Doesn't resolve the issue of the TOC not providing a ticket which is fit for purpose, though, does it? The increase in gates has no doubt not helped the situation, as the physical act of putting the ticket in/out of the wallet is what causes the problem. If the wording gets worn down, then either one has to visit the ticket office (inconvenient) or potentially get harassed every time a manual ticket inspection occurs.
My local station got gates last year. The first morning of operation I offered my season for inspection (in the sleeve inside my wallet), only to be told it had to be put through the gate. Since keeping it in the sleeve (and extracting and replacing it four times a day) will result in my wallet sleeves disintegrating, it now lives in one of the open 'pockets', meaning it has to be pulled out each time for both manual inspections and gates. The corners take a beating, and the print fades. I don't want it in a separate holder, as I'm bothered it will get lost.
On that first morning,when I objected to ruining my wallet by constantly removing the ticket, one of the staff on duty told me they were getting tickets with barcodes on (the gates have scanners), so that I'd be able to scan it still in the sleeve - great, problem solved - but no, she didn't know when that was happening (it's now over a year and no barcodes yet).
I asked again some months later, another staff member replied "oh, they [VT management] tell us all sorts, doesn't mean it's true".
It doesn't usually take too long before the ticket won't pass through the gates anyway, so then they have to accept a manual inspection.
