Indian Railways has introduced Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) to reduce passengers queuing up at the ticket counters at Railway stations. ATVMs are touch screen based ticketing kiosks operated using Smart Cards. The passengers can purchase and recharge Smart Cards from ticket counters. The Smart Card has to be placed on a slot in the ATVM and user has to select the route and destination using the touch screen. After confirming the details ticket will be printed and delivered. Once the ticket is issued, charge will be automatically debited from the smart card. The interface and the enabling software include a graphic display of route maps as well as tri-lingual menu options. It is a cashless, convenient and a service available round the clock.
Thinvent has developed rugged hardware and stable Linux based firmware to power the Automatic Ticket Vending Machines. Thinvent’s ATVM Thin-clients are rugged computers developed with technology developed from the ground up to be usable in India.
- These Thin-clients need to withstand heavy usage 24 hours a day, 365 days an year.
- The Thin-clients are expected to withstand dust, heat, user ignorance, lack of good power at some of the remotest locations across the country.
- Reliable and good quality printing is needed to counter counterfeiting.
- Machines need to be reliable and secure as public money is involved.
- Support Railways application and backend for ticketing.
- Supports Smart Card Reader, Touch Screen Calibration Utility
- Support for local languages.
Successful Deployments
1. At Present ninety Thinvent’s Thin-Client based ATVMs are operational in Mumbai and making travel cheaper and convenient for about 25 lakh people who use suburban rail transport in Mumbai every day.
2. Our most recent deployment was twenty Thin-Client based ATVMs in Thiruvananthapuram division in Kerela in 2013. Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor commissioned the two ATVMs, the first in the State, that are expected to reduce chaos prevailing near the railway booking office at Thampanoor in December 2012.