technology in the new public transportation system currently under construction in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA), the company responsible for modernizing Riyadh's infrastructures, has chosen Indra's bid as a winning bid after an international public tender involving 10 leading multinational companies. This is the biggest ticketing project in the world up-to-date, to be completed in 54 months, and it includes maintenance and technological assistance for 10 years.

The Governor of Riyadh, Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Chairman of the High Comission for the Development of Arriyadh and Chairman of the High Ministerial Committee for the Riyadh Public Transport Project and Indra's Executive Vice President, Eduardo Bonet signed the contract last Monday January 05th  in Riyadh.

This project strengthens Indra's position in the Middle East, where major infrastructure plans are in the pipeline for the next few years. Additionally, it represents an important milestone in the Transport and Traffic market of Saudi Arabia, where the multinational is the technological partner of the high-speed railroad project between Medina and Mecca.

In Riyadh, Indra will develop the entire advanced pricing management system for the city's public transportation network. This includes a ticketing control center with information from the various systems, financial management software, the operator clearing house, and other value-added systems for commercial management.

Contactless single card for all means of transportation

Indra will provide onboard ticket sale and validation systems for the entire public bus network, which will include around 800 to 1,000 vehicles; and the sale and access control systems for more than 80 stations in six subway lines (this network will total 175 kilometers and serve about six million users).

Thanks to contactless technology, users will be able to access the entire public transportation system using only one card, which they can validate quickly and easily by placing it near the reader. This solution will also include one-way tickets with a bar code (similar to the tickets for the high-speed service in Spain) and a cell phone payment application that uses NFC (Near Field Communication).

This subway and bus project in Riyadh is a new addition to Indra's many ticketing accomplishments. The multinational is now a world leader in this sector. Indra's technology has been chosen for the subways in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Santiago de Chile, Medellín, Lisbon, Mumbai, Calcutta and Shanghai, the light rail in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), the suburban railroad in Mexico City, the light rail in Austin (Texas) and the light rail in St. Louis (USA).

State-of-the-art technology for large infrastructures

This project in Riyadh not only strengthens Indra's position in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, but also consolidates the company's status as a technological partner in major infrastructure projects across the world, such as the Panama Canal or the high-speed railway between Mecca and Medina (Saudi Arabia). In the case of the Mecca-Medina railway, the multinational is responsible for the management, telecom, security, ticketing and ICT systems, totaling €440 M.

Thanks to its commitment to innovation, Indra has developed its own latest generation solutions for smart transport infrastructures. These can already be found in countries such as the USA, Mexico, Colombia, China, India and Malaysia, among many others.

These smart technologies help to increase the infrastructures' environmental and financial efficiency and sustainability; they also improve service, quality and increase security levels.

Indra, chaired by Javier Monzón, is one of the world's largest consultancy and technology multinationals, a leader in Europe and Latin America and is expanding in other emerging economies. Innovation is the cornerstone of its business, which is highly focussed on the customer and on sustainability. The multinational is one of the leaders in its sector in Europe in terms of investment in R&D and innovation, having invested more than €570M in the last three years. With sales approaching €3,000 million, it employs 43,000 professional and has customers in 138 countries.

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