Lost / forgotten railcards - solution?

[Mikey C]

Thinking about it, it's pretty rare that I've made a journey using my Network Card and actually had it checked... Especially with Covid issues, the number of ticket inspections are rare, and ticket barriers protect the bigger stations (and of course can't verify Railcards anyway)

 

[randyrippley]

And conspiracy theorists will say you are trying to track them. Well done (sarcasm).

But that's exactly what Oyster and e-tickets already do

 

[Llanigraham]

If you want to attract more people to the railway (which the railway needs to do, both for revenue and for political purposes), scrap them completely, and either

1) Just give the discounts to everyone
Or
2) Offer a free journey with every X ticket purchases, like coffee shops do

Eliminates the bad press (look at the disputes forum at the moment at the number of people caught out with threats of court action and fines on their first trip on the railway for 18 months)

How is that going to work when there are so many different operating companies and third party sellers?

 

[John Luxton]

If you want to attract more people to the railway (which the railway needs to do, both for revenue and for political purposes), scrap them completely, and either

1) Just give the discounts to everyone
Or
2) Offer a free journey with every X ticket purchases, like coffee shops do

Eliminates the bad press (look at the disputes forum at the moment at the number of people caught out with threats of court action and fines on their first trip on the railway for 18 months)

I am not sure about suggestion 1 as that is just a fares cut - BUT I think your second suggestion has some merit.

For quite a few years the Isle of Man Steam Packet company used to do this with their Irish Sea Sailings and it even extended to other routes when the company was owned by Sea Containers Ltd.

Basically you saved your tickets for five sailings added up the total and then noted 20% of the value. Presented the savings wallet at a terminal and they would give you 20% of the value of those five sailings against the cost of another ticket. - Was a very popular scheme but ended when Sea Co went bust and they were taken over by venture capitalists. (It was Nationalised by the Isle of Man Government just over two years ago).

It kept people loyal to the ship and kept them away from the airlines.

I imagine with online bookings such a scheme could be brought in by TOCs to maintain customer loyalty as journeys could be recorded on the customer's account.

Might avoid them going to competing TOCs, defecting to National Express or going by car!

 

[MotCO]

I am not sure about suggestion 1 as that is just a fares cut - BUT I think your second suggestion has some merit.

For quite a few years the Isle of Man Steam Packet company used to do this with their Irish Sea Sailings and it even extended to other routes when the company was owned by Sea Containers Ltd.

Basically you saved your tickets for five sailings added up the total and then noted 20% of the value. Presented the savings wallet at a terminal and they would give you 20% of the value of those five sailings against the cost of another ticket. - Was a very popular scheme but ended when Sea Co went bust and they were taken over by venture capitalists. (It was Nationalised by the Isle of Man Government just over two years ago).

It kept people loyal to the ship and kept them away from the airlines.

I imagine with online bookings such a scheme could be brought in by TOCs to maintain customer loyalty as journeys could be recorded on the customer's account.

Might avoid them going to competing TOCs, defecting to National Express or going by car!

Would encourage passengers not to lose their tickets!

 

[Jim the Jim]

I have also been thinking about this a lot recently. It seems to me that the penalty for travelling on a railcard ticket without actually possessing said railcard - particularly in the expired card cases - is disproportionate when compared to that for various other ticketing offences. This is particularly the case when the passenger would be eligible for a railcard in principle. Of course there should be some sort of penalty, just not to the degree that seems to be current policy: why isn't this in the full undiscounted anytime single fare to the next stop category?

I am opposed to making people prove they have a railcard at the TVM, those machines are enough of a faff as it is. (What is the state of the longstanding issue of machines not letting you buy multiple railcard tickets at once at the moment?)

As to phone batteries dying vs losing a wallet - all I can say is I've had the former take place on many, many more occasions than the latter.

 

[greyman42]

I don't keep my ticket in my wallet.

It is generally either in my shirt breast pocket for the journey along with my railcard which is in a small leather wallet and can generally feel its presence - I doubt it would pop out of there.

With any return bit if a print out stored safely in my camera bag. I won't lose my camera bag!!!

I also keep my tickets/pass separate from my wallet.

 

[MattRat]

But that's exactly what Oyster and e-tickets already do

But microchips are their domain. Don't poke the bear, is all I'm saying.

 

[Nicholas43]

...

For me, the solution is to scrap ALL railcards, and cut ALL fares by 33%.

...

+1 for that, particularly when we move to touching in and out on GBR, without worrying about what route we take. A cunning additional feature would be a surcharge of 50% for the few people who aren't eligible for a railcard now.

 

[davart]

The easiest way is to have each railcard holder create an online account that can be accessed via any web browser. You really ought to be able to have both a physical card and an app or online version at the same time. Forgotten railcard? No problem, sign into your online account and prove it that way.

My railcard is on the app. I take a power bank with me to ensure my phone doesn't run flat on long journeys. It is a faff to do that sometimes, which is why a physical card is useful. Conversely, having it on your phone means spur of the moment journeys are possible as you don't need to remember to take it with you.

I suppose it would be useful to be able to generate a one time code from the railcard app for times when your phone is about to go flat to prove that you have a railcard on the occasions when your phone is discharged.

 

[swt_passenger]

… You really ought to be able to have both a physical card and an app or online version at the same time. Forgotten railcard? No problem, sign into your online account and prove it that way.

Lent your physical card to your mate? No problem with effectively two cards. Because not all railcards need photos.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Lent your physical card to your mate? No problem with effectively two cards. Because not all railcards need photos

The obvious fix there is for all Railcards to require photos. It really is not hard.

 

[swt_passenger]

The obvious fix there is for all Railcards to require photos. It really is not hard.

People here will still complain, but I do agree. I wouldn’t be that troubled by adding a photo to my senior card.

 

[Mikey C]

The railcard App on my phone has my photo on it, whereas the physical Network Card doesn't