Avantix Mobile
Encyclopedia
AVANTIX Mobile is a portable railway ticket issuing system used across the British railway network
.
plc, an IT services company which was acquired by Schlumberger
Ltd in 2001 and became SchlumbergerSema. (The company has since been acquired by France-based IT group Atos
, SA.) Atos
now continue to develop and maintain the system. The first machines were bought and put into use by Train Operating Companies (TOCs)
in 2002. By late 2005, market penetration had reached 80%, and as of 2007 SPORTIS
has been superseded completely.
The AVANTIX Mobile hardware was designed, developed and engineered by Hyphen Design Ltd, of London. Particular design and engineering challenges were a tamper-resistant PDA retention and ejection mechanism, and a secure loading door latch, to prevent the device spilling ticket stock or batteries if dropped onto concrete from a height of 1.5M. Hyphen Design also developed a cartridge design for holding Z-fold or fan-fold ticket stock. With the horizontally mounted cartridge, a stack of 3 or five or more of the fan-fold stock could easily be drawn into the print head and jam it. The solution was a pad of fine silicone rubber fingers, stuck to the top and bottom internal surfaces of the cartridge, to provide just enough grip on the uneven ticket stack, without putting too much load on the print head.
AVANTIX Mobile is the successor to the SPORTIS
system which had been developed in the mid-1980s for British Rail. SPORTIS
was the first fully computerised portable ticketing system for use by on-train staff and Revenue Protection Inspectors, and in other situations where mobile ticket-issuing facilities are required. However, by 2002, the machines themselves were up to 15 years old, with their underlying technology being several years older, and they lacked the storage capacity for the increasing variety of fares and promotions available on the post-privatisation
British railway system.
AVANTIX Mobile machines were first adopted by TOCs owned at the time by the National Express Group
; however, they are now in use across all National Rail-controlled TOCs with the exception of Merseyrail
who continued to issue paper tickets until TVMs had been installed at the last few stations on the Wirral line, which did not have any ticket issuing facilities.
system was only able to print non-magnetically-encoded tickets on flimsy paper rolls, AVANTIX Mobile can produce tickets both in this format and with magnetic stripe encoding
on card tickets with a magnetic stripe. Paper tickets are provided in rolls of 450; card stock comes in "fan-fold" packs of 250 (however, roll-stock is no longer used as magnetically encoded card stock has become the Rail Settlement Plan
standard).
Magnetically-encoded tickets have the advantage of being able to operate the automatic ticket gates which are used at a large number of National Rail
stations throughout Britain, as well as at all London Underground
stations. Accordingly, paper roll stock is rarely used now, although it is still the standard form of ticket issued on the Gatwick Express
: Gatwick Airport station
is not gated, and the Gatwick Express platforms at London Victoria station are also open.
Paper roll tickets carry the Rail Settlement Plan
form number RSP 3594: the same as on post-privatisation SPORTIS tickets, as SPORTIS used the same blank stock. Gatwick Express has frequently used dedicated stock, RSP 3594/GA, with a red colour scheme and security background (RSP 3594 is orange with a pale green background). Three types of card stock have been used: two versions with the form number RSP 3599, and one (used most often as of 2007) numbered RSP 9299. On the first version of RSP 3599, each ticket had diagonally cut-off corners, but this later changed to rounded corners as is standard on most other ticket issuing systems. Both of these types had pre-printed headings such as "Class" and "Ticket Type". With the move to "Common Stock" ticketing, where all information is printed by the machine, RSP 9299 stock with no pre-printed headings was introduced. These tickets have always had rounded corners.
The machine as a whole consists of a specialised PDA device
, upon which all fare, timetable and other data is stored; a small ticket printer and its batteries; the blank ticket stock; and a ticket cradle which holds the tickets when they have been printed. The printer and ticket stock are housed within a plastic case into which the PDA slides.
