Decoding ticket validity code

[jthjth]

I loaded a ticket onto an EMR smart card for the first time today. National Rail have an app that lets me read the smart card ticket detail. It reveals a Validity Code of 25. How do I decode that number into something meaningful? In the more human friendly text on the initial screen it states it is an off peak travel card Market Harborough to London Travelcard zones 1-6. In fact it was purchased as a *super* off peak ticket. Can a ticket inspector see the difference between off peak and super off peak?

EMR’s own app just displays it as “custom first class” which doesn’t seem to be very helpful.

I’m curious as to how a normal customer is supposed to be able to work out exactly what ticket their smart card holds and what the restrictions might be.

 

[Wallsendmag]

I loaded a ticket onto an EMR smart card for the first time today. National Rail have an app that lets me read the smart card ticket detail. It reveals a Validity Code of 25. How do I decode that number into something meaningful? In the more human friendly text on the initial screen it states it is an off peak travel card Market Harborough to London Travelcard zones 1-6. In fact it was purchased as a *super* off peak ticket. Can a ticket inspector see the difference between off peak and super off peak?

EMR’s own app just displays it as “custom first class” which doesn’t seem to be very helpful.

I’m curious as to how a normal customer is supposed to be able to work out exactly what ticket their smart card holds and what the restrictions might be.

Presumably they’ll know what they bought and have the details on a booking confirmation

 

[Adam Williams]

25 is revenue-mode Shoulder Off Peak.

Customers are not supposed to need to understand this, but you can refer to section 3.6.6 here which explains what each bit means: https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/f...02-01_ITSO_in_National_Rail_specification.pdf

Recall 25 is 0b11001 in base 2.

The most significant bit is apparently always 1 for rail (or at the very least it doesn't really matter). The least significant bit tells you if it's a test product or a live one.

Then the three remaining bits tell you about the validity. 001 is "High Peak", 010 is "Mid Peak", 100 is "Shoulder Off Peak", 101 is "Mid Off Peak" and 110 is "Low Off Peak". The Retail Control Service defines which ticket type code maps to which validity code value.

 

[jthjth]

Presumably they’ll know what they bought and have the details on a booking confirmation

My booking confirmation email states I have a super off peak day travel card. There is no clue as to the definition of super off peak. So unless I attempt the booking again on the website to reveal the restrictions in the information fields of each ticket I’m stuck. Assuming I possess only the email and the smart card how can I determine which trains I can use?

Even the email is ambiguous:
“1x SUP OFFPK DAYTC
Same day return off-peak travel including unlimited bus, tube, tram and DLR journeys around London”

Conflating super off peak and and off peak

 

[Bungle965]

I must admit, I didn’t think you were supposed to have Super Off-Peak tickets enabled for Smartcard!
I don’t believe the ticket gates can pick up the relevant restrictions either, though I may be wrong.

 

[JBuchananGB]

The definition of Super Off Peak is found from a 2-character code provided with the ticket. The Super Off peak Travel Card zones 1-6 from Market Harborough has code SM which can be looked up at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ticket-types/validity/sm/
However a Travel Card can only be issued as a paper ticket as you need to get around London on it. So I am puzzled why you have it loaded on a smart card. Or I am mistaken, and another expert in the forum will put me right.

 

[Bungle965]

However a Travel Card can only be issued as a paper ticket as you need to get around London on it. So I am puzzled why you have it loaded on a smart card. Or I am mistaken, and another expert in the forum will put me right.

A Travelcard is fine to be issued to Smartcard, what you cannot have is a daily ticket with the Maltese Cross (Cross London) issued to Smartcard.

 

[MrJeeves]

I must admit, I didn’t think you were supposed to have Super Off-Peak tickets enabled for Smartcard!
I don’t believe the ticket gates can pick up the relevant restrictions either, though I may be wrong.

Yeah, this is also my understanding of the situation. (And it's rather frustrating!)

 

[JBuchananGB]

The Ticket issuing section of the Forum will only issue a "Market Harborough to London Travelcard Zones 1-6" as a paper ticket. Presumably to have it loaded onto a smartcard you use another method to buy it. Can you then touch in and out on all the Contactless/Oyster readers in London?

 

[MrJeeves]

The Ticket issuing section of the Forum will only issue a "Market Harborough to London Travelcard Zones 1-6" as a paper ticket. Presumably to have it loaded onto a smartcard you use another method to buy it. Can you then touch in and out on all the Contactless/Oyster readers in London?

Yes, smartcard fulfilment is effectively only available through TOCs. Some allow purchase online and loading to a smartcard via an NFC-enabled smartphone or via a gateline. Others require you to buy them from a TVM or ticket office.

It works effectively like Oyster/Contactless after that, yes.

I wrote up some info I found trawling the Internet Archive a few years ago on Wikipedia about the project (ITSO on Prestige) that enabled this inter-compatibility: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Key_(smartcard)#ITSO_on_Prestige_(IoP)_project

 

[Wallsendmag]

There was a RDG/Third Party Retailer project a few years back but the TPRs baulked at the cost allegedly

 

[CyrusWuff]

It works effectively like Oyster/Contactless after that, yes.

I wrote up some info I found trawling the Internet Archive a few years ago on Wikipedia about the project (ITSO on Prestige) that enabled this inter-compatibility: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Key_(smartcard)#ITSO_on_Prestige_(IoP)_project

One annoying thing about ITSO on Prestige is that it didn't include Croxley, Watford (Met) and Chesham.

So you can't buy a ticket from (for example) Aylesbury to Chesham and load it onto a Smartcard.

 

[jthjth]

There was a RDG/Third Party Retailer project a few years back but the TPRs baulked at the cost allegedly

Thanks for all the responses.

