Siemens to Buy Rail Software Company Sqills for $650 Million
Summary
The deal highlights an amplified interest in intercity rail worldwide as the impacts of climate change become more apparent and a new wave of technologies become available. For years, Siemens’ HaCon unit and Sqills have competed against other vendors, such as Amadeus, IBM, and SilverRail, to offer operational tools to railway companies. Operators use Sqills’ inventory system and then connect with companies like Trainline, SilverRail, and Amadeus to distribute their tickets to agencies. The German tech giant plans to integrate Sqills’ S3 Passenger platform with its other offerings, including Hacon, eos.uptrade, Bytemark, and Padam Mobility. Some customization is typical, however, to link disparate systems from different vendors, such as a ticket vending machine with the railway’s accounting software.
