Print at home - PDF acceptable?

[OLJR]

Print at Home tickets on East Coast have a bar code clearly visible. The ticket barrier opens when the code is scanned and I have seen inspectors carry scanners too.

Could you carry show and scan a PDF on a smartphone or laptop in order to be accepted for travel or do you actually have to have a paper document? In principle the code can be scanned no matter which you use so I don't see why it could not be done.

 

[1E05]

I know the Chiltern allows mobile tickets (even when you select e-tickets which need to be printed), but not so sure about East Coast. My guess would be that if the barcode can be scanned it should be allowed, but I'll let someone with more knowledge say for definite.

 

[causton]

Believe the ticket says on it (something along the lines of) "This must be printed on clean, clear white A4 paper" so not officially allowed!

 

[IanXC]

As far as I know the answer is that they must be on paper. I can't find it at the moment but we have had a case of a passenger who did this on East Coast and was treated as not holding a valid ticket.

 

[Hyphen]

Some types of barcode scanner will have immense difficulty reading from a backlit and reflective screen, especially laser-based ones.

I've never seen what sort of technologies they are using in either the barriers or the handheld scanners on East Coast, but unless they are using a camera in a smartphone-type device to read the tickets (and not some special add-on), I wouldn't try to chance it. Any reader which actively shines light (of any colour) at the target will almost certainly experience difficulties.

 

[34D]

You must print it off. Can always start by showing your iPad then pulling out the piece of paper if you want

 

[Haywain]

Some types of barcode scanner will have immense difficulty reading from a backlit and reflective screen, especially laser-based ones.

I've never seen what sort of technologies they are using in either the barriers or the handheld scanners on East Coast, but unless they are using a camera in a smartphone-type device to read the tickets (and not some special add-on), I wouldn't try to chance it. Any reader which actively shines light (of any colour) at the target will almost certainly experience difficulties.

You know what you're talking about. The scanners do shine a light at the target, and I understand that when tested on a significant range of smart phones and tablets the results were very poor. So paper is definitely the thing to carry. Clean, crisp, clear, white A4.

 

[tony_mac]

yet the technology seems to work well enough in airports.

 

[dcsprior]

I've once got to the station and realised that I didn't have my print-out. I asked the guard before I got on if it was OK to show it on my laptop, and there was no problem (he did emphasise that it wasn't officially allowed, but something he was happy with as a one-off)

 

[jon0844]

yet the technology seems to work well enough in airports.

Mostly, but I've certainly been held up a few times because a scanner hasn't been able to read the code on a phone at a gate - and staff asking if the person has a printed copy to try instead.

 

[Eagle]

"This must be printed on clean, clear white A4 paper"

I wonder how long before someone is refused travel because they printed it on A3?

 

[jon0844]

If Ryanair had ever got to run a train company (before now, hopefully, stopping much of the nonsense that has caused it to lose customers) then I'm sure someone would have been measuring the paper and if it was white enough.

 

[yorkie]

Officially you have to print it on paper AND show the card used for the booking.

Quite why anyone would choose Print@Home is beyond my comprehension - it's just a tool the TOCs use to both lower their costs and raise their revenue by charging people who don't meet the criteria.

 

[sheff1]

Quite why anyone would choose Print@Home is beyond my comprehension

So that I have my Airport Advance in my hand as I enter Sheffield station at an unearthly hour and do not need to arrive even earlier in case the TODler machines are malfunctioning meaning I have to go to the booking office where I will be held up by staff who will invent reasons why they are unable to print my ticket

 

[soil]

Here's a previous dispute with these tickets and East Coast:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=80210

 

[Hyphen]

yet the technology seems to work well enough in airports.

Airport barcode scanners (or at least the ones I've seen) are really funky devices. They use a camera to read the barcode (a little like a smartphone does), it just uses the laser to define the edges of what it thinks is the barcode.

These camera based scanners are much more likely to succeed at reading from a screen over those types which work by shining a (mostly red) light on the source and reading the modulated output.

It doesn't surprise me that airport scanners succeed fairly well. Again, I've not used EC for a few years now so haven't seen what sort of scanners they're using, but I doubt they're using airport-grade equipment.

 

[duncanp]

If Ryanair had ever got to run a train company (before now, hopefully, stopping much of the nonsense that has caused it to lose customers) then I'm sure someone would have been measuring the paper and if it was white enough.

They would probably charge extra if:-

(a) It was printed on the wrong size of paper
(b) It was printed on the wrong colour of paper


But then if Ryanair ran a train company, there would probably be all sorts of extra such as platform access fees, seat reservation fees, luggage fees, booking fees, ticket pick up fees... etc. etc.

 

[island]

East Coast guards use a green/red LED-based scanner and as mentioned above it has not been deemed acceptable to display the PDF on a smartphone or tablet.

 

[Tetchytyke]

East Coast guards use a green/red LED-based scanner and as mentioned above it has not been deemed acceptable to display the PDF on a smartphone or tablet.

Unless, as was discussed before, you're travelling to York from Berwick, or vice versa.

http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/travel-information/train-ticket-information/mobileticketing/

Maybe there's something about the quality of the air in Berwick which means the scanners can miraculously work there, who knows.

 

[starrymarkb]

I've not used a print at home in the UK but DB do require their ones to be printed as the conductor will grip the printout to show it's been used. They will also swipe/scan the payment card/ID to confirm the validity

 

[IanXC]

Here's a previous dispute with these tickets and East Coast:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=80210

Thanks soil, that was that case I was thinking of.

 

[OLJR]

PDFs were not accepted on my trip from King's Cross to Leeds yesterday or back to London today. The guard clipped the print outs with a traditional puncher.

 

[455driver]

Surely the clue is in the name-

Print at home.

Just a thought!

 

[hangus78]

PDFs were not accepted on my trip from King's Cross to Leeds yesterday or back to London today. The guard clipped the print outs with a traditional puncher.

I struggle to understand the Guards logic. Clipping a piece of paper you have printed yourself????

You could have printed the ticket off 57 times for all he knew

 

[maniacmartin]

It can be useful for Delay Repay to have a stamped ticket

 

[OLJR]

Surely the clue is in the name-

Print at home.

Just a thought!

Aye, but a PDF counts as a printer on my computer.

 

[455driver]

Aye, but a PDF counts as a printer on my computer.

So you are saying a PDF is the same as a printed document are you? :roll:

 

[yorkie]

The term "printer" or "print" can have different meanings, depending on context. And yes, the process of creating a PDF document is known as using a "PDF printer"

I doubt anyone will be asked to pay for a new ticket if they were caught not printing at home, but failing to print on paper is a breach of the T&Cs, as is being the victim in having your credit/debit card lost/stolen.

(In the context of "Print@Home" for railway ticketing, it clearly means avoid at all costs! :razz:)

 

[MikeWh]

I doubt anyone will be asked to pay for a new ticket if they were caught not printing at home, but failing to print on paper is a breach of the T&Cs, as is being the victim in having your credit/debit card lost/stolen.

In much the same way that TOD means ticket on departure, but no-one will mind if you go straight to your local TVM and pick the tickets up months in advance if you're the sort of person who doesn't want to risk not having the bank card later on.