First Ticket Pre-Purchasing System Is an IEEE Milestone

For Japan commuter train passengers in subsequent years World War IIbuying a ticket can be a stressful experience. Today, it's easy to go online and reserve a seat, but 65 years ago, travelers faced long lines at the ticket counter and limited ability to find out if seats were available. Reservations were recorded by hand in a paper book and there were many accidental double bookings. Travelers had no real way of knowing whether they would—or could—get a reservation once they got to the ticket counter.

Everything changed in 1960 when Japan National Railways (JNR)which ran the country's system, in partnership with a technology company Hitachi introduce the world's first fully automated railway reservation system: Magnetic-electronic automatic reservation system-1.

MARS-1 gave JNR the ability to reserve up to 3,600 seats per day for travelers on four routes between Tokyo and Osaka. Orders are accepted 15 days in advance. Passengers no longer had to bid on seat availability as reservations were confirmed within seconds. Passengers traveling in groups can even reserve seats next to each other so families can stay together during the trip.

This system has been labeled as IEEE milestone for his role in transforming railway tickets into Japanand even in other countries.

At the time of publication, the opening ceremony was being planned.

Introduction to Computers in Japan

After the end of World War II, Japan's economy began to recover relatively quickly due to the rapid development of the Japanese economy. economic reforms this led to an industrial boom by the mid-1950s. Partly thanks to his economic growthJapan has invested heavily in its railway infrastructure, making trains more efficient and convenient for daily and long-distance commuters. As passenger traffic grew, the inefficiency of the country's rail ticketing system quickly became apparent.

JNR's research institute took it upon himself to find a solution. One of its engineers Mamoru Hosakahas already studied how computers can help automate certain tasks. Hosaka received the award in 2006. IEEE Computer Society Pioneer Award for his work on what later became MARS-1.

In 1954, he successfully convinced his colleagues and company executives to greenlight research into using computers to control railroad systems, according to his Computer Society. biography.

Three years later, he shifted focus and formed a team to research the development of automated reservation system using magnetic drum memory with a Bendix G-15 computer. Widely used in the 1950s and 1960s, magnetic drum memory stored information on the outside of a rotating cylinder coated with magnetic iron.

“The technical advances of MARS-1 and its successors went far beyond the railroad. They underpinned the development of the real-time transaction systems that shape modern life.”

Hosaka and his team developed a prototype system consisting of special control circuits that could quickly receive and update seat information on four new express trains connecting Tokyo and Osaka. For each reservation, the system checked availability, issued confirmations, and updated records—all in seconds.

The project was handed over to engineers Hitachi in Tokyo, who two years later developed a working system – MARS-1. It was first installed in 1960 in Tokyo Station and was one of the first large-scale deployments of a computerized system that captured, processed, and stored routine business transactions in real time.

Booking optimization made rail travel more efficient and reliable, which was critical for workers, students and families traveling between growing cities.

Bullet Train Scaling

Although the launch of MARS-1 was hailed as a great success, the system quickly revealed its limitations. By 1964, Japan was preparing to launch a global first high speed rail line– Shinkansen-(another IEEE milestone) – known as the bullet train. The Shinkansen will cut travel time from Tokyo to Osaka from almost seven hours to just over three. Given the ability to operate more flights per day, MARS-1's original capacity of 3,600 daily orders could no longer meet demand.

By October 1965, the upgraded MARS-102 system was installed at 152 stations throughout Japan. It consisted of three computers. The first ones were looking for trains, timetables, fares and other tables. The second one looked for and reserved available seats. The third, the main computer, controlled and controlled the overall processing sequence of the system. Computers exchanged data using a common magnetic core memory division, according to the Information Processing Society of Japan Computer Museum website.

MARS-102 could handle up to 150,000 locations, about five times more than the previous system. Engineers continued to make upgrades, and by 1991 the system was supporting more than 1 million tickets sold daily.

Inspiring booking systems around the world

The influence of MARS-1 spread far beyond Japan. This system laid the foundation for many of the principles that later formed the basis of global reservation systems. Saberdeveloped American Airlines used similar real-time transaction concepts for airline bookings in the early 1960s.

MARS-1 also paved the way for the transaction processing computers found in e-commercebanking and stock exchanges. Banks have adopted a similar architecture for their ATM networks. Hotel chains have developed automated room reservation platforms that can handle thousands of simultaneous transactions.

“The technical achievements of MARS-1 and its successors went far beyond the railway,” said Authors of milestones wrote. “They formed the basis for the development of the real-time transaction systems that shape modern life.”

A plaque recognizing MARS-1 as an IEEE milestone should be placed on Railway Technical Research Institutein Tokyo. It will read:

In 1960, Japan National Railways introduced the Magnetic Electronic Automatic Reservation System-1 (MARS-1), the first automated railway ticket reservation system. Initially supporting 3,600 seat reservations per day and 15 days in advance, real-time it later adopted a task-sharing multicomputer architecture that could support additional routes, including a high-speed train in 1965. Constantly modernized, it supported daily ticket sales of more than 1 million by 1991 and transformed the way rail tickets were sold around the world.

Under control IEEE History Center and supported donors, Stage program recognizes outstanding technical developments around the world. IEEE Tokyo Section sponsored the nomination.