APTIS

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**APTIS**

System Information
Full name	Accountancy and Passenger Ticket Issuing System
Machine type	Ticket Office-based
Type of ticket stock	Hopper-fed
Manufacturer	Thorn EMI, Derby
History
First introduced	October 1986
Machine number range	2000-5168
Window number range	Upwards from 01 Downwards from 99 (spare machines)
Machines in use	2,971 (maximum historic figure) 3 (as of March 2007)
Locations/Areas/Train Operating Companies
Current users	none
Former users	Before privatisation: - All passenger sectors of British Rail After privatisation: - All Train Operating Companies

APTIS is the Accountancy and Passenger Ticket Issuing System used on Rail transport in Great Britain until 2006.

It was widely known as the All-Purpose Ticket-Issuing System, a description which was used during the development of the prototype devices.^[1]^[2]

It led to the introduction, on the national railway, of a new standardised machine-printable ticket, the APTIS ticket, which replaced the Edmondson railway ticket, first introduced in the 1840s.

1 Adoption by British Rail
2 APTIS
3 Phase out
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Adoption by British Rail

APTIS was derived from a private venture ticketing system, the General Purpose ticket-issuing system, developed by Thorn EMI in 1978.^[1] It had 25 kbytes of memory.^[1]

British Rail asked 23 firms to tender for a ticket-issuing system and Thorn EMI was successful.^[1] The first prototype was installed at Portsmouth & Southsea railway station on 11 November 1982.

APTIS, along with the portable system PORTIS, was adopted as part of British Rail's £31 million investment, which was authorised in 1983.^[3] The production APTIS machines had 300 kbytes of memory; this could be upgraded to 500 kbytes.^[1]

Some 2,971 APTIS machines were scheduled to be installed at 1,600 staffed British Rail stations between August 1985 and September 1987.^[1]^[2]

The first APTIS ticket was officially issued by David Mitchell, Transport Minister, at the British Rail Travel Centre, Regent Street, London, on 18 November 1986.^[4]

Railway Magazine, March 1988, reported that the last of British Rail's Edmondson printing presses, located at their Paper and Printing Centre, Crewe, had been shut down; and that the last sale of an Edmondson ticket, through one of their station ticket offices, would take place on Southern Region.^[5]

Apparently, that ticket, No. 10979, a single to Wimbledon Chase, was issued at South Merton station on 29 July 1988.^[6] However, two RM readers contradicted that statement. One believed that Whitby was the last station to issue them; and he reputedly bought a hand-dated one from Whitby to Lealhom on 12 August 1988; he also believed that Appleby still sold them. ^[7] The other reader stated that Ryde Pier Head, a Sealink station, still sold them; and, as a Sealink office, would not be fitted with APTIS.^[7]

[edit] APTIS

APTIS issued impact printed tickets on credit-card sized card ticket stock, with a magnetic stripe on the centre of the reverse which could be encoded to operate ticket barriers; it could also use plain non-magnetic ticket stock.^[1]

APTIS could issue receipts for passengers paying by debit card or credit card.^[1] These receipts were a combination of a transparent carbonless copy paper top copy, for the customer; and a backing card, for retention by British Rail. The customer signed the receipt, handed it back; and, in return, was given the signed top copy and the train tickets.

[edit] Phase out

APTIS survived in widespread use for twenty years, but in the early 2000s was largely replaced by more modern PC based ticketing systems. The last APTIS machines were removed in 2006 as there was no option to upgrade for accepting Chip and PIN credit-card payments. The last ticket to be issued in the UK using one of the machines was at Upminster station on 23 March 2007.^[8]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Ford, Roger (1984). "Technology Update: Ticket issuing and revenue control". In: Modern Railways, Volume 41, May 1984, Pages 256-257.
^ ^a ^b Glover, John (1985). "Mechanisation of ticket issuing". In: Modern Railways, Volume 42, April 1985, Pages 192-195.
^ Gourvish, Terry (2002). "Cost Control and Investment in the post-Serpell Railway". Chapter 6 In. British Rail: 1974-97: From Integration to Privatisation Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-926909-2
^ Railway Magazine, 1987, Vol. 33, January 1987, Page 7.
^ "News & Notes: BR ends Edmondson". In: Railway Magazine, Volume 134, No. 1043, March 1988, Page 148
^ "News & Notes: Final ticket". In: Railway Magazine, Volume 134, No. 1050, October 1988, Page 620
^ ^a ^b "Mailbag: Final Edmoundsons". In: Railway Magazine, Volume 134, No. 1052, December 1988, Page 800
^ c2c - Last call for ticket work horse. 23 March 2007.