Work on Project Coral, a shared technology solution for contactless capped pay-as-you-go travel in England across operators and modes including bus, took a step forward in May with appointment of Littlepay to provide the shared broker platform for payments.
With support from Euclid, that will see accurate calculation of fares and – critically for operators – appropriate allocation and reconciliation of revenue. Such a process is perhaps the most important part of Project Coral for participating service providers, with ensuring fair apportionment having been cited as challenging in some earlier multi-operator capped contactless schemes.
Project Coral is outlined in Better Connected: A Strategy for Integrated Transport. It will allow anyone with a bankcard to the Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) standard to use it to pay for travel across participating operators, with fares automatically capped via rules set by transport authorities. 99.8% of UK and European cards meet EMV standards.
The West Midlands Combine Authority (WMCA) leads Project Coral, and the region will see the opening rollout in bus and tram from 2027. The Department for Transport (DfT) expects Coral to be able to be integrated across bus, tram and heavy rail services by 2030.
Broker key to apportionment for Project Coral
According to WMCA papers from July 2025, the broker acts as a central system between operators’ existing payment platforms. It tracks when a passenger uses participating services with the same contactless card, then calculates and applies the appropriate capped fare, which is communicated back for payment to be settled.
“Crucially, the broker only intervenes in multi-operator cases within a defined transport zone, leaving single-operator journeys and their payment systems untouched,” the WMCA papers continue.
The broker-led approach reduces cost and complexity, and avoids forcing operators to adopt a single back-office system or replace existing on-board technology. That makes “the solution both commercially viable and scalable.”
The broker has been developed via collaboration between WMCA, Midlands Connect, and the five largest national bus operators through the Project Coral partnership. It is “technically feasible, commercially attractive, and scalable nationwide,” says the combined authority.
“Coral is designed to be the national contactless solution for integrated ticketing, and we expect franchising authorities to plan for integration,” Better Connected adds. Meanwhile, DfT is developing technologies “to give local areas in every part of England a menu of choices for implementing integrating ticketing.”
Frameworks are at the core of contactless capped system
Littlepay notes how multi-operator revenue apportionment under Project Coral will follow the same principles set by non-EMV based schemes, which agree to a sharing model that participants believe is fair.
At a high level, the broker will aggregate validated journey data across participating providers. It will then apply an agreed apportionment framework that reflects travel patterns over the relevant capping period. “Depending on scheme design, this can include factors such as journey legs, boarding events, travel frequency, and fare structure,” Littlepay explains.
Under Coral, each operator will settle transactions with their own payment services provider, as advised by the broker based on transactions shared with it. Those will be used to determine if any multi-region caps have been reached, “and therefore should result in an adjustment to the amount the operator would otherwise have charged the passenger,” the supplier notes.
It will retain full visibility of monies settled across operators, and advise on required apportionment between participants to reflect the agreed commercial contract.
The basis for calculations is a variety of factors “which will vary per region, but can include validated journey data, agreed business rules and government frameworks defined collaboratively by participating operators and the transport authority,” Littlepay adds.
Consistent processing and reconciliation of journey data is key to the underlying technical framework. Commercial and operational rules will be agreed by operators and authorities.
“This ensures that the approach reflects local policy objectives, fare models, commercial agreements and network structures,” the supplier explains. Such rules are configured in the broker’s reconciliation reporting solution. It is provided by Euclid and is already in use with authorities including Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), Transport for Wales, and Transport Scotland.
Governance approach imperative for Project Coral
A consistent core framework for revenue apportionment will underpin the broker. The model for allocation of monies will be configurable to suit the needs of a specific region or scheme. Littlepay notes how flexibility is important to reflect differing fare structures, operator mixes, and policy priorities.
Key is how the broker will support multiple types of capping products, from daily upwards. Such business rules are customisable; when journeys fall within a capped multi-operator product, revenue apportionment “is then applied based on the agreed scheme rules and validated journey data for the relevant capping period.”
On financial data for each scheme, participating operators are expected to receive access to reporting and settlement outputs “appropriate to the scheme governing model, supporting reconciliation, transparency and trust,” Littlepay says.
Should an operator believe that it is not receiving a fair share of revenue, governance processes are likely to include allowing such parties and authorities to review allocations and, if necessary, raise queries or challenge outcomes.
“It is the intention of the project to ensure that the scheme remains fair, robust and aligned with the agreed commercial framework,” the supplier adds. “Support from operators will be crucial to the success of any regional multi-operator scheme.”
On an overarching basis, it outlines how revenue apportionment in a multi-operator capped environment aims to ensure that participating providers are allocated monies “fairly and transparently based on how passengers actually travel.”
In recognition that operators will need to see that they receive the appropriate apportionment, the supplier acknowledges how “transparency and auditability are fundamental to the operation of multi-operator schemes.”
