Avantix Mobile
 |
|
| System information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | AVANTIX Mobile |
| Machine type | Portable (Conductor/Guard-operated) |
| Type of ticket stock | Continuous roll or fan-fold |
| Manufacturer | Steatite Ltd, Chalgrove, Oxfordshire (manufacturer) Atos (Designer) |
| History | |
| First introduced | 2002 |
| Machine number range | 0002-6106 |
| Window number range | 70 (Common Stock format only) |
| Machines in use | ~4,500 |
| Locations/Areas/Train Operating Companies | |
| Current users | See here |
AVANTIX Mobile ("AVB") is a portable railway ticket issuing system used across the British railway network.
Development started in 2000 by Sema Group 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 By late 2005, market penetration had reached 80%, and as of 2007 SPORTIS has been superseded completely.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 system was designed for the Sema Group plc by Printer Systems Limited this included the technique of printing and encoding the magnetic stripe at the same time, the Z-fold ticket pack and the electronic control system with interface to a Casio PDA. The AVANTIX Mobile housing 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.
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