Including the plastic casing, an AVANTIX Mobile machine is 262 mm tall, 126 mm wide and has a depth of 175 mm. Total weight including batteries, a full set of ticket stock and the padded shoulder strap, is 2.03 kg. Thermal printing
is used, with a magnetically-encoded ticket typically taking 3½ seconds to print. The printer uses two lithium-ion batteries, similar to those used in many standard consumer electronics
products. These are charged in standard charging trays as used in camcorder
s, for example.
AVB issues tickets on magnetically encoded common ticket stock. The thermally printed tickets emerge from the top of the printer.
There are three options for credit-card acceptance
For passengers who do not have a Chip and PIN
Credit or Debit cards, these are processed by a swipe slot in the AVANTIX casing which reads the magnetic stripe of the card and requires the buyer to sign a card receipt. This magnetic read head can also be used to swipe suitable magnetic tickets and will tell the user if the ticket has been through a ticket barrier.
The PDA works as a touch screen instrument using either stylus or finger.
The fares and timetable information on the PDA is stored on a memory card. Updates are downloaded when the PDA is in a docking station.
All fares are on AVB although advance purchase tickets can't be sold as generally these require seat reservations. Only weekly season tickets can be sold. Monthly and annual prices can be looked up by going to the season enquiry menu. All types of Railcard discounts, local council discount schemes and other concessions
are loaded on to an AVB. PLUS+BUS tickets and rover tickets can also be sold along with certain ferry and bus through ticketing. AVB can handle both CRS station short codes and National Location Code
s (NLCs); but if the user does not know either code, typing in the station name will bring the fares up.
Timetable information can also be accessed by using the timetable enquiry facility. Whilst using the timetable enquiry screen, if you highlight the start and end of one leg of the train journey and choose select this will then show where that train started and every planned stop with the times right through to the journey's end.
Multiple ticket issues can be done using the shopping basket facility. So if a buyer wishes to purchase numerous tickets they can all be grouped together in the shopping basket and sold as one transaction.
The user can also issue group tickets on to just one ticket rather than printing off multiple tickets.
Last 16 issues facility shows last 16 tickets issued, which is handy for repeat fare transactions.
AVB also comes loaded with a popular products function where a code is entered a screen with the most popular fares for a route will be displayed. This saves the user typing in the origin, destination and ticket type as popular products enable the user to just hit one button on one screen rather than going through 3-4 screens.
Cash, Travel Vouchers, Traders Warrants, Forces Warrants, Cheques and Credit / Debit cards are all accepted payments for AVB users. Visa Electron and International Maestro cards are not accepted on any portable equipment due to the need for online authorisation. (They are accepted at many train operating companies' ticket counters.)
Incident enquiry screen shows printer and PDA battery life as well as any non-issued tickets.
AVB can be secured by the user to prevent misuse by setting a code word.
Rail transport in Great Britain
The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest in the world, with the world's first locomotive-hauled public railway opening in 1825. As of 2010, it consists of of standard gauge lines , of which are electrified. These lines range from single to double, triple, quadruple track and up to twelve...
.
Development
Development started in 2000 by Sema GroupSema Group
Sema Group plc was an Anglo-French IT services company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Schlumberger in 2001.-History:...
plc, an IT services company which was acquired by Schlumberger
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
Ltd in 2001 and became SchlumbergerSema. (The company has since been acquired by France-based IT group Atos
ATOS
ATOS is a high density railway transport management system of an unprecedented scale. The system has been continuously built up in stages after the online operation of its first station commenced in 1994 and successfully operating since then...
, SA.) Atos
ATOS
ATOS is a high density railway transport management system of an unprecedented scale. The system has been continuously built up in stages after the online operation of its first station commenced in 1994 and successfully operating since then...
now continue to develop and maintain the system. The first machines were bought and put into use by Train Operating Companies (TOCs)
Train operating company
The term train operating company is used in the United Kingdom to describe the various businesses operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand...
in 2002. By late 2005, market penetration had reached 80%, and as of 2007 SPORTIS
PORTIS/SPORTIS
PORTIS and latterly SPORTIS were portable ticket issuing systems used on Rail transport in Great Britain until 2006...
has been superseded completely.
