COMPANY NEWS
Oyster on National Rail project wins top award at
International Transport Forum
Cubic Transportation Systems (Cubic), Transport for London (TfL) and the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) won the prestigious Transport Achievement Award at the 2012 International Transport Forum ceremony in Leipzig, Germany, to the delight of Cubic’s managing director, Europe, Roger Crow.
warded to a project, initiative or service offering that demonstrates progress towards the vision of seamless transport, the partnership was applauded for its outstanding work in introducing Oyster to the National Rail network in London. Up against a shortlist of successful projects by authorities and companies including DBS S-tog, Denmark, East Japan Railway Company, Land Transport Authority Singapore, Stagecoach UK, Toyama City, Japan and VicRoads, Australia, it is a huge achievement to be crowned winners.
A
Roger Crow, managing director, Europe, for Cubic, said: “We are delighted to have been recognised with this prestigious award, alongside our colleagues at TfL and ATOC. This major project success showcases what can be achieved by a truly collaborative partnership and we are very proud of the difference that we and our partners make to the daily travel experience of so many.”
The project saw Cubic work closely with TfL, ATOC and the train companies to upgrade National Rail services in Greater London so that stations not on the Underground could form part of the seamless Oyster network, and passengers could reap the rewards of using a fully integrated, flexible smartcard. As a result of the project, passengers are now able to use their Oyster card on multiple modes of transport in the capital – including National Rail services, the Underground, the Overground, the DLR and buses. Since the project’s completion in January 2010, 350 National Rail stations in London have been able to accept Oyster pay as you go, and usage on services operating in the area has increased from half a million to over 2.5 million journeys per week.
Despite the availability of Oyster on London’s entire transport network being made in January 2010, the idea was conceived well before the initial launch of Oyster in 2003/4.
8 | rail technology magazine Jun/Jul 12
TfL had aspired to make Oyster available on overground trains since the concept of Oyster was born, but various attempts had foundered due to complications arising from the privatised rail industry – not least the existence of nine private Train Operating Companies (TOCs) in London with differing views, and a governance and fares structure separate to TfL’s.
However, the inability to use Oyster everywhere was becoming a source of significant confusion and frustration to Londoners, who recognised its benefits and to whom organisational divides meant little. The scale of the business and technical challenge that had to be overcome during three years of intensive work involved the negotiation of a complex and innovative web of agreements involving TfL, ATOC, Cubic, nine TOCs and the UK Government.
this integrated system – which has worked with outstanding accuracy – the particular skills and abilities of each organisation are utilised to the maximum, and the system now processes revenue of around £1m a day.
TfL now has a dedicated Oyster Control Centre that monitors reader availability and network status in real time, adjusting gateline settings to minimise the effect of disruptions on most Oyster customers, and generating automated refunds for others. This service is common for all operators, and is connected to each of their service control rooms. It takes actions that are in the interest of the customer, not an individual operator, and is able to take a network view of the best solutions.
Another benefit for passengers is that in response to the greater range of routes customers would now be able to take using Oyster, software was developed by Cubic for special ‘routing’ card validators which allow travellers – especially those avoiding the busy central area – to indicate the route they are taking and obtain a cheaper fare.
Above: TfL commissioner Peter Hendy picks up the ITF Transport Achievement 2012 on behalf of TfL, ATOC and Cubic.
Cubic’s key role in the project was to ensure confidence in the ticketing system and to avoid the risk of overcharging passengers. As performance of the ticketing system was a priority, a complex IT system was developed to ensure accurate allocation of revenue was co-ordinated across TfL, Cubic and ATOC. Today, TfL runs the system that determines the revenue allocation between TfL and the TOCs for each possible journey, and this information is used by Cubic’s systems to determine overall allocation amounts for a day given the journeys made. The Cubic system then interfaces with the ATOC system, which determines the allocation to each individual TOC. Through
The project has had numerous benefits for passengers and transport operators alike: independent research shows that the rise in passenger numbers includes an increase of 5% in journeys being made on the TOCs attributable solely to this joint project between Cubic, TfL and ATOC. It also demonstrates the willingness of people to use public transport if it is made as seamless and available as possible.
Shashi Verma, TfL’s director of customer experience, concludes: “Extending Oyster coverage to all 350 National Rail stations in Greater London has been a massive improvement for passengers. The Mayor was determined to make that happen and recognition of the achievement is hugely encouraging. We will continue to explore even more ways to improve customer experience.”
© TfL
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92