EANS-News: Hoeft & Wessel successful with new compact TVM in the UK

Almex UK provides Merseytravel/Liverpool with stationary ticketing
system

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Government Contracts

Subtitle: Almex UK provides Merseytravel/Liverpool with stationary
ticketing system

Swindon, UK / Hannover, Germany. 15 April 2011. (euro adhoc) - The
Hoeft & Wessel Group has succeeded in winning an order for ticket
vending machines (TVM) from Merseytravel, the Passenger Transport
Executive for the Liverpool City Region. The public transport
operator has opted for the new compact model almex.midi, which will
be installed at the ferry stations, Liverpool airport and other
transport hubs around the region and the machines will feature as
part of Merseyside´s integrated ticketing vision for passengers using
the transport network.

The new slimline machines (only 68 cm wide) have been designed with
the passenger interface in mind, and include a touch screen, support
all modern means of payment including ITSO compliant contactless
smart cards. Braille and LED guidance features add convenience and
comfort for all public transport passengers. The units will be easily
recognised around the city, as they will carry Merseytravel´s unique
livery.

One of the key reasons for the choice of the Almex machines was their
proven robustness, with many machines already successfully operating
in northern Germany and Scandinavia in waterside locations; in
Hamburg, Almex machines are operating both at ferry terminals, but
also on the ferries themselves. The machines will further complement
the investment made in the new state of the art Pier Head terminal.

The almex.midis are equipped to accept the existing national
concessionary smartcards and the new regional ITSO smartcard scheme
planned for the Merseytravel operating area, where Almex on-bus
ticket ITSO compliant electronic ticket machines will also soon be
operating.

The Almex brand has been present in the UK for several decades, and
this contract further confirms its position as a leader in the supply
of ticketing systems for buses and trams and stationary outdoor
ticket vending machines, which it has been supplying across the
continent for more than two decades.

Liverpool is the cultural and business hub for the Merseyside region,
and was recently the European City of Culture. The river Mersey is a
broad expanse where it passes through the Beatles´ city of Liverpool
and flows into the Irish Sea. So broad, in fact, that the ferries
operated by the public transport company Merseytravel cross the river
over a 100 times a day to meet the mobility needs of its passengers.

The "Ferry, cross the Mersey" immortalised by Gerry and The
Pacemakers´ song cost half a penny back in 1957. Today, a single
ticket costs around GBP 1.50 (about EUR 1.80). Soon customers will
not be needing cash if they want to cross the river, as the new
almex.midis will allow payment by chip and pin, and in the near
future, use of the Merseytravel regional smart card scheme. Coin and
banknote users have not been forgotten and traditional users will
enjoy the enhanced braille and LED supplemented interfaces.

In the UK Almex has supplied thousands of driver operated ticketing
systems, almost all of them within ITSO schemes. In Europe, the Almex
division is a leading manufacturer of ticketing and telematics
systems for public transport and check-in solutions for the airline
industry. More recently, Almex has been making mobile GSM-Rail
communications systems available for shunting and construction
operations.

Press kit with photos:
http://www.presseportal.de/pm/12945/hoeft_wessel_ag/

The Company The Hoeft & Wessel Group is the leading IT and
engineering technology Group for ticketing, parking and mobile
solutions in Germany and Great Britain. Established in 1978 by the
two entrepreneurs who gave the company its name and listed on the
stock market since 1998, the enterprise has developed into a group of
companies with sales revenues of nearly EUR 100 million and a
workforce of 500 employees. Its main locations are Hannover, Germany,
and Swindon, UK, to the west of London.

The annual investment volume in the Research & Development division,
which sets the pace in the Group´s technological orientation and
employs more than a third of the total workforce, amounts to
approximately 10 per cent in terms of turnover. According to the EU
Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, Hoeft & Wessel ranks amongst
the top companies in Europe.

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Höft & Wessel AG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Arnd Fritzemeier
Tel.: +49-511-6102-300
E-Mail: PR@hoeft-wessel.com

Branche: Technology
ISIN: DE0006011000
WKN: 601100
Index: TecDAX, Prime All Share, Technology All Share
Börsen: Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
Berlin / free trade
Hamburg / free trade
Stuttgart / free trade
Düsseldorf / free trade
Hannover / free trade
München / free trade