Public transport operators and security experts estimate that the losses incurred as a result of forged tickets in the mass transit sector amount to several million euros every year. The amount of interest attracted by the Ticket Security Symposium, which was organized by the Diagramm Halbach security printing house and held at Schwerte's Technology Center, therefore came as no surprise. Security experts from more than 30 German public transport companies assembled to address and discuss this controversial subject.
Detective Chief Superintendant Kamm, Germany's authority on document fraud with the federal German police force, talked about current cases of forgery, which suggest a high level of criminal energy on the part of the fraudsters. In spite of constant efforts to design and produce unforgeable tickets by integrating security features, evidence of a growing number of highly professional forgeries has been found. The only one of its kind in Germany, this symposium therefore focused on the most recently developed security features in ticket paper in an effort to keep one step ahead of the forgers. Intelligent printing and design solutions developed and made ready for the market by Diagramm Halbach were received with particular approval, leading to in-depth discussions on the most diverse variations of such security elements as microprinting, holograms or guilloches with different security levels. The experts from the security industry and the public transport companies all agreed that attempts to forge tickets for bus and rail services can only be foiled reliably by using combinations of different security features.