Ticket machine

Ticket vending machines, ticket vending machines or Switzerland. Ticket machines are self-service machines and are both used in public transport, especially in S-, U - and light rail, as well as railway companies to sell the tickets. Modern ticket machines allow rule, paying with coins or paper money, now often with cash card, credit card or debit card. A basic distinction between stationary machines at the stops and mobile machines in the vehicles.

Technology

Older machines are normally operated via mechanical keys. This is a technically simple, the machine does not flexible, and limits the number of tickets variants, which can be sold ( as many keys can be accommodated as desired ).

In the early 1980s the first ticket machines were taken by the German Reichsbahn in the GDR in operation. The microcomputer -controlled ticket machine (MFA ) has been developed substantially from the University of Transportation in Dresden, and in the kingdom railway workshop "Roman Chwalek " in Berlin Schoeneweide produced. The ticket machines had been developed as a complement to existing ticket counters. The input made in the dialog system has a sensor numeric keypad. For the specification of the target station, a station code has been entered, which usually corresponded to the postal code of the destination town and aushing on a blackboard next to the machine. The machine was able to distinguish between several possible journeys, and inquired information for any discounts. The payment was made exclusively in coins. Many of the MFA were operated even after the introduction of the Deutschmark until 1995 by the Deutsche Bahn. There was another variant for the transportation in Berlin (GDR), which also could spend tickets for the lines of the Berlin public transport including time cards. To realize this was to a front panel in orange.

Ticket vending machines of more recent design (from the mid-1990s ) usually consist of an industrial computer, a cash collection unit, a TFT screen (often a touch screen) as well as an industrial modem for communication with a central computer ( for verification of various data, such as credit card data, but also for software updates and management reports). The power consumption corresponds to operation 200 watts, in standby around 50 watts.

On the more modern ticket machines in the DB comes as the operating system since 2010 Windows Embedded ( a lightweight Windows XP), at the SBB machine comes Linux. With the touch screen embodiments, a pressure on a non- clickable area with a red dot on the pressed point is displayed. The ticket machines inside the Deutsche Bahn can be heated electrically and are thus up to -25 degrees Celsius outside temperature fully functional. At high outside temperatures, they will automatically shut down.

Ticket machine the DB in a railcar Class 642

Ticket machine ÖBB in a railcar series 5047

Mobile machine in a Munich bus

An early machine of Stadtwerke München

Machines of the French State railways SNCF in Strasbourg

Manufacturer

Ticket machines are used throughout the world by transport operators for the unmanned ticket sales. Modern systems have various payment options, such as the banknote processing or electronic payment via the EMV standard. The manufacturer Toyo Network Systems & Integration ( formerly TNSI TOYOCOM ) and its service providers BSC -Europe (Bill Sense & Count), headquartered in Cologne make the most of the bank note processing for the ticket machines located in the field here. For the electronic card payment is the manufacturer Hypercom, formerly Thales. Manufacturer of ticket machines in Germany are Atron Electronic GmbH from Markt Schwaben, elgeba equipment manufacturing GmbH in Bad Honnef, Hoeft & Wessel AG in Hannover, ICA Traffic GmbH from Dortmund, Scheidt & Bachmann in Moenchengladbach, or Krauth Technology GmbH from Eberbach.

User Interface / User guide

The user interface is usually a "simple " mask-based surface. With touchscreen data entry takes place directly in the masks instead, with normal screens by entering through debounced buttons.

The user interface and the selection of the types of tickets offered is occasionally misleading. On some machines is a combination of numbers (which can be determined from a list attached to the machine ) enter and so you can select the ticket using a key. Occasionally, machine malfunctions. The device number is accompanying staff (if available, an alternative to the driver ) without being asked to report the fault in order for this issue a replacement ticket without increased carriage charge.

Problems

The touch screen is because of strong parallax to operate only from a certain height. In strong sunlight, the screens can be hardly read, further developments of the touch screen manufacturers offer better screens.

As a result of complaints since the beginning of 2006 in major stations in the DB so-called " automatic Guides " present, employees of Deutsche Bahn, which advise the customer.

Deutsche Bahn ticket machines

The current ticket machines of the Deutsche Bahn AG permit in addition to the payment with cash, the use of non-cash means of payment such as electronic cash, credit card or debit card. In addition, schedule information can be obtained and printed and pre-booked tickets ( BahnTix ) will be picked up. In Stuttgart in 2006 ran a successful experiment with new Regional ticket machines that combine the advantages of both former point versions ( long-distance and local machine ). Since 2006 until the end of 2011, the older devices were replaced by new machines.

The German railway sold in 2008 around 180 million tickets through vending machines. By 2011, the competent within Deutsche Bahn AG DB Vertrieb GmbH has invested 150 million euros in the new generation of terminals.