ICL
EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD OF RAILWAY TRANSPORT
Large companies for European transport have become, for more than 10 years, dependent of the data technology services. ICL is one of the names which invades IT market through its informational integrated systems that are successfully implemented.
General Overview of ICL Company
International Computers Limited (ICL) represents a unit for
the integration of the systems within FUJITSU group and has its headquarters in London.
Its over 22,000 employees develop a complex activity in over 40 countries.
Till present time ICL has implemented IT systems and has offered IT services to some of
the most important European transport companies, as we can mention: London Transport,
Eurostar, MAV (Hungary), SNCF (France), Train Operating Companies (England). These
implementations consisted in: delivery of hardware and software products, their
configuration and integration in the complex systems, adapting of certain IT applications
already famous on world plan to the local requirements and their implementation, training
of the future instructors and users of the applications and provision of guaranteed
services and support for the delivered systems.
The first implementations in the field of transports have been performed more than ten
years ago. An example in this respect is Eurostar, company for which ICL has developed the
ticketing system. Today they can buy tickets by means of Internet and they can obtain in
due time any information about the services provided by the company.
As a consequence of the experience accumulated during this period of time ICL has been
assigned as prime contractor in order to deliver the IT System for the Railways IRIS and
to provide the necessary support for the Romanian Railways in the restructuring process
that is experienced presently.
We will present to you further on a few of the projects in the railway field in which ICL
is involved presently.
Modern Railway Solutions Implemented by ICL
Hungary
ICL has implemented successfully this year within Hungarian Railways (MAV) a
modern financial - accounting system that offers in due time financial information
necessary for the management stuff of the company, as well as to the other departments of
the company. Based on an Oracle Financials issue, the system is utilized in the same time
by more than 900 users. There is intended that up to the end of the year 2002 the system
to operate with more than 500 users.
Great Britain
In order to modernize its services RSP (Planning Services of the Railway
Activity), the Government of the Great Britain has
assigned ICL company to develop a system that has to integrate the services provided at
that moment to the railway operators (25 companies that exist presently in Great Britain),
to the owners of the free of charge travelling tickets, travelling agencies and the
initiators of this plan. The advantages of such a system was first of all the reduction of
the costs, but also the rapid processing and collecting of money that are distributed to
the travelling agencies in a record time.
ICL Travel and e-Business services UK (the division of ICL of services dedicated for the
industry of transports) have developed a method to access the information within the
stations for the Association of the Train Operation Companies (ATOC). This one involves 25
operational companies, among which Virgin, Connex and Great Western, which have promoted
and agreed the train operation strategy. The investment is around 8 million pounds, on a
five years period of time. The Internet site will allow to the passengers the direct
access (Internet on-line) to the information referring to the trains' timetable and to the
services provided during the travels. The main advantage obtained by ATOC is the reduction
of the phone calls costs in order to obtain information. ICL has achieved the design of
this solution, its architecture, has developed its applications, has integrated them, has
achieved the installation of hardware and communication equipment, has opened the access
on the Internet and has provided the management of all these activities. The solution has
been operating since 2000 and the site has become one of the most often utilized in Great
Britain.
Norway
Norwegian Railways have employed ICL in order to get a solution to monitor the
trains operations between Norway and Sweden. This was materialized in a solution based on
an internal network using communications through satellite.
Portugal
ICL solutions have been modernized constantly, thus starting with year 2000 the
company has implemented for the Portuguese Railways a ticket selling system on the trains.
The above-mentioned railway company, which transports around 178 million passengers every
year, on a surface of more than 3,100 km, has reached to the conclusion that tickets
selling only in the railway stations is no longer an efficient activity. That's why they
proposed to implement a tickets selling system on the trains, based on a mobile system
that include over 700 portable terminals and TeamPad 7200 printers. Fujitsu Company is the
producer of this equipment, and ICL has developed the software solution. This initiative
has reduced the costs of tickets selling coordination, it has eliminated the printed forms
and, mainly, it has reduced the number of the passengers that travel without a ticket.
ICL in Romania
After its presence in Romania at the beginning of the '60s, ICL reopened a
representative office in Romania on April 1992. In the nine years of activity on the
Romanian market, ICL has known a very fast development, in point of the variety of the
products and services provided, as well as in point of the clients and of the employees of
the representative office. As a result of the constant efforts, in 1998, 1999 and 2000 ICL
Romania has received IDG Prize for "The activity of system integration".
ICL Romania representative office has the headquarters in Bucharest Aleea Alexandru nr.
51, Sector 1 and coordinates the activity on the entire country, as well as the activity
in Moldavia Republic.
ICL Romania provides systems and services for the local and central Administration,
financial organizations, for the transport sector, for the industrial, as well as for en
detail commerce sector.
Among the ICL clients in Romania we can mention:
Romanian Railways CFR SA (IRIS Integrated system for the data technology provision for the
railway the management of Romanian Railways infrastructure, of the rolling stock, of the
freight and passengers transport).
Ministry of Transports (Assistance in the Restructuring of the Romanian Railways);
Romanian Bank for Development Groupe Societe Generale (Banking integrated system, based on
the software package iBank offered by ICL in the field of banking services retail type);
MOL Romania (IT integrated system for the collection and processing of data specific to
the fuels distribution networks);
Transgaz SA (Management IT system - solution based on Oracle Financials);
National Institute of Statistics and Economical Studies (Integrated system for the main
headquarters and for all district subsidiaries in Romania);
SHELL Romania (network with national/international connection);
ARCTIC ("Integrated System" for applications in the following fields:
production, sells, distribution and finance).
Important clients of ICL are also: The Ministry of National Education, The Ministry of
National Defense, The Ministry of Health, BancPost, The Ministry of Labor, ARDAF, The
Ministry of Agriculture, The Parliament of Romania, Nottara Theatre, AVIS, TOFAN Group,
The Government of Romania, RomTelecom.
