e-Tickets and barriers

[trainophile]

I booked a ticket through the ATW website as it's for an ATW train and had tickets for a future date (early May) that were not yet available elsewhere.

I don't know how it happened, don't remember being offered a choice, but anyway it turns out I have booked my first e-ticket. I have managed to sort out the ATW app and I think I will be okay to show the electronic version of my ticket to a TM if requested.

What happens when I have to go through barriers at either end of my journey? Do I need to have my phone handy for some sort of scanner (maybe like on London Underground) to read? Or do I just have to rely on there being a member of staff at the barrier to let me through?

It's a bit worrying when the booking is so far ahead, in case it accidentally gets deleted or something. I am aware I have to ensure I have enough battery power in my phone, but thinking of what else could go wrong!

 

[_toommm_]

Just above where you would normally put a ticket, there is a glass panel with a red laser inside - this is your barcode scanner. Put your brightness on full whack and hover your phone about an inch above the screen with the barcode on the screen. As long as your ticket is valid the barrier will open and you're on your way. If for any reason it doesn't switch to the ticket version and show gateline staff.

As you noted, ensure you have enough power - perhaps invest in a portable power pack. You'll have to buy a new ticket otherwise, and could even be penalty fared depending on where you're travelling from/to!

 

[gazthomas]

If you can print a copy on paper as a backup

 

[scrapy]

If you can print a copy on paper as a backup

This is not a helpful suggestion. If the OP has an e-ticket they must present the e-ticket on their device. They may get charged a penalty fare, charged for a new ticket or even reported for prosecution if they don't. They should not be under the impression that it's ok not to have their ticket on a device if they have a printout.

Printouts, booking confirmations, screenshots or photographs of tickets etc are not accepted.

 

[Wallsendmag]

This is not a helpful suggestion. If the OP has an e-ticket they must present the e-ticket on their device. They may get charged a penalty fare, charged for a new ticket or even reported for prosecution if they don't. They should not be under the impression that it's ok not to have their ticket on a device if they have a printout.

Printouts, booking confirmations, screenshots or photographs of tickets etc are not accepted.

That's is incorrect E Tickets can be printed or shown on a device. M-Tickets must only be shown on a device and Self print , well must be printed.

 

[scrapy]

That's is incorrect E Tickets can be printed or shown on a device. M-Tickets must only be shown on a device and Self print , well must be printed.

Apologies got my Ms and Es mixed up. At the time of reading this the last message I'd just watched a Northern conductor charge a group of Chinese students over a hundred quid for new tickets as they were screenshots and they didn' have them on the app.

 

[gazthomas]

Apologies got my Ms and Es mixed up. At the time of reading this the last message I'd just watched a Northern conductor charge a group of Chinese students over a hundred quid for new tickets as they were screenshots and they didn' have them on the app.

I forgive you

 

[trainophile]

Thanks for all the replies. I’m now uncertain as to whether I have an e- or m- ticket! Need to see if ATW were kind enough to tell me!

Journey is from Chester to Hereford, if that might answer my question.

 

[WelshBluebird]

Just maybe don't do what someone tried yesterday at Bristol Temple Meads which was trying to show his ticket to someone at the barrier on a laptop! Wasn't close enough to hear all the conversation but I think the guy had a XC e-ticket and him showing it on the laptop properly confused the GWR gateline staff!

 

[Gareth Marston]

Apologies got my Ms and Es mixed up. At the time of reading this the last message I'd just watched a Northern conductor charge a group of Chinese students over a hundred quid for new tickets as they were screenshots and they didn' have them on the app.

Absolutely correct - a screen shot is not acceptable as the "real" ticket could be in use elsewhere.

 

[Nick66]

Thanks for all the replies. I’m now uncertain as to whether I have an e- or m- ticket! Need to see if ATW were kind enough to tell me!

Not sure if every TOC is the same but certainly in the case of VTEC an M-Ticket needs to be opened in a specific app on a registered device and needs to be activated before travel rendering it non-reusable. E-ticket is more of a generic name, best read the instructions clearly as to whether or not you need to print it out. Again I only know about VTEC but they only offer M-tickets that don’t need to be printed.

