Subway toll facilities to be upgraded with EUR 42 mln

Metrorex aims to sign a RON 186 million (EUR 42 million) contract for works to upgrade the metro’s control access facilities, informs Mediafax.

The contract consists in upgrading the 1^st Line (Pantelimon – Dristor), the 2^nd Line (Berceni – Pipera) and 3^rd Line (Dristor 1 – Preciziei), namely a total of 41 metro stations.

The project envisages dismantling the subway toll facilities which are currently equipping the stations and the provision of modern automatic tolling facilities. The technological solution proposed is the contactless card, which will operate temporarily simultaneously with the current magnetic card.

The automatic subway tolling system was put into operation in 1995, when the access to the metro was made through the direct payment of the travel with coins and when the magnetic cards were introduced.

“Metrorex automatic tolling system based on magnetic cards, although still functional, is at the limit of the effective period of use due to physical and moral depreciation, as well as due to the depletion of the development capacities. Equally, trade management software applications are running on ATM-like networks which require high cost maintenance for equipment taken out of production. The trip transactions, collected in the system, are processed in most cases by Pentium II (1997) computers for which the maintenance and procurement of parts are also at least deficient, if not impossible to execute in certain situations,” read the specifications for the procedure.

The acquisition will be financed with European funds and money from the state budget, the deadline for finalizing the agreement being in 260 days from the date of the award.

Bids can be submitted until June 23, the deal following to be awarded by open tender for the lowest price.