What programs do you recommend for Ticket reservations?

Pickings are pretty slim. Most operators use the tried-and-true pencil and paper method. And if your goal is simply to print tickets, it is by far the most inexpensive system. Computerized reservations makes sense where the operator generates significant advance sales, a large numbers of agents selling tickets, reserved seats on numerous different itineraries with different capacity choke points, and wants rigorous oversight of the money trail without hundreds of man-hours of auditing and filling out forms. There aren't many outfits in that category.It's overkill for an outfit that offers one type of trip (out and back), sells 90% of its 15,000 annual tickets in the moments before departure, rarely fills a train, and doesn't offer reserved seating. Strasburg manages to sell a few hundred thousand tickets a year with two ticket windows (at most) and no computers.Some operators have used a DOS system (I think it's called TicketTrax, but I might have that wrong) provided by a gentleman in Ohio. It's actually a pretty efficient system. But I believe that system is no longer available to new customers (again, I could be wrong).Ohio Central had a system written for them in MSAccess.In 2001 the Grand Canyon RR implemented an integrated system for the Fray Marcos hotel and their railroad ticketing. It was a custom system based on an Australian hotel-booking package. I was told $200,000 for the software, $200,000 for hardware and training.In 2000 the D&SNG implemented a custom system that I'm told they're about to replace. (I was told they were dissatisfied with it from the beginning.) I assume it will get used at the Great Smoky Mountains, as well - they have a pretty complex offering. A cost of $500,000 is rumored.When Lindsey Ashby's company ran the Georgetown Loop, they developed a system in-house (which I assume they still use at the Royal Gorge). The new operator of the Loop was planning to implement an integrated system, but I got the impression they put that off.Doug Bailey has done a system in Cold Fusion that 261 excursions use, I think.The only off-the-shelf system I'm aware of today is Videcom's Res-X-Press, and it's targeted to British TOCs. It would be gross overkill for a tourist railroad (it's based on an airline reservations model), even if it didn't swallow up the annual budget for the next several years (I can't imagine it would go for less than a few million).Since 2000 I've provided the system used by the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. And over the last couple of years, as time and motivation are available at the same time, I've been writing a more generalized application on the premise of, "what would a computer system look like that could manage the pre-Depression US rail passenger network?" Conceptually, it is easy to understand routing someone across the country on several railroads, transferring at stations, assigning seats, etc. - but it's fiendishly difficult to tell a computer how to do it. They are quite stupid things, really - they do only what you tell them.JAC

TVRM had a local freelance computer person, (I think all TVA I.T. personnel moonlight on the side) whom we call "Hacker", develop a software program for this purpose. It was written first in DBase about 1983 and later modified in Clipper. We wanted a program that could assign individual seats on our Southern/NS excursions. It is not used for walk up tickets to ride the "local" trains that are sold as general admission.We made modifications to the program later to allow assignment to a car, but not necessarily an individual seat. We can also set up a particular consist for a specific excursion thus allowing trains to have different seating arrangements. The program generates a passenger list for each train so we know exactly who should be in each seat. That's the good news.The bad news that the program is based on obsolete software that requires attention from the author on a fairly frequent basis. Attempts to secure documentatin have met with frustration and efforts to commission custom made software have caused coronaries in the finance department. We did look at the vendor at TRAIN 2005 (and I can't seem to remember the name) who has a web based system but we felt it didn't go as far as we need it too. So the search continues, meanwhile we hope Clipper and the Hacker hang in here.Tim AndrewsChattanooga, TN

When I owned and operated a tourist line in Central Florida, we handled about 65,000 per year for three years...the "tried and proven" method of taking a reservation and selling a ticket was how we did it. In my humble opinion, this is by far the cheapest and THE BEST method! For over 100 years big railroads put hundreds of thousands of passengers on trains, going to multiple destinations, leaving and multiple tracks, various seats and berths on trains....and all with a pencil and a simple piece of paper. If Strasburg can do it with no computers...I rest my case.Yes, tech is great...blah, blah, blah....I gaurantee the old No.2 pencil will never crash and to simply find the reservation....look in the book!

Check out www.ticketweb.com.Ohio Central has used them in the past for ticketing excursions and Polar Express trains. Our local group in Youngstown Ohio also used their services for an Ohio Central excursion. They understand trains, cars and seating and did a great job for us.

