The Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA SA) and the consortium formed by Terna Energy and LG CNS has signed the contract for the Athens Urban Transport Ticket PPP project.

The consortium will undertake the funding (50% private funds, 50% National Strategic Reference Framework resources), design, installation, operations support, maintenance and technical management of the system for 12 years and will be repaid during operation, through a payment mechanism based on the evaluation the quality of services offered.

The project includes the installation of equipment in 1,750 buses and 250 trolleybuses to monitor the transportation services in real time and to provide commuters with travel information through 1,000 "smart" stops all over Athens. There will also be interactive public information system for all lines of travel over the internet.

The contract has a total tenor of 12 years and construction and installation will be concluded within 18 months. The contractor will be repaid during the operation of the project on the basis of a detailed payment mechanism that will constantly check the proper operation of the project.

The total contract value is approximately €27 million with an additional €5.5 million EU funding. The project introduced a framework for blending EU funds with private funds in availability-based PPP projects in Greece, while at the same time it is the first ICT PPP project to have been procured in Greece.

National Bank of Greece is financing the project with funds from the JESSICA initiative, as well as its own funds.

The telematics system PPP is the third PPP contract signed within the first half of 2014, adding up to a total of €130 million in investments.