Future Rail in Singapore Will Leverage IoT for Fares

Cubic Corporation has announced that a consortium of its subsidiaries in Australia and Singapore have signed a contract with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore to design and deliver automated fare collection equipment for the authority’s future railway, the Thomson-East Coast Line. The contract for $35.5 million ($48.5 million Singapore) includes the design, development, test and integration with LTA’s current fare collection system.

Under the agreement, Cubic will deliver a full suite of devices for deployment in stations and operations depots. The contract marks Cubic’s renewal of customer relations with LTA that began with the region’s original fare collection system in the 1980s, followed by the 1999 win to supply Cubic’s General Ticketing Machines. The system was the first of its kind to issue and recycle contactless smart cards for single trips as well as topping up reloadable smart cards using notes, coins and bankcards.

“We are delighted to have been selected for this contract, which is part of LTA’s goal to increase connectivity for commuters not directly served by the rail network currently,” said Tom Walker, managing director, Asia-Pacific, Cubic Transportation Systems. “Cubic’s experience with payment systems for many of the world’s largest transport systems was a key factor in the process, and we are excited by the opportunity to re-establish our footprint with the LTA, an important and respected customer of many years.”

The LTA’s Thomson-East Coast Line is under construction with the first stage to be launched in 2019 and the last stage to be completed in 2024.

Rail and other mass transportation systems are the natural home for this type of IoT integration, not just for fares, but for scheduling and safety systems as well, and this will likely not be the only such integration in this system.

Little engines can do big things!