The AVANTIX Mobile hardware was designed, developed and engineered by Hyphen Design Ltd, of London. Particular design and engineering challenges were a tamper-resistant PDA retention and ejection mechanism, and a secure loading door latch, to prevent the device spilling ticket stock or batteries if dropped onto concrete from a height of 1.5M. Hyphen Design also developed a cartridge design for holding Z-fold or fan-fold ticket stock. With the horizontally mounted cartridge, a stack of 3 or five or more of the fan-fold stock could easily be drawn into the print head and jam it. The solution was a pad of fine silicone rubber fingers, stuck to the top and bottom internal surfaces of the cartridge, to provide just enough grip on the uneven ticket stack, without putting too much load on the print head.
AVANTIX Mobile is the successor to the SPORTIS
PORTIS/SPORTIS
PORTIS and latterly SPORTIS were portable ticket issuing systems used on Rail transport in Great Britain until 2006...
system which had been developed in the mid-1980s for British Rail. SPORTIS
PORTIS/SPORTIS
PORTIS and latterly SPORTIS were portable ticket issuing systems used on Rail transport in Great Britain until 2006...
was the first fully computerised portable ticketing system for use by on-train staff and Revenue Protection Inspectors, and in other situations where mobile ticket-issuing facilities are required. However, by 2002, the machines themselves were up to 15 years old, with their underlying technology being several years older, and they lacked the storage capacity for the increasing variety of fares and promotions available on the post-privatisation
Privatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...
British railway system.
AVANTIX Mobile machines were first adopted by TOCs owned at the time by the National Express Group
National Express Group
National Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...
; however, they are now in use across all National Rail-controlled TOCs with the exception of Merseyrail
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a train operating company and commuter rail network in the United Kingdom, centred on Liverpool, Merseyside. The network is predominantly electric with diesel trains running on the City Line. Two City Line branches are currently being electrified on the overhead wire AC system with...
who continued to issue paper tickets until TVMs had been installed at the last few stations on the Wirral line, which did not have any ticket issuing facilities.
Ticket stock
Whereas the former SPORTISPORTIS/SPORTIS
PORTIS and latterly SPORTIS were portable ticket issuing systems used on Rail transport in Great Britain until 2006...
system was only able to print non-magnetically-encoded tickets on flimsy paper rolls, AVANTIX Mobile can produce tickets both in this format and with magnetic stripe encoding
Magnetic stripe card
A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card...
on card tickets with a magnetic stripe. Paper tickets are provided in rolls of 450; card stock comes in "fan-fold" packs of 250 (however, roll-stock is no longer used as magnetically encoded card stock has become the Rail Settlement Plan
Rail Settlement Plan
Rail Settlement Plan is a division of the Association of Train Operating Companies in the United Kingdom. It provides a wide range of common services to the UK's franchised passenger rail operators and third party providers of information and retail services.The company was established on the...
standard).
Magnetically-encoded tickets have the advantage of being able to operate the automatic ticket gates which are used at a large number of National Rail
National Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
stations throughout Britain, as well as at all London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
stations. Accordingly, paper roll stock is rarely used now, although it is still the standard form of ticket issued on the Gatwick Express
Gatwick Express
Gatwick Express is the name given to the frequent rail shuttle service between Victoria station in London and Gatwick Airport in South East England, operated by the Southern franchise...
: Gatwick Airport station
Gatwick Airport railway station
Gatwick Airport station is the railway station at London Gatwick Airport that provides a direct rail connection to London 43 km away. The station platforms are located directly below the airport’s South Terminal, and the ticket office is adjacent to that terminal’s concourse...
is not gated, and the Gatwick Express platforms at London Victoria station are also open.
