Printed stamp with time recording

A printed stamp with time recording is a variant of the mechanical printed validation stamp. The stamping device prints the time of stamping on to the ticket or travel document. In most cases, it prints both the time and the date.

The means of determining the time/date are:

Internal clock in the stamping device.
Stamping device receives time/date information from another device (e.g. ticket issuing machine). This could be received as part of a broader set of information to be stamped on the ticket (e.g. route, fare stage / zone, fare paid).
In simple cases, only the date is printed. This is set by the driver or other personnel at the beginning of the day.

Some machines have a mechanical counter or register to indicate the cumulative number of validations.

In addition to the applications for the printed validation stamp in the previous section, the main applications for a printed stamp with time recording are:

Transfer tickets, where subsequent boardings must be made within a specified period after the first.
Single and multi-journey tickets.
Day and multi-day tickets, which must receive a date stamp on first use.
24-hour tickets (or other period of validity), which must receive a date and time stamp on first use.

Benefits of mechanical time stamps are:

Support a range of fare products, including timed transfer and time-period tickets
Relatively simple technology to stamp information onto a ticket
The ticket is clearly and irreversibly marked
Time and date information is a significant contribution to inspection and revenue protection, to prevent tickets being improperly used
Low to moderate cost
Few moving parts with high reliability and low maintenance requirements

Cautions with regard to mechanical time stamps are:

The date and time setting must be extremely reliable, otherwise the system rapidly falls into disrepute.
Permitted transfers still rely on visual inspection.
No transaction data are generated to support administrative or planning processes.