Stagecoach has selected leading ticketing technology company Parkeon to supply innovative ToD (Ticket-on-Departure) 'collect-only' vending machines for East Midlands Trains and South West Trains.

The company has specified Parkeon's ToDler® - a small footprint and ultra-fast printing ticket vending machine (TVM) – purely for the collection of rail tickets booked online as part of its strategy to optimise retail space in station areas.

East Midlands Trains has installed ToDlers at major stations on the mainline into London's St Pancras station, including Sheffield, Nottingham and Leicester. South West Trains has machines in place on the main line into Waterloo, including Bournemouth, Southampton and Clapham Junction.

Says Paul Moirano, Parkeon's Director of Sales, UK Rail: "Increasing numbers of people are booking online and picking up their tickets just before catching their train, so speed and convenience are of the essence."

The 'collect-only' ToDler includes an extremely fast and efficient printer, meaning that TOD tickets can be issued up to three times as fast as conventional TVMs.

Paul Chick, Stagecoach group's head of retail systems for rail, points out that the growing popularity of ToD can create congestion issues at conventional TVMs that function both as retail units and collection outlets.

"We began to examine ways of overcoming that problem," he comments. "We really wanted a separate machine rather than just adding in more conventional TVMs. A key consideration was that the machine had to have a small footprint and be visibly different from other TVMs."

The solution was found in ToDler from Parkeon.

Another commercial advantage is that ToDler's small footprint means it can also be sited away from the traditional railway environment in locations such as military bases, shopping centres and large corporate headquarters.

Indeed, Parkeon is currently in discussions with universities and airports about placing ToDler machines on their properties. "At airports there's a really positive aspect as machines can be placed in arrival halls. That's really convenient if you're just getting off a plane and transferring to the train," says Paul Moirano. "For the internet-savvy student, the ability to 'collect and go' from a purpose-designed TVM has obvious appeal."

Media enquiries to:

Philip Colley, Harvest.

Tel: 023 9244 9655 / 07785 306378