Paper roll tickets carry the Rail Settlement Plan
Rail Settlement Plan
Rail Settlement Plan is a division of the Association of Train Operating Companies in the United Kingdom. It provides a wide range of common services to the UK's franchised passenger rail operators and third party providers of information and retail services.The company was established on the...
form number RSP 3594: the same as on post-privatisation SPORTIS tickets, as SPORTIS used the same blank stock. Gatwick Express has frequently used dedicated stock, RSP 3594/GA, with a red colour scheme and security background (RSP 3594 is orange with a pale green background). Three types of card stock have been used: two versions with the form number RSP 3599, and one (used most often as of 2007) numbered RSP 9299. On the first version of RSP 3599, each ticket had diagonally cut-off corners, but this later changed to rounded corners as is standard on most other ticket issuing systems. Both of these types had pre-printed headings such as "Class" and "Ticket Type". With the move to "Common Stock" ticketing, where all information is printed by the machine, RSP 9299 stock with no pre-printed headings was introduced. These tickets have always had rounded corners.
System description
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
, upon which all fare, timetable and other data is stored; a small ticket printer and its batteries; the blank ticket stock; and a ticket cradle which holds the tickets when they have been printed. The printer and ticket stock are housed within a plastic case into which the PDA slides.
Including the plastic casing, an AVANTIX Mobile machine is 262 mm tall, 126 mm wide and has a depth of 175 mm. Total weight including batteries, a full set of ticket stock and the padded shoulder strap, is 2.03 kg. Thermal printing
Thermal printer
A thermal printer produces a printed image by selectively heating coated thermochromic paper, or thermal paper as it is commonly known, when the paper passes over the thermal print head. The coating turns black in the areas where it is heated, producing an image...
is used, with a magnetically-encoded ticket typically taking 3½ seconds to print. The printer uses two lithium-ion batteries, similar to those used in many standard consumer electronics
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
products. These are charged in standard charging trays as used in camcorder
Camcorder
A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...
s, for example.
AVB issues tickets on magnetically encoded common ticket stock. The thermally printed tickets emerge from the top of the printer.
There are three options for credit-card acceptance
- a GemaltoGemaltoGemalto is an international digital security company, providing secure personal devices such as smart cards and tokens in addition to software applications and managed services. The company was formed in June 2006 by the combination of two companies Axalto and Gemplus International...
Magic 1100 Chip & Pin reader can be plugged into the printer - a VeriFoneVeriFoneVeriFone is a company that makes point-of-sale equipment. It was founded and incorporated in Hawaii in 1981, and named itself after its first product, the name standing for Verification telephone....
Xplorer terminal can be used with bluetooth connectivity to the IT-10 PDA - a Thyron MPT600 terminal can be used with bluetooth connectivity to the IT-10 PDA
For passengers who do not have a Chip and PIN
Chip and PIN
Chip and PIN is the brandname adopted by the banking industries in the United Kingdom and Ireland for the rollout of the EMV smartcard payment system for credit, debit and ATM cards.- History :...
Credit or Debit cards, these are processed by a swipe slot in the AVANTIX casing which reads the magnetic stripe of the card and requires the buyer to sign a card receipt. This magnetic read head can also be used to swipe suitable magnetic tickets and will tell the user if the ticket has been through a ticket barrier.
The PDA works as a touch screen instrument using either stylus or finger.
The fares and timetable information on the PDA is stored on a memory card. Updates are downloaded when the PDA is in a docking station.
All fares are on AVB although advance purchase tickets can't be sold as generally these require seat reservations. Only weekly season tickets can be sold. Monthly and annual prices can be looked up by going to the season enquiry menu. All types of Railcard discounts, local council discount schemes and other concessions
Concessionary fares on the British railway network
In addition to the large number and variety of short-term or localised promotional fares that have been available to passengers on the British railway network in recent decades , there are many permanent concessionary fare schemes available to passengers...
are loaded on to an AVB. PLUS+BUS tickets and rover tickets can also be sold along with certain ferry and bus through ticketing. AVB can handle both CRS station short codes and National Location Code
National Location Code
In the context of the ticketing system of the British railway network, a National Location Code is a four-digit code allocated to every railway station and railway ticket issuing point in Great Britain. NLCs are used in the issue of tickets, and for accounting purposes...
s (NLCs); but if the user does not know either code, typing in the station name will bring the fares up.
