The machines allow passengers to buy the most popular types of ticket themselves, without having to go to a booking office, and are therefore useful at unstaffed, partly staffed or busy stations.

These were classified by British Rail under the general acronym POTIS (Passenger Operated Ticket Issuing System).

Coins were inserted by the passenger after the appropriate button was pressed, and tickets and change were collected from a hatch at the bottom.

Such machines are believed to have been moved from NSE stations when they were supplanted by B8050s, being reprogrammed with different destination and fare information accordingly.

B8050 machines offer a wider range of journey combinations than their predecessors, as they have separate sets of buttons for destinations and ticket types.

The machine cuts off each individual ticket from the roll after the printing process finishes, after which they drop into a large plastic-fronted hatch at the bottom (along with any change).

There was usually a reasonable balance between places served by regular direct train services and more "unusual" locations.

However, this was not always the case: a notable example was Portslade, near Brighton, which offered Wimbledon, more than 50 miles and at least one change of train away, but not Fishersgate - the next stop.

Many also featured Gatwick Airport - an important destination throughout the year, with a larger proportion of journeys than usual happening at times such as very early morning or late evening, when booking offices are more likely to be shut.

All machines offer Seven Day Season Tickets, printed on separate dedicated ticket stock (batch reference BR 3595/4, and later RSP 3595/4) with dark green upper and lower bands, a white box in which "SEASON" or "TRAVELCARD" would be printed by the machine, and an area for the passenger's Photocard number to be entered manually.