 

[xotGD]

My head hurts! I think I'll just stick to little rectangles of card.

 

[Starmill]

I don't think the use of the term "e-ticket", as in electronic ticket, is at all useful.

These have been used at various times to refer to several very different things:
-Tickets held on Smartcards, such as The Key, or a Travelcard Season on an Oyster Card
-Print at Home or Self Print tickets, which come on A4 paper and are printed out by t customer
-Mobile tickets or M-tickets which must be shown on a mobile device screen and activated prior to boarding the train

 

[gray1404]

The barriers at Chester have the scanner above the ticket slot to scan the ticket. I am not sure if the barriers at Hereford have been upgraded yet.

I do not see any harm in showing a ticket on a laptop or tablet or phone (using the Bristol example). It would be totally valid. It would be too far for the TOCs to demand what sort of electronic device it was shown on.

 

[gazthomas]

This is what the ATW website says:

“You can keep the ticket on your phone as an e-mail, print the ticket off or download the ticket to your ATW Ticket App”

https://m.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/e-ticket/

 

[trainophile]

Thanks again everyone. I'll try this as a one-off but make sure I buy a "proper" ticket next time. Not looking forward to the demise of such things, hope it isn't in my travelling lifetime!

It's strange that when I booked last Sunday the TPE website still had 4th May as an "invalid date", but on the ATW booking engine not only was it valid, with Advance tickets, but my usual preferred train on a different route but same date was already sold out of the lowest tier and onto the next price up. Can't understand why some websites have later booking horizons than others, obviously apart from the extended 24 weeks on some routes.

 

[6Gman]

My head hurts! I think I'll just stick to little rectangles of card.

This!

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

As you can see, things are getting simpler and more customer friendly by the day! The rules on m- and e-tickets are all on websites and NRE, not at stations so once you get to a station your problems increase. Also, they often have subtly different wording, even before they are translated in to Mandarin Chinese... There's a further a sting insofar as Virgin's ADV e-tickets, once loaded onto the device cannot be amended and are regarded as M-tickets, whereas if kept 'in the cloud' they can be -- although the purchase conditions are not terribly clear on this. So, notwithstanding politicians' interest in axing orange cardboard, it's probably the best way for most people to go for the moment until operators can agree a single e-ticket and m-ticket format and purchase conditions that is valid on all trains nationwide. Don't hold your breath, though.

 

[trainophile]

Glad it’s not just me!

 

[TheManOnThe172]

Are eTickets any better thought-through than Ryanair's app-based boarding cards in dealing with multiple passengers on a single booking?

With Ryanair, you can (must?) download the boarding passes for a booking to a single device, but this is then something of a challenge if the passengers need to board separately. This happened to us when we declined to pay Ryanair's ransom to be seated together and ended up with the two of us being told to board via different doors but with both boarding passes on one device.

For rail travel, it is easy to imagine two passengers on one booking wanting to board the same train at different times (one goes ahead to find a pair of seats while the other goes to buy coffees, perhaps) - how is that handled with eTickets?

 

[ethernet22]

Are eTickets any better thought-through than Ryanair's app-based boarding cards in dealing with multiple passengers on a single booking?

With Ryanair, you can (must?) download the boarding passes for a booking to a single device, but this is then something of a challenge if the passengers need to board separately. This happened to us when we declined to pay Ryanair's ransom to be seated together and ended up with the two of us being told to board via different doors but with both boarding passes on one device.

For rail travel, it is easy to imagine two passengers on one booking wanting to board the same train at different times (one goes ahead to find a pair of seats while the other goes to buy coffees, perhaps) - how is that handled with eTickets?

From my experience, Ryanair staff don't care what door your use to board - they put the door on the boarding pass to encourage people who sit at the back to use the back door which speeds up boarding. Where possible I carry paper boarding passes as a backup just in case, for whatever reason, my phone doesn't work.

However, in terms of the railway, this could be difficult, but any instances of this happening is likely to be rare (and ticket checks don't usually start until the train leaves). You could buy the tickets on separate devices but this may be a problem if you're using GroupSave or a railcard. Personally, I would just stick to paper tickets if you are that worried.