Avantix replacement (previously: Arriva ditch Avantix)

[Daz28]

http://www.railway-technology.com/n...e-based-railway-ticket-issuing-system-4605059 are reporting that Fujitsu will be providing the replacement for the Avantix ticket systems for Arriva group.

UK-based public transport group Arriva has selected Fujitsu to install the rail industry's first smartphone-based ticket issuing system, the STARmobile solution.
Fujitsu and Arriva will implement the STARmobile solution over a contract period of seven years from March 2016.
The new technology will allow Arriva employees on trains and at railway stations, to provide passengers with information about their journey and the option to purchase tickets.
The new service will be available across Arriva Trains Wales, CrossCountry, Chiltern Railways and Grand Central routes.

 

[450.emu]

http://www.railway-technology.com/n...e-based-railway-ticket-issuing-system-4605059

Abellio Greater Anglia have followed suit, having ripped out all their Avantix / Tribute units from the ticket desks at Liverpool Street. I think it's for easier compatibility with LOROL / Crossrail in the future.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

I hope my bosses follow suit at Northern. Avantix isn't just showing its age, it's slowing me down.

 

[Moonshot]

I hope my bosses follow suit at Northern. Avantix isn't just showing its age, it's slowing me down.

Lol...I ve nearly thrown the thing out of the cab window on more than 1 occassion !!

 

[TheEdge]

I do so love fault finding on Avantix. Normally why is it refusing to acknowledge the existence of either the Thyron machine or the inserted card...

 

[Fincra5]

I believe most TOCs are looking are replacing the Avantix soon. On our Team Brief they informed us SN would also be replacing it.

 

[SPADTrap]

Isn't the contract ending soon anyway?

 

[reb0118]

Yes it is.

 

[me123]

For anyone who's interested, here's what the STARmobile system will look like.
[youtube]VJfX7RzwXzI[/youtube]

I wonder if this technology will be able to support and develop mobile ticketing for passengers in the future?

 

[plymothian]

Mmmm, FGW are supposed to be providing staff with Andriod mobile phones soon, and that advert shows all examples from the FGW network...

 

[TheEdge]

Mmmm, FGW are supposed to be providing staff with Andriod mobile phones soon, and that advert shows all examples from the FGW network...

Android phones do seem to be popping up all over the place. Maybe not a coincidence then.

 

[me123]

Having a Smartphone based system must be an attractive idea for TOCs. In addition to the ticketing software, it will allow the company to communicate with their staff, for staff to communicate with each other, and allow staff to keep up to date with service advisories etc. Besides, don't some TOCs already provide their staff with smartphones for this purpose (I'm reminded of Scotrail issuing Smartphones to their staff after a particularly heavy winter, to allow them to keep up to date with what was happening). In which case, surely just having the phone is a significant cost saving to the TOC.

It's also considerably easier for the guard/TTI to carry around.

 

[TheEdge]

Despite all the various upsides the elephant in the room is battery life.

We all know that smartphones drain their batteries very fast. My personal phone (Sony Xperia) is currently at 37% charge from 100% this morning on power saving mode, and all I've done is a few calls, texts and reading some e-books, not particularly heavy use.

I cannot see having a phone which is a used for checking the information systems for staff and making the calls and emails we need plus also being used as a ticket machine, presumably communicating with a printer and card machine via Bluetooth/NFC and using the camera to check QR codes getting even close to lasting a full 8 hour shift.

 

[me123]

Despite all the various upsides the elephant in the room is battery life.

Very true.

Of course, I'm under the impression that there's been marked improvement in battery technology over the last few years that could see this being less of an issue over the next few years.

 

[reb0118]

It's also considerably easier for the guard/TTI to carry around.

Aye, but have you seen the printer!

 

[cjmillsnun]

Despite all the various upsides the elephant in the room is battery life.

We all know that smartphones drain their batteries very fast. My personal phone (Sony Xperia) is currently at 37% charge from 100% this morning on power saving mode, and all I've done is a few calls, texts and reading some e-books, not particularly heavy use.

I cannot see having a phone which is a used for checking the information systems for staff and making the calls and emails we need plus also being used as a ticket machine, presumably communicating with a printer and card machine via Bluetooth/NFC and using the camera to check QR codes getting even close to lasting a full 8 hour shift.

I'm guessing they'll be either supplying extra batteries or it'll be in a ruggedised, battery case.

One huge advantage is going to be that the phone is going to have an online connection. This should allow the TOC to take online only payment cards on board.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Aye, but have you seen the printer!

Shush or they'll give you a SPORTIS instead. :P

 

[reb0118]

[T]hey'll give you a SPORTIS instead. :P

Yes please. (Am I wearing rose tinted spectacles?)

 

[Mr395008]

Aye, but have you seen the printer!

Which printers will they be using?

 

[the sniper]

For anyone who's interested, here's what the STARmobile system will look like.

Thanks for that. It looks fairly good, obviously you can't tell what it's like till you get hands on with it though.

Despite all the various upsides the elephant in the room is battery life.

You can get external battery packs though which could be charged at the same time as the phones. The external battery could be kept in a satchel battery/printer combo. It'd still be easier than holding the bulk of the Avantix PDA and printer.

The main question I have is presumably this'll be able to process 'online only' card transactions where there's a 3G phone signal? Otherwise by far the biggest problem with the offline Avantix hasn't been overcome.

