German Railways

The German Railways, one of the worlds leading passenger and logistics company, transports in their German railway business more than five million customers every day. On the 33,723 km long rail network, more than 26,700 local and long-distance trains are travelling per day (Source: German Railway, 2010). Even in times of online and mobile ticket purchase, it’s most important to operate ticket vending machines. 9,000 of them are operated by DB AG in Germany. At nearly all of them the tickets are paid with cash money. Paying cash is the most common way to buy tickets in local and long-distance traffic.

After installing the tamper-proof escutcheons at the ticked vending machines no more devices have been broken into, in the manner described.
Thomas Petry, German Federal Railways Authority, Karlsruhe

The high amounts of money that remain in the TVM tempt criminals to try to break into. But at break-ins and attempted break-ins not only money is stolen. In most cases the offenders produce a lot of damage and immense defect is done to the machine.

That is an old problem that always brought sorrows to the managers of the German Railways. In the early 90s they reported: "From Easter 1992 till March 1993 there were 117 break-ins to ticket vending machines." said by the former officer Thomas Petry. The offenders had pulled the lock of the machine using a special device and opened the machine. "After installing the tamper-proof escutcheons at the ticked vending machines no more devices have been broken into, in the manner described.", added Petry. A nice balance, "which has prompted the Federal Railroad central office to take the protectors in the general specifications for ticket vending machines."

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