Ticket XPress machines, also known by the codename FAA-2000/TS (ATOC), were developed in the early 2000s and were based on similar technology which had been used elsewhere in the world since the 1990s.

[2][3] The company is now organised into four largely autonomous divisions corresponding to the different business areas: Signal Technology, Petrol Stations, Car Parks and Leisure Centres, and Fare Collection Systems.

[5][7] Scheidt & Bachmann had initially gained experience in the design and manufacture of self-service ticket machines during the 1990s when the FAA-2000 system, popular on continental European railway networks, was developed.

Its modern touch-screen technology, flexible and easily customisable interface and ability to accept cash or card payments made it a popular choice with transport operators in urban areas including Boston, New York City, Seattle, Cologne, Copenhagen and Dublin.

[9] A version of this newer design with the codename FAA-2000/TS (ATOC)[9] was put on trial in August 2003 at Twickenham, a South West Trains station.

[2] At this stage, three companies were marketing their self-service ticket issuing systems: competing for trials and, ultimately, contracts from the privatised TOCs.

[6] The start of the trial at Twickenham meant that all three systems could now be compared properly, taking note of passenger reactions and feedback.

They submitted a request for tender in February 2004, and six months later the first four machines were installed on their network: two each at Beckenham Junction and Eltham.

[14][15] The programme was expected to be complete in March 2005;[12] this timescale was not met, but by August 2005 South Eastern Trains had installed 141 machines.

[17] The company had been trialling four machines at London Liverpool Street station since July 2004[2][18] and one at Chadwell Heath since April 2005.

For the former, Cheltenham Spa, Gloucester and Truro were among the early installations; neither these nor any other Wessex Trains station had self-service ticket machines previously.

[22] In early 2006, Virgin Trains put a single trial machine in place at a rarely used side entrance to Preston.

[23] By March 2006, about 500 machines had been installed across the British railway network, and Scheidt & Bachmann expected another 500 to be bought in the next year.

[9] Meanwhile, the ScotRail network was still a significant customer: Scheidt & Bachmann installed their 1,000th Ticket XPress machine at the TOC's Bridge of Allan railway station in March 2007, and in the same month a service base was opened in Scotland so that engineers could repair machines more quickly.

[27] Two TOCs operated by FirstGroup signed contracts for the installation of Ticket XPress machines in late 2006; machines began to appear at First Capital Connect stations in November 2006—initially at Elephant & Castle and Elstree & Borehamwood stations—and on the First Great Western network soon afterwards (initially at Ealing Broadway).

[30][31][32] The London Midland TOC was created in December 2007 to cover parts of Silverlink's and Central Trains' networks.

The new company signed a contract for Scheidt & Bachmann Ticket XPress machines to be installed at its stations; the first was put in at Rowley Regis in February 2008.

Various methods of network communication are available, including LAN and ISDN: each machine has a two-way link to central systems administered by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC).

[36] The machines have two printers which can print on, and encode the magnetic stripes on the rear of, Rail Settlement Plan-accredited ticket stock.

9399 and consists of fanfold (concertina-style) packs of round-cornered tickets joined to each other by perforated lugs which are cut during the printing process.

[50] When King's Cross Thameslink station closed in December 2007, its three First Capital Connect-operated Ticket XPress machines were replaced with four new machines with different numbers at London St Pancras International, whose low-level platforms replaced Kings Cross Thameslink.