SNCF and Gemalto enable ticketing on contactless mobile phones

SNCF, a provider of efficient and innovative solutions for travelers, and Gemalto, a world leader in digital security, introduced a new service which allows travelers to purchase and recharge their transport tickets through a contactless mobile phone with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. This new service is the result of a project run jointly by the SNCF Proximités Innovation and Technologies Pole, the SNCF subsidiary RITMx, an expert in ticketing distribution solutions, and Gemalto.
Due to the widespread integration of NFC technology into consumer mobile phones, the travelers will be able to purchase or top up transport tickets, at any time, from the online SNCF portal. There will be an additional service for the ones who buy pre-paid tickets to check how many tickets they have remaining. This innovation gives travelers more freedom and flexibility adding online purchases to the existing ticket offices and ticket machines.
The travelers need to present their phone to the ticket inspector, who checks the ticket validity. The right to use the public transport network is stored in the SIM card of the NFC mobile phone;
travelers simply swipe their handset over a reader to open the gates.
The project is based on Gemalto’s Trusted Services Management (TSM) dedicated offering of solutions and services. They enable the secure and convenient deployment of day-to-day applications such as transport and payment via a contactless mobile phone. Gemalto’s solution offers secure services for downloading and customizing the Calypso application, which provides a host of functionalities in the phone’s SIM card, such as incorporating transport ticketing. Gemalto also provides the user interface that allows travelers to view and download tickets onto their phones from the RITMx server.
Besides ticket purchase and top-up, SNCF is considering offering a range of transport-related services on NFC-enabled phones, including balance checking, real-time access to travel news and the use of tags (intelligent labels), etc. Phones may eventually become a channel for topping up contactless tickets.
Jean-Pierre Farandou, Managing Director, SNCF Proximités commented: “Developing new generation services that are simple and offer added value will help make daily journeys easier. Our ambition is to support transport authorities in this proactive approach to continually improve public transports.”
Rémi De Fouchier, Senior Vice President Trusted Services Management at Gemalto said: “Gemalto is proud to be working with SNCF to offer travelers a modern and convenient way of accessing trains using their mobile phone. Gemalto has already carried out over 25 NFC mobile services pilot programs across the world and we are poised for a large-scale roll-out of this new service for travelers, in partnership with SNCF.”