Transport for London (TfL) is the government body responsible for the majority of London’s transport system. From the London Underground, buses, taxis, and road routes, to trams, river services and the majority of the rail networks.
Ballard Chalmers partnership with TfL has been ongoing since 2011. From a BizTalk Server PoC and working on the contactless payment system to regular .NET developer resourcing, we are a long-term trusted partner of TfL.
Ballard Chalmers Partnership with Transport for London
Last year saw us celebrate our 10th anniversary of working with Transport for London. Over the years the type of development work or engagement has varied. But it is always a pleasure to work with the TfL team and aid in everything they do to make it easier for Londoners, commuters and tourists alike to enjoy the city. We hope to see our partnership spanning many more years.
.NET Development Team Augmentation
With the search for talented IT staff more competitive than ever and an IT skills marketplace facing its highest demand, getting in the right talent can be tricky.
Our developers over the years have augmented TfL’s in-house team to remedy tight deadlines, aid in sudden high demand or provide an expert to fill a knowledge gap. In fact, some of our developers have become key members of the team, some working with TfL over many years and some actually joining the in-house team when desired.
Development of the Oyster Card System and Contactless Payments
Ballard Chalmers resources helped TfL build the Revenue Apportionment Engine, which made partnerships between different train operating companies work, as well as giving travellers a seamless payment system integrated across the different operators.
We then went on to build a fully bespoke .NET/SQL Server product that dealt with a wholesale update of the way the Oyster card is used and the way payments are taken and distributed. The most obvious of these, from the customers’ point of view, is in the way that contactless payments are accepted at entry and exits gates, allowing them to pay with a swipe of their own debit or credit card.
You can read the full case study here: Transport for London NET and SQL Case Study
BizTalk Server Proof of Concept
As well as .NET and SQL Server, we have also worked with TfL on a Proof of Concept using BizTalk Server. This project was undertaken by Ballard Chalmers in-house and successfully demonstrated that real-time live feeds into the TfL website were possible and that it was a stable system.
You can read the full case study here: Transport for London BizTalk Case Study
Ballard Chalmers Services and Capabilities
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