Timetable information can also be accessed by using the timetable enquiry facility. Whilst using the timetable enquiry screen, if you highlight the start and end of one leg of the train journey and choose select this will then show where that train started and every planned stop with the times right through to the journey's end.
Multiple ticket issues can be done using the shopping basket facility. So if a buyer wishes to purchase numerous tickets they can all be grouped together in the shopping basket and sold as one transaction.
The user can also issue group tickets on to just one ticket rather than printing off multiple tickets.
Last 16 issues facility shows last 16 tickets issued, which is handy for repeat fare transactions.
AVB also comes loaded with a popular products function where a code is entered a screen with the most popular fares for a route will be displayed. This saves the user typing in the origin, destination and ticket type as popular products enable the user to just hit one button on one screen rather than going through 3-4 screens.
Cash, Travel Vouchers, Traders Warrants, Forces Warrants, Cheques and Credit / Debit cards are all accepted payments for AVB users. Visa Electron and International Maestro cards are not accepted on any portable equipment due to the need for online authorisation. (They are accepted at many train operating companies' ticket counters.)
Incident enquiry screen shows printer and PDA battery life as well as any non-issued tickets.
AVB can be secured by the user to prevent misuse by setting a code word.
Users
- Arriva Trains WalesArriva Trains WalesArriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...
- c2cC2cc2c is a British train operating company that is part of the National Express Group. It provides passenger rail services on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway line from Fenchurch Street railway station in the City of London to east London and the entire length of the northern Thames Gateway...
- Chiltern RailwaysChiltern RailwaysChiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...
- CrossCountryCrossCountryCrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
- East CoastEast Coast (train operating company)East Coast is a British train operating company running high-speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland...
- East Midlands TrainsEast Midlands TrainsEast Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...
- First Capital ConnectFirst Capital ConnectFirst Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
- First Great WesternFirst Great WesternFirst Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
- First Hull Trains
- ScotRailScotRailScotRail was a brand name used for all Scottish regional and commuter rail services, including some cross-border services, from 1997 to 2004....
- First TransPennine ExpressFirst TransPennine ExpressFirst TransPennine Express is a British train operating company. It is a joint operation between First Group and Keolis . It operates regular passenger services in northern England, including services linking the west and east coasts across the Pennines...
- Grand Central
- London MidlandLondon MidlandLondon Midland is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Legally named London and Birmingham Railway Ltd, it is a subsidiary of Govia, and has operated the West Midlands franchise since 11 November 2007....
- London OvergroundLondon OvergroundLondon Overground is a suburban rail network in London and Hertfordshire. It has been operated by London Overground Rail Operations since 2007 as part of the National Rail network, under the franchise control and branding of Transport for London...
- National Express East Anglia (including Stansted ExpressStansted ExpressStansted Express is a sub-brand of National Express East Anglia. It is the direct train service linking central London to Stansted Airport, one of London's major air hubs...
) - Northern RailNorthern RailNorthern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...
- SouthernSouthern (train operating company)Southern is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Officially named Southern Railway Ltd., it is a subsidiary of Govia, a joint venture between transport groups Go-Ahead Group and Keolis, and has operated the South Central rail franchise since October 2000 and the Gatwick Express service...
(including Gatwick ExpressGatwick ExpressGatwick Express is the name given to the frequent rail shuttle service between Victoria station in London and Gatwick Airport in South East England, operated by the Southern franchise...
) - SoutheasternSoutheastern (train operating company)London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern is a train operating company in south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...
- South West TrainsSouth West TrainsSouth West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...
(including Island Line Trains) - Virgin TrainsVirgin TrainsVirgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...