Ascom B8050 Quickfare
 |
|
| System information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Ascom B8050 |
| Machine type | Self-service machine |
| Type of ticket stock | Continuous roll |
| Manufacturer | Ascom Autelca AG, Bern, Switzerland |
| History | |
| First introduced | 1989 |
| Machine number range | (Numbers not shown on tickets) |
| Window number range | Upwards from 01 |
| Machines in use | Approximately 60 |
| Locations/Areas/Train Operating Companies | |
| Current users |
First Capital Connect First Great Western Island Line Trains Northern Rail Silverlink |
| Former users | All TOCs operating in the former Network SouthEast area TOCs in some other urban areas |
Ascom B8050, usually known by the name QuickFare, is an early example of a passenger-operated railway ticket issuing system, consisting of a series of broadly identical machines installed at British railway stations from 1989 onwards. The machines allow passengers to buy the most popular types of ticket themselves, without having to go to a booking office, and are therefore useful at unstaffed, partly staffed or busy stations. All QuickFare machines have now been replaced by more modern technology.
The system had its origins in various rudimentary computer-based systems developed for British Rail in the early and mid-1980s, both by Ascom Autelca and by other companies. These were classified by British Rail under the general acronym POTIS (Passenger Operated Ticket Issuing System).
Illustrations of these early tickets
The tickets were printed on simple card stock with no magnetic stripe on the reverse - so data was merely printed on the front, not separately encoded as well.
Autelca AG developed the B8011 and B8020 machines from the B100 Agiticket. A wider range of tickets could be purchased from these: a row of 32 buttons was programmed with various combinations of destination and ticket type (for example, "Child Single to Gatwick Airport" or "Adult Cheap Day Return to Brighton"). Coins were inserted by the passenger after the appropriate button was pressed, and tickets and change were collected from a hatch at the bottom. A separate button could be pressed to cancel the transaction at any stage. Many of these features were carried forward to the B8050 machine.
A B8011 ticket
A B8011 machine, showing many similarities to the B8050
The B100 machine was the intermediate stage between the B8011/B8020 (which were essentially identical) and the B8050. Although most were found in the former Network SouthEast (NSE) area, a few persisted in urban areas elsewhere in England until around 2000. Such machines are believed to have been moved from NSE stations when they were supplanted by B8050s, being reprogrammed with different destination and fare information accordingly. A B100 ticket
After the B8050 was developed, it was chosen by the Network SouthEast sector of British Rail as the standard self-service ticket issuing system. There were 2 variants of the B8050 machine which had either 40 or 92 destination buttons. It was decided that a large number of machines should be provided, with almost every station having at least one and major commuter and terminal stations having many. The following stations, for example, had at least eight separate machines at some point - in some cases, for many years:
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