Paper is great until it gets really busy - many young people (read: your labor pool) have never done math without a calculator and don't perform well using a pencil. And Ticketweb is great too, but why pay them $3/ticket?We are located on the west coast and considered a new ticketing system this year. I'm not a software expert but got involved in this out of necessity. Perhaps some others out there are more knowledgeable and can improve on our proposed approach. Anyways, our project is on hold until next season because of budget constraints but here is what we planned to do:1) Write a requirements document that includes all the features and performance specifications you want or require. Consider specifying how information is formatted (eg SQL) so you know you have a way of accessing and manipulating the data without proprietary software understood only by the one person who wrote it. Balance your effort: the more detailed you are, the more control you have over the final product. However if your requirements document becomes a 50 page tome, you may not find any interested vendors.2) Request proposals from vendors, typically companies that provide point of sale systems for retail shops. There are several systems on the market now that should be easily modified (we think!) to handle ticketing transactions and they all store their data in SQL. If you plan to authorize using IP, consider specifying how your credit cards will be processed such as by a reputable processor (Verisign or equivalent) so you are less likely to be caught by the ever changing credit card security requirements.3) Evaluate proposals based on conformance to requirements (the vendor should be willing to sign a contract that they will meet or exceed your requirements) and some sort of proven track record.4) Perform secondary evaluation based on how they propose meeting the requirements (how it will be programmed, type of database, qualifications of the software engineer and/or vendor, etc). 5) Check references/client list.6) Make sure any contract has performance standards with penalties for failure to meet requirements. For instance, the vendor's product will meet your requirements document or will give you a full refund.Final tip: Programming a simple ticketing system using .NET & some VB script is not difficult for an experienced programmer. Cost is going to vary with complexity but it may surprise you how little it is. Warning: there are lots of people who may claim they can do it yet many may fall short in some area such as credit card processing or system security. So check those references - this isn't a job for an intern or other newby.Good luck and let us all know how it turns out!

My name is Michael Kuehl. I represent Dynamic Ticket Solutions of Cherry Hill, NJ. We are the vendor that Mr. Andrews (TVRM) spoke of at the 2005 TRAIN convention.I think we have a web-based ticketing and reservation system that might be what you are looking for. Our system was designed in cooperation with the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad. Please feel free to visit their website at www.newhoperailroad.com. Our product is a turn key system where the public can purchase tickets for any excursion, at any time, all online. Very similar to any online shopping cart. Additionally, our system allows each Railroad the ability to administer their website. Including number of excursions, departure times, seats available, market data gathering, sales reports and more.At the TRAIN convention we spoke to a number of Railroad representatives. Most of them were intrigued by our system as they are in need of a solution, same as you. We did receive a few suggestions to enhance it. In an ongoing effort to keep our customers satisfied, and provide the best product possible, we are working on these enhancements and will make them available to existing and new customers by the end of January.I will be more than happy to speak with you in order to answer any questions you might have. I can also offer an online demonstration if this interests you.

One small correction, The MSAcess system that the Ohio Central had was written for the Cuyahoga Valley, and we still use the system, anyone interested should contact me through the back channels.B. AllanCVSR

Since I got back from Chattanooga, I've exchanged e-mails with John Augustin of Flextell systems. He's still out there and systems are being used. He'd been at TRAIN a couple times in years past.This is one that was pretty mature and well-suited to tourist railroads, but all DOS-based and really needed updated to Windows. He's apparently done that and I've been bugging him to release a fresh demo package.I've looked at several systems, including some real 'winners' that were adapted from non-tourist railroad venues. When we had TRAIN at Durango I looked at their system. Well-suited to what they were doing, but it ran on an IBM mini-mainframe system and was all custom-programmed and supported. Pretty expensive to support over time and not adaptable at all to your typical operation.I'd second that comment to solicit proposals from as many as you can find, and that's hard by itself. I'll also chime in and say that for the most part, you don't need a reservation system at all until you hit the capacity wall on trains or capacity on special events. Credit card handling and charges are the biggest expense on a regular basis.I don't remarket or recommend anybody in particular, but I have certainly assisted in product evaluation for several operations. As I used to be a computer programmer in a previous life, it is sometimes kind of scary how critical business systems like this have to be supported in the 'custom programming' area, and that deserves a very critical eye.

Partly as a result of this thread, I decided to go ahead and finish the system I have been working on. Testing should be complete in the next couple of weeks.

If anyone is interested in a full-featured reservations system designed for transportation management from the ground up, more information is available at the link:


http://traveltracker2006.com

This is a timely thread. At the Western Railway Museum, I maintain the custom DOS (compiled QuickBASIC) program which prints tickets. It does not do reservations, only (optionally) keeps a running count of available seats on trains with a limited amount of seating. This is a single-terminal system.

Our bookstore staff is asking for a major upgrade which would allow multiple terminals to sell tickets, also sell bookstore items, maintain the store inventory, and do on-line credit card validations. At present, reservations capability is only needed to control sale of space on limited-seating trains.

I've found a link to a company whose web site looks promising:

[url]http://www.titantechgroup.com/index.htm[/url]

Has anybody had experience with their software?

Al Stangenberger

Whatever system is used, I expect there is always a way to defeat it. We were using a known sytem at Thomas last year and somehow two or three trips were sold TWICE!! (Double booked!!) It was not discovered until too late to contact all the passengers and there were a few short tempered visitors (justifiably). We gave out "I'm Sorry" merchandise coupons, and the crews gave up their lunch breaks to run an extra trip. But the guests still had to spend extra time to wait for that added trip and some could not do it.

So there may always be software glitches or loopholes where an undesirable result can creep in. The software people claimed no responsibility or liability, and this was an expensive lesson.

It is just as important to use knowledgable people when using or accessing the system as to have a system vendor with a known track record. Unfortunately, for a special event scenario, help is added for a short service time and there is little opportunity for training, and perhaps little motivation from them for a job that may only last weeks.


Bob Kutella