Shere FASTticket
 |
|
| System information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Worldline FASTticket |
| Machine type | Self-service machine |
| Type of ticket stock | Hopper-fed |
| Manufacturer | Shere Ltd, Guildford, Surrey |
| History | |
| First introduced | 1996 |
| Machine number range | 4000-4700 |
| Window number range | Upwards from 81 |
| Machines in use | 559 |
| Locations/Areas/Train Operating Companies | |
| Current users |
Virgin Trains Virgin Trains East Coast Great Western Railway East Midlands Trains Gatwick Express Chiltern Railways First TransPennine Express Abellio Greater Anglia Govia Thameslink Railway London Overground c2c |
| Former users |
Southeastern South West Trains |
The Atos Worldline FASTticket system is a passenger-operated, self-service railway ticket issuing system, developed by the Guildford-based company Shere Ltd and first introduced on a trial basis in Britain in 1996, shortly after privatisation. It has been developed and upgraded consistently since then, and is now used by seven Train Operating Companies (TOCs) as their primary self-service ticket issuing system. Other TOCs have FASTticket machines at some of their stations, sometimes supplementing other systems.
In the last years of British Rail, before privatisation, the main passenger-operated ticket issuing system (POTIS) on the network was the "Quickfare" B8050, developed in the late 1980s by Swiss company Ascom Autelca AG. These machines were geared towards high-volume, low-value transactions: they only accepted cash, offered a small and mostly unchanging range of destinations, and were a minor evolution from similar earlier machines whose computer technology was based in the early 1980s. Quickfares were widespread, especially in the erstwhile Network SouthEast area, but their limitations were increasing as technology became more sophisticated.
Shere Ltd, founded in its present form in 1992, initially specialised in self-service ticket sales/collection and check-in systems for airlines (notably the former British Midland and KLM UK). In the first instance, the FASTticket system was developed directly from these, with early FASTticket terminals resembling their airport equivalents in many respects. Only a small range of tickets were available, for example - mostly higher-value tickets to important destinations such as London; only debit and credit cards were accepted; touch-screen functionality was offered, but there were limited options and sub-menus; and some of the early machines only printed ATB-style tickets (Automated Ticket and Boarding Pass - an international standard format used by airlines, coaches, railways, ferries and other transport undertakings), which are large and inconvenient for passengers to carry, in comparison with standard credit-card-sized tickets.
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