


A select group of instructors from the Philippine Railways Institute (PRI), the training arm of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) specifically catering to the railways sector, has recently completed a two-day immersion program with AF Payments Inc. (AFPI) focusing on the rail-based Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) infrastructure set up held at AFPI headquarters in Makati City.
PRI instructors were briefed on the various aspects of AFCS operations from the point of view of AFPI, in the latter’s capacity as concessionaire to the rail AFCS Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project with the DOTr which introduced a contactless AFCS in the light rail network in Metro Manila under a 10-year concession agreement (CA) that commenced in 2015.
The immersion program included an orientation on the entire AFCS infrastructure which includes the use of a contactless fare media, popularly known as the beep™ card, AFCS devices and equipment, central clearinghouse operations and associated services such as card operations, incident resolution and management, settlement and reconciliation and equipment operation and maintenance. Participants to this two-day training program were also provided hands-on exposure to AFPI’s AFCS staging laboratory, a simulation of the AFCS device set up currently installed and deployed in the light rail network.
This immersion program is a consequence of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed between PRI and AFPI, forming strategic partnership aimed at, among others, enhancing the capabilities of PRI in the field of AFCS, particularly in the development of appropriate AFCS training curriculum and knowledge base while promoting the use of existing and emerging AFCS technologies and know-how as part of continued efforts to improving efficiency and productivity in Philippine railway operations and ultimately providing better service to the rail riding public.
AF Payments Inc (AFPI), a consortium formed by the Ayala and Metro Pacific group of companies, is a pioneer and leading provider of wide-ranging AFCS solutions and services in the Philippines available for use in rail and other modes of public transport such as buses, modern jeepneys and inter-island ferry services. Since its establishment in 2014, AFPI has issued close to ten million reloadable stored value cards under its beep™ brand and has processed almost two billion beep™ transactions with a thriving network of partners in ticketing and fare collection, retail acceptance, card loading and other associated services that form part of its offline and online micropayments ecosystem.






