The Ascom EasyTicket is a railway ticket issuing system used in Britain, consisting of a series of self-service (passenger-operated) machines at railway stations. Having been introduced in 2003 on a trial basis by several

Train Operating Companies In the railway system of Great Britain, a train operating company (TOC) is a railway undertaking operating passenger trains under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the privatisation of the network under the Railways ...

(TOCs) at various stations, the system did not spread into common usage, and most machines have since been removed.

Company details

Ascom AG was created in 1987 through a merger between three major telecommunications companies in Switzerland, although its origins can ultimately be traced back to the establishment of the Swiss Federal Telegraph Workshops in 1852. The Autelca AG division, which had been acquired in 1963 by one of Ascom AG's constituent companies, was involved in the manufacture of ticket vending machines (TVMs); it provided

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

with the B8050 self-service machine, hundreds of which were installed at stations across Britain from 1989 onwards. The EasyTicket system was developed while the Transport Revenue division, as it was then known, was still under Ascom's ownership; but as part of an attempt to focus on the telecommunications sector, the division was sold in August 2005 to

Affiliated Computer Services Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS) was a company that provided information technology services as well as business process outsourcing solutions to businesses, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. ACS was based in Dallas, Texa ...

, Inc for 130 million Swiss Francs.

Origins

The company's first attempt to move on from the successful B8050 machine was the B8070, a small evolutionary upgrade initially developed and delivered in 1999. In the meantime, however, a more significant, revolutionary design solution was being sought: Ascom realised that the late-1980s B8050 technology was no longer suitable for the modern railway environment, given the increasing use of credit and other payment cards, the anticipated adoption of the

Chip and PIN EMV is a payment method based on a technical standard for smart payment cards and for payment terminals and automated teller machines which can accept them. EMV stands for " Europay, Mastercard, and Visa", the three companies that created th ...

secure-payments system, new disability regulations and the effects

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

had on fragmenting and expanding the fare structure on Britain's railways. The EasyTicket system (official code number TIS9000) was developed with these considerations in mind, and features: * Two different machine heights, with one having a specially lowered screen, coin/card slots and ticket dispenser suitable for wheelchair users * Touch-screen technology with a series of sub-menus * Instructions in six different languages, selectable at the start of the transaction process * Cash-and-card and card-only models

Installation programme

Machines began to be installed on a trial basis in March 2003, with a single machine (low-height, cash-and-card version) at Gatwick Airport station. More followed, as shown: ''(Train Operating Company names are those current at the time of installation)'' Following the trial at Gatwick Airport,

Gatwick Express Gatwick Express is an express rail passenger service between , , and in South East England. It is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, Southern and Great N ...

, the Train Operating Company responsible for providing ticketing facilities at Gatwick Airport and

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, London, Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named afte ...

, elected to install an additional five at the former and one at the latter. There were previously six Ascom B8050 machines at Gatwick Airport, so this turned out to be a like-for-like replacement. The machine at London Victoria is close to the Gatwick Express ticket office windows on the dedicated Express platforms; there were two B8050 machines there until around 1991.

References

External links

List of Ascom EasyTicket machines as of 2004, with dates of installation

{{British railway ticket machines (computerised) Fare collection systems in the United Kingdom Travel technology