The 4th Suppliers’ Day of the Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (Swiss Railways) took place in Bern on 21 November 2008. As part of this event the best suppliers of the year have been honoured. The coveted award has been rewarded to companies who had proven an outstanding performance in terms of quality, innovation and reliability. As Swiss Railways’ new supplier for Ticket Vending Machines, Scheidt & Bachmann participated for the first time. This developed to have a perfect ending for us as we were chosen to be the Best Supplier – Operating Resources. Our “commitment and” our “readiness to cooperate” were rated highly commendable. Nevertheless we could not have achieved this great success without the excellent partnership with the Schweizerische Bundesbahnen who are a professional and well structured contractual partner.

The delivery of 100 stationary ticket vending machines for the greater Warsaw area has successfully started. During on site inspections, the responsible managers of Mennica Polska S.A gained detailed impressions of the high quality of Scheidt & Bachmann machines. The accurate and quick installation convinced them as well. These positive impressions motivated our satisfied customer to assign an additional purchase order about 60 ticket vending machines. The delivery will start in the 1st quarter of 2009.

Irish Rail decision makers were looking for a reliable fare collection partner and found the appropriate counterpart in their longterm supplier Scheidt & Bachmann.

Irish Rail and Scheidt & Bachmann have signed a five year framework contract for the delivery of ticket vending machines, fare gates, booking office equipment and a complete Smart Card system. Estimated 60 plus stations will be equipped with 150 vending machines and 300 fare gates during that time. A full Smart Card system will be rolled out during 2009, including new equipment and modifications to all existing Scheidt & Bachmann gates and vending machines. This allows Smart Cards to be processed to match the customers’ demands. This project will commence as an Irish Rail Smart Card system, however it is designed with future proof allowing for the system to be migrated to the national operating Integrated Ticketing System (ITS).

Service and comfort - two of the most important features in the scope of passenger transport.

Innovative and simple tariff structures simplify the travels of customers nowadays. But travelling through several tariff systems of various local operators still is a challenge.

What kind of ticket(s) do I need? How many tariff zones will I cross? Did I get the cheapest fare possible? Needless to say that travellers still have to ask themselves those questions again and again.

Thanks to ITSO (Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation) this challenge should soon be history for Great Britain.
ITSO is a member administrated association of bus- and train companies, suppliers and operators of public transport which operates as a non-profit organisation. It was founded in 1998 in Great Britain to develop a national standard for Smart Cards and the associated application level. This standard will be the basis of a comprehensively usable „electronic ticket“ for customers of public transport. The idea is that only one ticket will be needed for all destinations. The passengers will just have to board the train and then enjoy the trip. The Smart Card will choose the correct tariff independently, no matter how many providers he has to cross on the way to his destination.

The implementation of an integral tariff network (Onde Verte) in the cantons of Neuchâtel and Jura required a modernisation of the existing fare collection system. An improved handling of the devices guarantees advantages for passengers and increases the amount of users of the system for the transport authorities.

Since the beginning of May the new ticket vending machines (TVMs) are installed for the city lines in Neuchâtel. Until the implementation of the integral tariff network on 14th December 2008 the TVMs are configured with the existing tariff. The installations of the equipment for the rest of the network partners take place in July. At the end of August the fleet will be equipped with the newly developed FareMaster.

The project "Onde Verte" was assigned in November 2007 and includes the delivery of 250 TVMs and 125 FareMaster to four different companies. Considering the ambitious time schedule for the implementation of the integral tariff network in December 2008 the deadline is challenging. Nevertheless it is possible to implement a new standard for the S-POS MMI (Man Machine Interface) during that time. The central support system for all four companies is supervised by the computer centre of Neuchâtel City, which will be connected online to all ticket vending machines.

The first 5 out of 85 Scheidt & Bachmann FAA-2000/TS ticket vending machines were delivered to the transport authority of Linz at the end of March.

This is the first project for Scheidt & Bachmann in Austria and an important step towards the future of the company as well as the area of Linz. An innovative magnetic card validator developed by Scheidt & Bachmann is one of the new components inside the ticket vending machine. The implementation of the OÖVV-tariff is in line with the trend as well. This provides the costumers of the Linz Linien AG the opportunity to buy tickets for other destinations. By the end of September the installation of the remaining 80 ticket vending machines will be completed.

Through this project Scheidt & Bachmann has succeeded to gain access to the Austrian market and is looking forward being involved in further projects.

Scheidt & Bachmann won another contract on the Swiss market to install a new fare collection system. This is the next step to strengthen the market position and the opportunity to underline Scheidt & Bachmann's advantages and reliability. The installations will be realised in Neuchâtel. This is the first fare collection project for Scheidt & Bachmann that will be managed in French. The necessity of modernising the fare collection systems in this region came up with the implementation of an integrated fare association (Onde Verte) in Neuchâtel and Jura. The resulting improvement and faster handling of their future fare collection system guarantees obvious advantages for the users as well as for the operators. In total 245 TVMs, 102 FareMaster, 290 Validators, 4 POScoms and the Central Support System (CSS) will be delivered.

 "UITP is the international network for public transport authorities and operators, policy decision-makers, scientific institutes and the public transport supply and service industry. It is a platform for worldwide co-operation, business development and the sharing of know-how between its 2,900 members from 90 countries. UITP is the global advocate for public transport and sustainable mobility, and the promoter of innovations in the sector." For more information on UITP and public transport, visit www.uitp.org

The Chinese metropolitan area of Shanghai has Scheidt & Bachmann Fare Gates and Ticket Office Machines (TOMs) installed since the beginning of July 2007. Within four weeks, 67 Gates and 129 TOMs at Shanghai Main Station, Shanghai South Station, Nanjing and Hangzhou have been installed. In addition to the devices, Scheidt & Bachmann also delivered the Central Support System (CSS) as well as Local Device Controllers (LDCs) for monitoring and controlling the Gates.