Hit Rail provides Electronic Ticket Control Database to UIC

Rail IT specialist Hit Rail has received a contract from the International Union of Railways (UIC) to provide its Electronic Ticket Control Database (ETCD).

This new service will further enable rail companies to provide and control rail passenger tickets, as well as increased security and fraud prevention.

The contract is valid for five years.

UIC can now provide a centralised, real-time passenger ticket control system that can be used by different railway companies. The system aims to enable the online transfer of ticket control information between passenger carriers and ticket issuers.

The ETCD service is operational since February and provided as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) mode by Hit Rail.

The architecture aiding the ETCD service uses Cloud technologies and can accommodate a high volume of downloads and tickets.

Hit Rail technical director and ETCD project manager Enrique Ruiz said: “The ETCD is a major technological leap forward into using leading Cloud services such as serverless applications and Cloud databases to deliver a robust and secure service potentially involving millions of railway tickets.”

UIC passenger director Marc Guigon said: “ETCD is a new UIC IT solution, which is a major application in UIC’s rail distribution ecosystem.

“Indeed, in combination with MERITS (Timetables), PRIFIS (Prices) and Hermes (Reservations), ETCD (Control) will complete the UIC IT distribution framework to offer to all European Railways members a cost-efficient, robust and standard solution for international rail ticket business.”

In January, Dutch railway infrastructure operator ProRail awarded a ten-year contract to Hit Rail to host and operate its Common Interface (CI).