A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine

Vending machine

A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....

 that produces tickets. For instance, ticket machines dispense train

Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...

 tickets at railway station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

s and tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

 tickets at some tram stop

Tram stop

A tram stop is a place designated for a tram to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, but because trams operate on rails, they often include railway platforms, especially if stepless entries are provided for accessibility...

s and in some trams. The typical transaction consists of a user using the display interface to select the type and quantity of tickets and then choosing a payment method of either cash, credit/debit card or smartcard

Smart card

A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...

. The ticket or tickets are printed and dispensed to the user.

To encourage usage of ticket machines and reduce the need for salespersons, machine prices may in some cases be lower than those at a ticket counter.

In many countries where trains and urban transport tickets operate largely on the honor system (with enforcement by roving inspectors or conductors), there are also machines in stations (or in vehicles) just for validating tickets. This is for the situation where one buys a ticket in advance and decides to use it later. Usually, the ticket is time-stamped to determine its validity period. A common problem is forgetting to validate and then being fined as if one had no ticket at all.

Ticket machines that are out of service or accept 'exact change only' result in losses for transport providers. Ticket machines on trams in Melbourne

Trams in Melbourne

The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. , the network consisted of of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the...

, for example, often run out of change when passengers use a higher ratio of $2 and 50c coins, depleting the ticket machine of smaller coin denominations (10c, 20c). Passengers do not need to buy tickets on trams when ticket machines run out of change.

Such machines are generally not used in the United States. Nearly all American mass transit networks operating on the honor system expect their users to buy tickets immediately before use; regular riders can avoid that inconvenience by buying period passes in advance (often from the same machines that sell daily or one-time tickets). Recently, however, a handful of regional rail

Regional rail

Commuter rail, also called suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates between a city center, and the middle to outer suburbs beyond 15km and commuter towns or other locations that draw large numbers of commuters—people who travel on a daily basis...

 systems like Caltrain

Caltrain

Caltrain is a California commuter rail line on the San Francisco Peninsula and in the Santa Clara Valley in the United States. The northern terminus of the rail line is in San Francisco, at 4th and King streets; its southern terminus is in Gilroy...

, Metrolink

Metrolink

Metrolink, MetroLink, or Metro-link is the name of several transport services throughout the world:Australia*Metro-link Bus Lines, a bus operator in Sydney, New South Wales...

, and Charlotte Area Transit System

Charlotte Area Transit System

The Charlotte Area Transit System, commonly referred to as CATS, is the public transit system in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. It operates bus service around the Metrolina area and a historical trolley in Uptown Charlotte, and operates a light rail system, called LYNX which opened on November 24,...

 have adopted the use of validation machines for at least some ticket types.

Ticket machines are often used in car parking, as well as those that issue free tickets — for example, those for virtual queueing.

Conductors and drivers ticket machines

Mechanical ticket machines were used by bus drivers and conductors since the late 1920s. They print tickets and record sales and payments. Sonne manufacturer are TIM

TIM

Tim may refer to:Names*Timothy or Tim, for short*Tim , the Australian moviePeople*Tim, the Oldenburg Baby, abortion survivor*Tim , popular K-pop solo singer*Tiny Tim , American singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist...

, Almex

Hoeft & Wessel AG

Hoeft & Wessel AG, Hanover, established by the entrepreneurs Michael Hoeft and Rolf Wessel in 1978, is a German IT hardware and software specialist focusing on public transport, parking as well as retail and logistics...

, Setright

Setright Machine

A Setright Machine is a machine operated by a conductor or guard for issuing bus tickets from a blank paper roll.- Technology :A Setright can print any value and could easily deal with changes in fares...

, AEG

AEG

Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in 1883 by Emil Rathenau....

, CAMP (Compagnie d'Ateliers Mecaniques de Precision), Gibson

Gibson

Gibson may refer to:* Gibson Amphitheatre* Gibson Appliance* Gibson Girl* Gibson Guitar Corporation* Gibson * Gibson Generating Station-Places:In the United States:* Gibson, Arkansas* Gibson, Georgia* Gibson, Iowa* Gibson, Louisiana...

 GFI Genfare and Beckson.

Since the 1980s, electronic computer terminals and printers are used.

List of models that are capable of issuing receipt

Vendstar 2 and Vendstar 3 by GFI Genfare, a division of SPX