Ticket machine

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Ticket machines of the French state railway SNCF in Strasbourg (2014).

Ticket machines , ticket machines or, in Swiss terms , ticket machines are self-service machines and are used both in public transport , especially on S-Bahn , U-Bahn and light rail vehicles, as well as by railway companies to sell tickets and possibly platform tickets . Modern ticket machines usually allow payment with coins or bank notes and often with GeldKarte , credit card or debit card . In principle, a distinction is made between stationary machines at the bus stops and mobile machines in the vehicles.

History and technology

Earlier machine in Vienna steam rail in the Karlsplatz , situated 1899

Ticket machines have existed at least since the end of the 19th century. Measures against fraud and attempts to break into had to be taken early on . In Staaken, for example, electric coin validators were used to check the alloy of the coin using eddy currents , and the cash containers had to be secured against attacks from the outside and against those responsible for maintenance.

Older machines are operated using mechanical buttons . This is technically easier, but it makes the machines inflexible and limits the number of ticket types that can be sold. Not as many keys as desired can be accommodated on the operator surface.

At the beginning of the 1980s, the first ticket machines were put into operation by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR . The microcomputer-controlled ticket machine (MFA) was mainly developed by the University of Transport in Dresden and produced in the Reichsbahn repair shop "Roman Chwalek" in Berlin-Schöneweide. The ticket machines were developed to complement existing ticket counters. The input was made in the dialog system via a numeric sensor keypad. To indicate the destination station, a station code was entered, which mostly corresponded to the postcode of the destination and was displayed on a blackboard next to the machine. The machine was able to distinguish between several travel options and asked for information about any discounts. Payment was made exclusively in coins. Many of these MFAs were operated by Deutsche Bahn until 1995 after the introduction of the D-Mark . There was another variant for local transport in Berlin (GDR), which could also issue tickets for the lines of the Berlin public transport company, including time cards. This could be recognized by a front panel in orange.

Newer design ticket machines (from the mid-1990s) usually consist of an industrial computer , a cash collection unit, a TFT screen (often a touchscreen ) and an industrial modem for communication with a central computer (for verification of various data, e.g. credit card data, for software updates and Operational management reports). The power consumption is around 200 watts in operation and around 50 watts in standby.

Windows Embedded (a slimmed-down Windows XP) has been used as the operating system on the more modern Deutsche Bahn ticket machines since 2010 , and Linux on the SBB machines . With the touchscreen versions, a pressure on a non-clickable area is indicated by a red point at the pressed position. The Deutsche Bahn ticket machines can be electrically heated inside and are fully functional up to an outside temperature of −25 degrees Celsius . If the outside temperature is too high, they are automatically shut down.

Manufacturer

Ticket machines are used by transport companies in many countries around the world for the unattended sale of tickets. Modern systems have various payment options, such as banknote processing or cashless card payments using the EMV standard. The manufacturer Toyo Network Systems & integration (TNSi formerly TOYOCOM) and its service provider BSC-Europe (Bill Sense & Count) based in Cologne produce most of the banknote processing for the ticket machines in the field. For cashless card payments, this is the manufacturer Verifone, formerly Hypercom, Thales and Krone. Manufacturers of ticket machines in Germany are Atron Electronic GmbH from Markt Schwaben, Elgeba Gerätebau GmbH from Bad Honnef, Almex GmbH from Hanover (until 2015 Höft & Wessel , 2015-2017 Metric ), ICA Traffic GmbH from Dortmund, Scheidt & Bachmann from Mönchengladbach and Krauth Technology GmbH from Eberbach.

User interface / user guidance

The user interface is usually a "simple", mask-based interface. In the case of touch screens, data is entered directly in the masks, in "normal" screens by input via debounced keys .

The user guidance and the choice of ticket types offered is sometimes misleading. With some machines, a combination of numbers (which can be determined from a list attached to the machine) must be entered and the desired ticket can be selected using a button. Machine malfunctions occasionally occur. With the device number is accompanying staff (if available, an alternative to the driver) without being asked the failure to report, so that without increased transport payment issuing a replacement ticket.

Usually in Germany, but not in Switzerland, after purchasing the tickets from the machine , they have to be validated at the separately installed ticket validator in order to be valid.

Deutsche Bahn ticket machines

Deutsche Bahn ticket machine during the boot process
Event ticket, issued as BahnTix at a Deutsche Bahn ticket machine

In addition to cash payments, Deutsche Bahn ticket machines also allow the use of cashless means of payment such as electronic cash , credit cards or GeldKarte. In addition, timetable information can be obtained and printed out and pre-ordered tickets (BahnTix) can be picked up. In Stuttgart in 2006 a successful trial was carried out with new regional ticket machines that combined the advantages of both machine variants (long-distance and local transport machines). From 2006 to the end of 2011, the older devices were replaced by new machines. By 2011, DB Vertrieb GmbH, responsible within Deutsche Bahn AG, had invested a total of 150 million euros in the new generation of machines. According to the company, the construction of a ticket machine for Deutsche Bahn costs around 30,000 euros.

The DB operates around 7,000 ticket machines nationwide. Due to “digitization” and the loss of tenders in regional transport, the company expects this number to decrease by around 20 percent. In 2008, Deutsche Bahn sold around 180 million tickets via machines. In 2014, the share of machines in Deutsche Bahn ticket sales was 28 percent.

Video travel centers have also been used since 2013 , which are housed in a specially constructed cabin outside or in a corner within a train station building and enable travel advice via video. The customer presses a button, whereupon a travel advisor from a head office is connected via video. Per remote -Access this operated according to the wishes of the customer a machine remotely and booked the corresponding ticket. Technically, the video travel center consists of an ordinary machine, occasionally also a mobile machine, which can be operated remotely and the majority of which is covered, only the payment units can be seen and operated by the customer. The video area consists of a camera and two screens on which the machine picture and the travel advisor can be shown.

