Great Western Coffee Shop

I don't have any online sources of information, but this was gleaned talking to a Greater Anglia staff member.

Avantix (the bulky mobile ticket issuing machines used on trains) will soon be replaced with a new Fujitsu designed smartphone system.  This is will be Greater Anglia, Arriva Trains Wales and GWR initially.

The new system will print tickets onto thermal receipt-style stock, with a barcode to open the barriers.  It will also accept contactless payments, in addition to the existing methods.

Should mean a much lighter device for staff to carry, less chance of running out of ticket stock and faster ticket sales for passengers.  Also will end the ticket swallowing by barriers (for these types of tickets and any others with a barcode), which is a major annoyance to anyone claiming expenses.

Being trialled on a branch line in South Wales before the rollout begins.

I heard from a GWR ATE that they start their trial of the new equipment this week. From Monday 7th June. Severn Beach Line the likely candidate.

Hearsay only mind.

Announced last year

http://www.railway-technology.com/news/newsarriva-fujitsu-partner-to-launch-smartphone-based-railway-ticket-issuing-system-4605059

I believe other TOCs are looking at it as well

hmmm. so no offline sales then? There are still a multitude of dead areas for mobile reception.

I can't see anything to suggest that.  Contactless can work both online and offline (mostly offline in the UK).

Ryanair now use an Android based solution for recording on-board sales.  These work offline.  The units communicate with each other using wi-fi, with the transactions returned into their online system when on the ground.

The production of barcodes needs generating/recording at the central server, otherwise they wouldn't be recognised by gatelines on arrival.

As I understand it, they are not checked against a central database (imagine how slow this would be at the gateline).  The barcodes are "digitally signed" when printed, then decoded by the barrier.  All the information needed is held in the barcode.

when printed from an app?

Just as slow as an Oyster card which needs to do something with the central database  ;D

Yes.  The barriers do not check a database for the existence of a magnetic stripe ticket, so why the need to check for a barcoded ticket?  The information held will be exactly the same, but encrypted in the barcode.

To prevent anyone from producing their own barcode?

When the barcode is produced, it gets encrypted using a "private key" known only by the TOC.  When scanning the barcode at the barrier, the system will try the "public key" from all TOCs to see which one sucessfully decrypts the barcode.

Unless you know the "private key", you cannot produce a barcode that will sucessully be decrypted.  Knowledge of the "public key" will not enable you to produce a decrytable barcode.

So it's secure within the app?

Because this is now discussing encoding techniques (which I accept would be useless without the relevant encryption keys) should this be moved to frequent posters club or at least be split?

Examples of the new tickets have been posted on RailUK Forums: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=2605110&postcount=123

Although the new tickets are currently only being used for on-train sales, I am hopeful that a full transition towards thermal roll printing will reduce the cost of TVMs (as they won't need custom printing components) and lead to their introduction at more stations without such facilities.  This would also mean that tickets won't be constrained to a fixed size and multi-leg reservations could be printed on one coupon, rather than this:
(https://s31.postimg.org/8jcy92yp7/Cl_Kx_BE7_Wk_AE0a_L2.jpg)

And get burned out if left exposed to heat....

Hence ok for immediate use, dodgy for purchases otherwise. Not recommended?

Does this refer to the actual physical size of the card? So a ticket would be the present credit-card size unless there was more information on it than could reasonably be printed in that space? I can see advantages in that (it's simpler to have one piece of card per journey) and disadvantages (the present size fits nicely in a wallet or pocket). And as an aside, why do we have this size? I have a vague memory of tickets being longer, though perhaps not as long as the tickets used currently in (some? all?) other parts of Europe (the ones that are sort of pink-blue-purple patterned).

Yes, the current ticket size constrains what information can be printed.  There is a new design on the credit card sized stock but the content looks too squashed.  The new tickets can be as long or short as needed to fit the relevant information and they can be folded easily, to fit into wallets or purses.

The larger tickets were issued by a few online retailers many years ago.  They are still issued by some travel agents and sales agents overseas (they can use the same ticket stock as they do for domestic tickets within their own country).  I seem to recall seing someone with a BritRail pass issued like this in the very recent past.

Very difficult to see much detail on those images but those tickets look like the old style. Every ticket I've bought from a GWR / SWT ticket machine recently has been in the new design.

Saw one of these new machines in use today in Suffolk.  Two passengers in my carriage wanted to buy a ticket.

Passenger 1
Wanted to pay by credit card for fare around £6.  Guard offered contactless, customer says yes, transaction comes up as "card void".  Tried chip and PIN.  Still comes up as "card void".  Tried second card, comes up as "card void".  Guard waits until we are closer to a station and tried again.  First card works this time.  Appears to need mobile signal for all purchases, regardless of whether contacless of not.

Passenger 2
Wanted to buy some combination of tickets.  Guard cannot issue one of the tickets as some fares on that flow do not appear to be in the system.

General comments from the guard suggested most transactions experience an issue of some variety.  But, more positively, I notice nearly all ticket barriers in this part of the world now have barcode scanners attached.

Each TOC has gone with its own different system and GWR have decided on STARMobile from Fujitsu. 

From the "guinea pig staff" that have had training, they all agree it has good points and can do more that Avantix, but due to the need to be online at all times is actually more restrictive in what can be done in the real world where 4G (or indeed any signal full stop) is not available - even just making a simple journey enquiry.

They way it's going, it looks like the next estimated roll out on GWR of November will be missed as well.