Decoding the number on tickets...

[transportphoto]

Hi All,

I wasn't to sure where to put this question so please move if need be

I want to find out how to decode (what I believe) is the identification number for the issuing location (as underlined in red/orange on example):



Is there a list which can help decode these?
If so if anyone could point me to it, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in Advance

TP

 

[Mojo]

On station issued tickets it's the 4 digits 4 along and that represents the NLC for the station. You can look it up by entering the digits in Avantix Traveller or by looking it up on this helpful website: http://deaves47.users.btopenworld.com/CRS/CRS0.htm

Those tickets though were issued from a mobile Avantix machine used by on train staff or those at certain stations. I've no idea though how you tell from which depot the holder is based.

 

[causton]

I looked up the number of the station for a ticket I had recently purchased (Brookmans Park, BPK, NLC 6074). This code shows nowhere on the ticket! Is this because I purchased it from a self-serve machine?

The number is 37534 4942759981 - (if you can work out anything for that go ahead )

Which numbers of those would represent the location?

 

[barrykas]

Hi All,

I wasn't to sure where to put this question so please move if need be

I want to find out how to decode (what I believe) is the identification number for the issuing location (as underlined in red/orange on example):

Is there a list which can help decode these?

There is a list, but not one that's generally available.

In that particular example, the first four digits are the machine number, the second four are the location code, and the last two indicate that it's an Avantix Mobile issued ticket.

Looking it up, I see that 7845 is described as "Ipswich SPORTIS R", the R standing for Regional Railways(!), harking back to pre-privatisation days.

It's not unusal for locations to have more than one NLC, especially where multiple TOCs are involved. Taking Birmingham New Street as an example, though not all of these are necessarily in use:

• 1026 - Business Travel Office
• 1127 - Main Ticket Office
• 1234 - New Street European Passenger Services (i.e. Eurostar)
• 1815 - InterCity® (i.e. Virgin) SPORTIS
• 1816 - Regional Railways (i.e. London Midland) SPORTIS
• 1891 - Self-Service Ticket Machines
• 3208 - Unidentified SPORTIS (CrossCountry?)
• 3728 - London Midland Revenue Protection
• 3971 - CrossCountry Revenue Protection
• 4804 - Senior Conductor (Unknown TOC)
• 8961 - New Street Tribute Machines
• 9756 - Revenue Protection Avantix (Unspecified TOC and Station)

So that's potentially 12 different NLCs for one station(!) and they wonder why people get confused when trying to work out where a ticket's been issued.

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The number is 37534 4942759981 - (if you can work out anything for that go ahead )

Which numbers of those would represent the location?

37534 is the ticket number, 4942 the ticket machine number, 7599 is the location code (Brookmans Park Self-Service, oddly enough) and 81 the "Window" number, which I'd guess is a Shere FAST type machine.

Cheers,

Barry

 

[causton]

37534 is the ticket number, 4942 the ticket machine number, 7599 is the location code (Brookmans Park Self-Service, oddly enough) and 81 the "Window" number, which I'd guess is a Shere FAST type machine.

Cheers,

Barry

Ooh I understand now. Where did you get the code 7599 from - as I was unable to find it on that website. Did you find it on a different page or are you getting them from another source?

 

[transportphoto]

Looking it up, I see that 7845 is described as "Ipswich SPORTIS R", the R standing for Regional Railways(!), harking back to pre-privatisation days.

Yep - that sound right - the guard said she was IPS based!

Thanks also to Mojo for the site & everyone else who has posted .

TP

 

[westcoaster]

You can also find out the the issuer as well, as there code should always be on the ticket number.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Currently there are only two windows open at Epsom ( portacabin temporary office while the station is rebuilt ) and I've had the same number ( 5248536091 ) off both windows and with different staff on duty...

 

[Solent&Wessex]

You can also find out the the issuer as well, as there code should always be on the ticket number.

No it isn't. The ticket shows machine number, location and machine type. The only way of verifying who sold the ticket is to look at who was logged on shift on that machine at that time. The ticket itself does not display this data.

 

[wibble]

I looked up the number of the station for a ticket I had recently purchased (Brookmans Park, BPK, NLC 6074). This code shows nowhere on the ticket! Is this because I purchased it from a self-serve machine?

The number is 37534 4942759981 - (if you can work out anything for that go ahead )

Which numbers of those would represent the location?

37534 Sequential ticket number
4942 Machine number
7599 NLC for Brookmans Park TVM
81 Window number - different number for each machine (or ticket office window)

 

[hairyhandedfool]

As kwvr45 says, the 'code' for the person who issued the ticket is not on the ticket, only date and time of issue, ticket number, location and machine number.

Peter, if the staff are using portable machines (as I suspect they would be in a temporary office) it would be entirely possible for that to happen, because the machines are not tied to a window like regular ticket office machines are.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

37534 Sequential ticket number
4942 Machine number
7599 NLC for Brookmans Park TVM
81 Window number - different number for each machine (or ticket office window)

'Window number' goes back to Aptis days, when a machine failed and ther was no spare window to use, it was far easier to fetch a spare machine and swap them over before they were repaired. The data carried by the Aptis was always backed up so that when these swaps happened, the 'identity' of the machine could be swapped with a spare from another station. The thing that never changed on the machine was it's number. So if APTIS 4245 at City Thameslink failed and was swapped for Blackfriars' spare 5327 (these are not real numbers), the numbers on the tickets issued from that 'window' would change from 42455121S01 to 53275121S01. The 'S' was for the region, but those letters are not printed by the new machines. In some locations a 'Window 99' machine was available instead.

These days swapping machines would require an engineer, so much for progress!

I believe Sportis carried the window number so that ticket issuer identification was standard, but there may be other reasons.

 

[island]

And there is far more than you'll ever need to know at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APTIS_ticket_features

Despite that APTIS has moved on, the current tickets are more or less the same; only differences I'm aware of are that the Θ which used to show that the magnetic strip has been encoded doesn't appear any more (as presumably more or less every ticket, with the possible exception of HEX and GX, is encoded these days), and the region letter doesn't either.

 

[aptisman]

As kwvr45 says, The thing that never changed on the machine was it's number.

Yes, but I had it on the highest authority that the 'machine numbers could be changed but never would be'.

However m/c 4971 appeared very briefly at Plymouth as 4917!

 

[swt_passenger]

I find that some of the SWT S&B TVMs outside stations use a totally different 4 digit location number to the actual station's NLC - is there a particular reason for that?

 

[wibble]

I find that some of the SWT S&B TVMs outside stations use a totally different 4 digit location number to the actual station's NLC - is there a particular reason for that?

All SWT TVMs have a different NLC to the actual station. Part of the reason will be for monitoring sales at TVMs...