Railway systems have special needs when it comes to ticketing systems. Unlike buses, which often take cash fares as part of the onboarding process, trains must begin moving before fares can be sorted by onboard staff. That’s why many railways are investing in onboard fareboxes that validate electronic media to improve efficiency and provide a better customer experience.
Genfare offers a wide variety of onboard farebox options. Since most railways are looking for fareboxes only to validate tickets onboard (versus accepting cash fares onboard like a bus system), the best choices tend to be the Fast Fare-e and the Cardquest. These advanced fareboxes can validate smartphone tickets via a QR code or validate reloadable smartcards and magnetics. For railways that do accept onboard cash payments, Genfare’s Odyssey, Odyssey Plus, and Fast Fare also provide secure, reliable fare processing.
More commonly, railway systems take advantage of offboard fareboxes located at each station or terminal. Genfare offers offboard solutions in two basic setups.
One is the traditional POS system, a point-of-sale register that is operated by a customer service staff member. Genfare offers an Administrative and a Retail POS system that provide different levels of back-end interfacing. The second type of offboard farebox for railway systems is the vending machine. These self-service ticket machines help alleviate lines at stations with manned ticket booths or can be used alone for completely unmanned stations. Our Vendstar 4 ticket vending machine processes cash, coins, debit cards, and credit cards and can be used to issue paper tickets and magnetic tickets or to purchase or reload smartcards. Our Vendstar-e offers all of the same functions as the Vendstar 4 minus the acceptance of cash fares for a reduced footprint and less maintenance.
Railway systems can benefit greatly from Genfare’s mobile ticketing software, Mobile Link. Our secure software application allows riders to purchase their own tickets from any smartphone. Riders can make one-off purchases using a guest checkout process or sign up for an account to save payment information and make future purchases quicker. The ability to enroll in auto-replenishment for period passes can help with cash flow while improving rider loyalty.
Mobile Link is closely integrated with Genfare’s overall software suite known as Genfare Link. This digital fare management system provides everything a railway agency needs to implement, support, review, and edit their fare collection solution. With Genfare Link, transit agencies can accept more “smart” payment methods, easily adjust fare prices, manage media inventory, and reduce workloads for staff in IT, customer service, and accounting.
Genfare Link includes robust reporting thanks to the fareboxes’ ability to collect important data on every ticket purchase and railway trip. These reports are frequently used to better plan future transit expansions, improve route efficiency, increase customer satisfaction, and, ultimately, boost revenue while reducing operational costs.