HaCon expands its activities in Scandinavia

Nov. 11, 2010 - PRLog -- Hannover (2010-11-11). Samtrafiken links all trips by train, bus, subway, tram, ferry and plane of about 50 different carriers in a compact transport network for the whole of Sweden. In addition, the company, which is jointly owned by more than 30 public transport operators, supplies passengers with information on all these connections. Samtrafiken now converts the necessary information systems to HAFAS, the timetable information system developed by HaCon. This will be done successively for the different regions of Sweden. The new HAFAS-based travel planner for the whole of Sweden (ResRobot) will also allow for future trips planned from door to door across different means of transport.

To this end, in the coming weeks the Swedes get a package that includes many of the latest technological developments around HAFAS: Internet timetable information, including reachability searches and personal timetable in Print2Web process. Even tools for the production of printed timetables and the latest HAFAS Mobile versions for mobile phones and Smartphones of different manufacturers belong to the intended scope of delivery. This includes applications for mobile devices with convenient features, such as large touch screens, fast Internet connection and GPS location. The mobile operating system Android™ and the iPhone provide for all that.

Since October, for the iPhone and for Android, passengers can already download HAFAS Mobile for free in the App Store and at the Android Market. Passengers have the opportunity to have nearby stops displayed on their mobile phones. HAFAS for the Internet will go live in the next few months. ResRobot will not only include new functions but will also appear in a new design. HaCon Managing Director Michael Frankenberg: "We want to deliver an innovative product package to Samtrafiken with the latest HAFAS technologies for the Internet and for mobile phones, so that passengers can make optimum use of timetable information."

The goal of Samtrafiken is to make it easy for passengers in Sweden to opt for public transport. "Satisfying passenger information is crucial for an attractive offer in the public transport sector," says Stefan Thulin, Technical Director at Samtrafiken. “Through convenient and comprehensive planning tools Samtrafiken wishes to increase usage of the transport services provided by the owners of Samtrafiken”, explains Thulin further.

With Samtrafiken as a customer, HaCon further expands its activities in Scandinavia: The HAFAS customers there include the transport network SL (Stockholm Public Transport). SL is responsible for public transport in the Stockholm area and deploys HAFAS in his travel planner. Also the second largest public transport network in Sweden, Västtrafik, who operates in and around Göteborg, has opted for HAFAS in 2010. Norsk Reiseinformasjon (NRI) in Norway and Rejseplanen in Denmark rely on HAFAS, too.

Samtrafiken is jointly owned by 34 carriers, including all local public transport companies as well as Arlanda Express, People Travel Group (Merresor and Flygbussarna), SJ, Svenska Tågkompaniet and Veolia Transport, BT Buss, Swebus Express, Destination Gotland and Waxholmsbolaget. The parties deliver their timetable data to Samtrafiken. These are stored in a national database.

Please contact for further information: HaCon Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Lister Straße 15 | 30163 Hannover | Germany | Phone: +49 (0) 511 3369 9-0, www.hacon.de

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About HaCon
Since 1984 HaCon has focused its activities on traffic and logistic solutions.The company is one of the leading players in the field of planning, scheduling and information systems.