The BELL (Bigliettazione ELectronica Lombardia) project represents the evolution of the previous SBME system (already active in the urban area of Milan and for regional rail transport), with the goal of creating an interoperable and technologically advanced ticketing platform for the entire Lombardy Region. The solution is based on Atlas®, a Conduent technology developed based on over 40 years of experience and hundreds of installations worldwide, as highlighted in the document: "Atlas® is born from over 40 years of experience in electronic ticketing..."
The BELL project is based on a multi-level architecture that integrates the Regional Service Center (RSC) with the Company Control Centers (CCA) and, where applicable, the Basin Centers (CCB). This structure ensures interoperability between urban and suburban railway operators, unified ticket management, and regional clearing, with the possibility of extending management to multiple basins through the CCAs.
SBME equipment already installed at operators such as ATM, Trenord, Autoguidovie, Movibus, Air Pullman, NET, PMT, and STAV will be updated only in terms of the electronics, preserving previous investments. The document highlights that "Current SBME equipment will be updated... safeguarding a significant portion of the investment," allowing for a gradual migration to Atlas® without major replacements.
Atlas®, now under Conduent, manages all ticketing technologies used in Lombardy's public transport system: Calypso, Mifare, Desfire, CD21, chip-on-paper, and magnetic strips, as well as NFC and EMV (PayPass) support. This compatibility allows operators (ATMs, Trenord, Brescia Mobilità, Autoguidovie, etc.) to use a single system for validation, sales, and control, ensuring operational continuity and technological scalability.
The BELL model allows for the easy integration of new territorial catchment areas by installing a CCA and connecting the equipment to the CSR. The document emphasizes that "To integrate the catchment area's public transport, simply install the CCA and connect all the devices to the CSR." Brescia, with its complete Atlas® system, can operate as an advanced node and potential "Eastern Hub" of the regional system, managing operators and subnetworks even outside its own territory.
Between 2016 and 2019, several public procurement procedures were launched for the acquisition and implementation of electronic ticketing systems, integrated at the regional level, to support urban public transport by road and lakes in the Lombardy Region. The tenders were partially funded by the Lombardy Region.
The Lombardy Region chose to allow the various basins operating within the region to proceed through independent procurement tenders, but with one essential constraint: the systems adopted had to guarantee full interoperability and be connected to the central system already in operation at ATM and Trenord. This architecture also had to be connected to a regionally owned back office, dedicated exclusively to monitoring and data collection activities.
This approach, while preserving the operational autonomy of the individual basins, entailed a potential risk of significant technological fragmentation, resulting in critical issues in integration activities and further complexities related to the delimitation of the scopes of responsibility among the various suppliers involved. In this scenario, Bprime played a strategic role, initially acting as a system architect in defining the overall solution framework and the related technical-functional model.
This activity led to the design of a complete system based on the Conduent solution, conceived as a reference model applicable, with marginal variations, to the individual basins.
Subsequently, Bprime contributed to the definition of the various offers, also taking care of the formal and documentary aspects necessary to ensure full compliance with the requirements contained in the respective tender specifications.
Another qualifying element of this approach was the ability to distribute fixed development costs across the various projects, avoiding project duplication among individual territorial areas and generating significant economies of scale.
This strategy allowed Conduent to formulate more economically aggressive bids than its competitors, while maintaining a consistent and replicable technical framework.
This competitive positioning contributed significantly to the awarding of nine out of the ten total available contracts.