The machines are looked after by 34 employees from the “Service Center Automat” from four locations nationwide. Around 17,000 faults occur there every month. (Status: 2017) In the future, centralization in Frankfurt and the reduction of 16 jobs are planned. Deutsche Bahn justified the step with a necessary cost saving in machine sales of more than 25 percent.

For a long time, DB Vertrieb GmbH has commissioned DB Kommunikationstechnik GmbH with the technical troubleshooting and supply of their machines. By 2020, the regional in-house units of the cash center were commissioned to maintain money and paper logistics, before the business was outsourced to an external company.

Often, private providers emerge as winners from the distribution tenders from the public transport authorities, which in some cases significantly reduces the number of machines at DB Vertrieb GmbH. More recent examples are the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund or the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr , in which DB machines have been dismantled and machines from Transdev GmbH have been installed.

Problems

  • With old (local transport) machines with mechanical buttons, in some cases it was not possible to buy a ticket to the corresponding destination station. In these cases, a starter ticket had to be bought using a certain combination of numbers, which could be exchanged for the required ticket when the train was checked - by paying the difference.
  • Touchscreens can only be operated from a certain height due to strong parallax . The screens are difficult to read in strong sunlight, further developments by the touchscreen manufacturers offer better screens.
  • As a result of complaints, so-called “machine guides”, employees of Deutsche Bahn who advise customers, have been present in larger Deutsche Bahn stations since the beginning of 2006.

Ticket machines of the Swiss Federal Railways

The latest generation of SBB ticket machines has been available since August 2015 . Payment is possible with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay as well as the Postfinance card and the American Express , Mastercard PayPass and VISA payWave credit cards . Payment with large notes can be made up to 200 francs / euro , return money is paid up to 100 francs.

The ticket machine can check the validity of a Half-Fare Card or GA on the SwissPass . When the holder's postcode is entered , the SwissPass data is called up and displayed directly on the machine. At the SBB ticket machine, prepaid calling credit from several providers can be topped up and telephone cards can be obtained. It is possible to purchase paysafecard credit and top up Bitcoin wallets. In addition, the viacash system from Cash Payment Solutions was integrated in cooperation with Hypothekarbank Lenzburg , which enables invoices to be paid with EPC QR code - even without your own devices and with cash . It was also Paysafecash integrated. The Cornèrcard Mastercard Prepaid has been available from machines since April 2019 .

The ticket machines were manufactured by Scheidt & Bachmann

Ticket machines of the Austrian Federal Railways

In Austria there are ÖBB ticket machines in most train stations. Exceptions are some low-traffic train stations on rural branch lines, in which case there are machines inside the trains. Return tickets within Austria and sometimes abroad, reservations for long-distance and Nightjet trains as well as the Einfach-Raus-Ticket can be purchased at ÖBB ticket machines . Association tickets (single tickets, 24-, 48- and 72-hour tickets, season tickets and the Vienna shopping card) are available within transport associations. Payment is possible with coins, banknotes, debit cards and credit cards.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alfred Horn: 75 years of the Vienna light rail. "Between the 30s Bock and the Silver Arrow". Bohmann-Verlag, Vienna 1974, ISBN 3-7002-0415-9 , p. 71.
  2. ^ Victor von Röll : Ticket machines (encyclopedia entry). In: Encyclopedia of Railways. 2nd edition, Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin / Vienna 1912–1923. 1923, Retrieved July 25, 2018 .
  3. Microcomputer-controlled ticket machine - MFA. In: robotrontechnik.de. Retrieved May 11, 2009 .
  4. a b DB will install new machines in the coming year 2000 . In: DB Welt , December 2008 edition, p. 7.
  5. DB Sales is going on the quality offensive . In: DB Welt , March 2008 edition, p. 7.
  6. DB secures ticket machines with color cartridges. Deutsche Bahn AG (publisher), press release from February 10, 2015.
  7. ^ A b Arno Stoffels: The railway is again cutting jobs in Nuremberg. In: nordbayern.de. December 22, 2017, accessed December 30, 2017 .
  8. More and more rail customers are booking mobile phone tickets . Deutsche Bahn AG (publisher), press release from June 8, 2015.
  9. ^ Deutsche Bahn AG: 5 years video travel center. In: inside.bahn.de. September 13, 2018, accessed May 5, 2020 .
  10. EVG: GBR Vertrieb: What does the future of DB Vertrieb GmbH look like? Are we selling the cash centers? In: evg-online.org. July 5, 2018, accessed May 5, 2020 .
  11. Transdev GmbH: Sales division RMV Transdev GmbH. Retrieved May 5, 2020 .
  12. Transdev GmbH: Sales division VRR Transdev GmbH. Retrieved May 5, 2020 .
  13. David Torcasso: You can now pay bills at SBB ticket machines. In: handelszeitung.ch . February 3, 2019, accessed February 5, 2019 .
  14. Helmuth Fuchs: The fintech company Cash Payment Solutions GmbH has a new majority owner. In: moneycab.com. October 4, 2019, accessed October 30, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Pay bills and online purchases directly at the SBB ticket machine at any time. In: sbb.ch. Retrieved October 30, 2019 .
  16. Mastercard prepaid card for immediate use available at SBB ticket machines. In: presseportal.ch . April 16, 2019, accessed April 17, 2019 .
  17. Switzerland: Ticket machines completely replaced. In: eurailpress.de. August 24, 2015, accessed May 6, 2020 .

Web links

Commons : Ticket machines  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Ticket machine  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations