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ATOC signs £13 million contract extension

Train operating companies has signed a contract extension for the continued running and maintenance of the service processing one million rail journey transactions a day.

By Miya Knights, 3 Dec 2008 at 11:16

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The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has strengthened its existing relationship with Fujitsu Services by signing a £13 million extension deal.

The contract covers the continued running and maintenance of the IT systems supporting the Rail Journey Information Service (RJIS), which provides critical information to all 22 ATOC members, including Eurostar, c2c Rail and Arriva Trains.

RJIS provides the timetables, fares, route planning, ticketing and transaction services needed to buy rail tickets and complete travel enquiry requests.

Fujitsu said it currently processes one million rail journey transactions per day for the ATOC members, as well as the National Rail Enquiry Service, two online retailers and nearly 500 other retailers of rail tickets.

It also said it helps RJIS plan 80,000 rail journeys and respond to 820,000 enquiry requests each day. In addition the company helps store many millions of fares and the transactional processes needed to manage over 300 million possible fare combination, while supporting around 1,600 ticket vending machines at stations across the UK.

The five-year deal covers the refresh and update of the hardware and applications technology used by RJIS. Fujitsu was responsible for its initial development in the 1990s when it implemented a business applications suite that brought a series of ATOC’s legacy systems onto one single integrated platform.

The contract renewal will also cover the development of an enhanced user interface and Ticket-on-Departure system in response to 25 per cent year-on-year growth in online purchases and greater demand for vending-style machines used for ticket collection following online purchases.

Fujitsu said it would manage the RJIS database to ensure there is capacity to meet the growing demand for ticket vending machine services. And, by improving the database for these machines, Fujitsu expects a greater uptake among RJIS users, making it more cost-effective for smaller stations to operate.

“This renewal reflects the ongoing commitment from both parties to this long-running and successful project," said Steve Howes, managing director of the Rail Settlement Plan (RSP) for ATOC. "Over the period of the contract we have increasingly come to see Fujitsu not just a supplier but as a partner who fundamentally understands the business objectives of both RSP and its stakeholders.”