Hopefully these phones will be supplied with highly durable cases, otherwise they ain't going to last long in service... As rubbish as Avantix now are, they can at least normally survive being bounced off the floor.

 

[Flying Snail]

Despite all the various upsides the elephant in the room is battery life.

We all know that smartphones drain their batteries very fast. My personal phone (Sony Xperia) is currently at 37% charge from 100% this morning on power saving mode, and all I've done is a few calls, texts and reading some e-books, not particularly heavy use.

I cannot see having a phone which is a used for checking the information systems for staff and making the calls and emails we need plus also being used as a ticket machine, presumably communicating with a printer and card machine via Bluetooth/NFC and using the camera to check QR codes getting even close to lasting a full 8 hour shift.

That is down to the specs of the phones. Most seem to have gone for smaller designs so battery size is compromised. A phone with good life and removable batteries so spares can be carried or charging stations be installed would cover the necessary use.

If the TOCs have any sense they should be insisting on a software only solution for the phone/control part so they can choose any android based phone they like at market rates rather than the ludicrous railway rates they currently pay for the avantix units.

Obviously the ticket printer part and software will be bespoke so they will have to be tied to one supplier but taking out the phone hardware should make the overall solution cheaper and easier to upgrade in the future.

 

[dgl]

This is why windows phone is a good option for these type of devices, in a test between two identical HTC phones one with android and one with WP8 the wp8 version lasted not only 20% longer on charge but faster too!

Just hope the security aspects have been thought through, although being as it is Fujitsu that seem to be supplying them that should not be a problem.

 

[Matt Taylor]

Why does battery life have to be an issue? SWT Deesiro stock has two plug sockets in the guard's office so phones can be charged using that-or put a socket in the cab.

 

[the sniper]

Why does battery life have to be an issue? SWT Deesiro stock has two plug sockets in the guard's office so phones can be charged using that-or put a socket in the cab.

Most of us work stock that is either too old to have sockets or was designed to tolerate the presence of a Guard rather than suitably accommodate them, so either way we don't have access to a secure place to charge something like this.

 

[richw]

Despite all the various upsides the elephant in the room is battery life.

We all know that smartphones drain their batteries very fast. My personal phone (Sony Xperia) is currently at 37% charge from 100% this morning on power saving mode, and all I've done is a few calls, texts and reading some e-books, not particularly heavy use.

I cannot see having a phone which is a used for checking the information systems for staff and making the calls and emails we need plus also being used as a ticket machine, presumably communicating with a printer and card machine via Bluetooth/NFC and using the camera to check QR codes getting even close to lasting a full 8 hour shift.

I have the newest Xpedia and am just scraping two days life out of it, so I think it's getting better on battery life.

 

[father_jack]

The cynic in me kicks in when the guv'nor of the new supplier is a Mr Goodenough.

 

[spacehopper]

We've been told when Avantix goes we'll be getting the same machines they use on SNCF and DB?

Anyone able to post a photo of what they use? Off the top of my head they appear to issue tickets on a till roll?

A mobile phone as such is not good enough. The already noted issues with battery and charging. On our route card you can do a trip of 90 minutes and only have a data connection for 5 minutes at each end of the route in built up areas.

By the time you've pulled your phone out of your back pocket, typed the pin in at least 4 times, enabled NFC, opened the app and wait an eternity for the smart card to read, found the expiry date and product loaded on it. Using your mark one eyeballs you could've checked half a carriage.

It is so much easier to glance at a paper ticket than wait for a punter to unlock their phone, load the app, hand you the phone, squint at the screen. Then scroll down to read what it actually says and to take in other information such as when it was activated.

Technology should be making our jobs easier and quicker not slowing us down. While the phones we are currently issued with are the latest fangled android models many guards actually miss their Blackberrys for the ease of use and reliability.

 

[zuriblue]

We've been told when Avantix goes we'll be getting the same machines they use on SNCF and DB?

Anyone able to post a photo of what they use? Off the top of my head they appear to issue tickets on a till roll?

DB use a Casio product at the moment like this one. It's pretty chunky but nothing like as big as an Avantix.

The problem that I can see is it won't print a ticket that will open the barriers - like most of Europe the DB don't have ticket barriers. It would mean that you'd have to go to the guy manning the gates to open them.

The SBB used to use an Almex machine (thinner than an Avantix but longer) but now they have an app on a Samsung mobile with a Bluetooth printer on a shoulder strap Don't know what they use for cards as the SBB don't sell tickets on the train now, the only thing the guard will sell you is a CHF100 (£60) Penalty Fare.

 

[BestWestern]

Any solution based on an 'off the peg' mobile phone will be a disaster, in my personal opinion. They will be lost, stolen, the screens won't survive, the batteries won't last... It's a nice idea but in practice I can't see it being a huge success. However, we shall see!

 

[Z12XE]

Abellio Greater Anglia have followed suit, having ripped out all their Avantix / Tribute units from the ticket desks at Liverpool Street. I think it's for easier compatibility with LOROL / Crossrail in the future.

The version of Tribute that was in use come to the end of its life, wasnt PCI DSS compliant and had to be replaced the new version wasnt ready for deployment.

Fastis has been installed at Liverpool Street as its compatiable with Oyster, and was installed at GE Metro and West Inner stations, and Fujitsu Star was installed at stations outside the London area and all those which GA kept. (excluding Shenfield which has Fastis.)

 

[ADRboy]

The Fujitsu gear will do online payments I've been told.