Whether it’s for shopping, experiencing culture, or enjoying the maritime flair at the harbor – Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city, is always worth a visit. For those who prefer to avoid the hassle of searching for parking, switching to public transport is the best choice. To make ticket purchasing even easier for passengers in the future, the Hamburg Transport Association has introduced electronic tickets based on the VDV core application. In this context, Hamburger Hochbahn AG (HOCHBAHN) collaborated with the software company AMCON from Cloppenburg to develop a standalone eTicket software that communicates with the existing ticket vending machine software.
Requirements for the Software Integration into the Existing System
The ticket vending machines used by HOCHBAHN are supplied by ALMEX, a company based in Hanover. Due to the Hamburg Transport Association’s plan to introduce eTickets based on the VDV core application, extensive software modifications had to be made to HOCHBAHN’s machines. AMCON developed software that can be accessed directly from the ticket machine’s interface, enabling the purchase of both single and season tickets as eTickets. Additionally, action and block lists are executed through the system. The chip card and SAM reader are controlled directly by AMCON’s software. Data is supplied via the UFHO backend system, which also communicates with PTnova and provides KA transaction data. “We are very satisfied with how the project was handled. The UFHO system communicates with the ticket machine software, and eTicket sales through our existing machines have been running successfully in live operation,” says HOCHBAHN about the collaboration with AMCON.