I did purchase the ticket from EMR and used their app on my phone to load it on to the smart card. Why this method? In the past I’ve used the paper ticket. The problem is that quite a number of LU gate line readers these days don’t seem to work with paper tickets. So I thought that something that uses the contactless readers might be better. So why am I concerned about the information encoded on the card? The ticket in question is a bit of an oddball. The super off peak limits me to the 1057 (or later) to StP. But you can get any train back, including those in the 1700-1900 peak window that are normally forbidden. You have to include the travel card to gain this additional flexibility. I’ve always been fearful that an inexperienced ticket inspector might question me returning in the afternoon peak, especially when they announce over the PA that off peak tickets aren’t valid.

So from all of this, does the inspector’s reader just show the ticket details leaving the validity decision to them, or does the reader software itself make the validity decision?

 

[fandroid]

It is a strange anomaly that the Off-peak and super Off-peak Travelcards have no evening restrictions on that route while the equivalent return tickets do. As an explanation, all I can think of is that the return tickets are "Any Permitted" while the Travelcards are "EMR only".

I wouldn't worry about the inspectors. They must be very used to Travelcards and their rather less restrictive restrictions.

I only got an ITSO smartcard because I could use it as one medium for TOC and TfL travel with an outboundary Travelcard, having got sick of paper Travelcards failing to open ticket gates after a few uses. I would never swap back now, given the ability to load it with my smartphone.

Load the National Rail Smartcard app on your phone. It will read the card and tell you the ticket you have.

Funnily enough the only problem with a ticket inspection I've ever had after multiple uses was yesterday. At an onboard check, the guards device was unable to read my card. He apologised! Later it opened gates OK and I read it myself with the National Rail app

 

[jthjth]

It is a strange anomaly that the Off-peak and super Off-peak Travelcards have no evening restrictions on that route while the equivalent return tickets do. As an explanation, all I can think of is that the return tickets are "Any Permitted" while the Travelcards are "EMR only".

I wouldn't worry about the inspectors. They must be very used to Travelcards and their rather less restrictive restrictions.

I only got an ITSO smartcard because I could use it as one medium for TOC and TfL travel with an outboundary Travelcard, having got sick of paper Travelcards failing to open ticket gates after a few uses. I would never swap back now, given the ability to load it with my smartphone.

Load the National Rail Smartcard app on your phone. It will read the card and tell you the ticket you have.

Funnily enough the only problem with a ticket inspection I've ever had after multiple uses was yesterday. At an onboard check, the guards device was unable to read my card. He apologised! Later it opened gates OK and I read it myself with the National Rail app

I have the app you mention. That’s what led me to try to understand the validity code of 25. Unfortunately as someone has pointed out, it is a bit vague when decoded. I can find nothing in either my email confirmation or by reading the detail of the smart card ticket, that defines which trains I can use. The only method I’ve so far found is to attempt to repeat the booking online and to read the restrictions presented by the website.

I think, and am willing to be proved wrong, that the ticket in question is a hangover from something that used to be sold as a “London Day Out” fare. The curious thing is that train loadings are the opposite of what might be expected. The first super off peak train to StP is usually full, with some 1st class passengers having to sit in Standard. The alleged evening peak services, which this ticket allows, have lots of space in 1st.

 

[Haywain]

The first super off peak train to StP is usually full, with some 1st class passengers having to sit in Standard. The alleged evening peak services, which this ticket allows, have lots of space in 1st.

So, train with cheaper tickets is more popular than the ones with more expensive tickets? Quelle surprise!

 

[fandroid]

I have the app you mention. That’s what led me to try to understand the validity code of 25. Unfortunately as someone has pointed out, it is a bit vague when decoded. I can find nothing in either my email confirmation or by reading the detail of the smart card ticket, that defines which trains I can use. The only method I’ve so far found is to attempt to repeat the booking online and to read the restrictions presented by the website.

I find the independent BR Fares website to be very handy in explaining specific restrictions. Remember that the ticket loaded onto your Smartcard has exactly the same restrictions and validity as the paper ticket with the same name. It sounds to me as if the code you found is just for internal TOC purposes and is of no help to passengers.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Mar 2025 ==

The definition of Super Off Peak is found from a 2-character code provided with the ticket. The Super Off peak Travel Card zones 1-6 from Market Harborough has code SM which can be looked up at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ticket-types/validity/sm/

The restrictions are also explained via the above link

 

[jthjth]

I find the independent BR Fares website to be very handy in explaining specific restrictions. Remember that the ticket loaded onto your Smartcard has exactly the same restrictions and validity as the paper ticket with the same name. It sounds to me as if the code you found is just for internal TOC purposes and is of no help to passengers.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Mar 2025 ==


The restrictions are also explained via the above link

The problem is that neither the confirmation email nor the smart card communicate the two letter restriction code.

This:
“1x SUP OFFPK DAYTC
Same day return off-peak travel including unlimited bus, tube, tram and DLR journeys around London.”

is all the email has to say about the ticket type. And as you can see it can’t make up its mind as to whether or not the ticket is super off peak or off peak.

 

[fandroid]

The problem is that neither the confirmation email nor the smart card communicate the two letter restriction code.

This:
“1x SUP OFFPK DAYTC
Same day return off-peak travel including unlimited bus, tube, tram and DLR journeys around London.”

is all the email has to say about the ticket type. And as you can see it can’t make up its mind as to whether or not the ticket is super off peak or off peak.

I think you are over-thinking it. That garbled contraction SUP OFFPK DAYTC can only mean it's a Super Off-Peak Day Travelcard. There's no problem if you just look up the restriction code associated with that on either link suggested.

 

[jthjth]

I think you are over-thinking it. That garbled contraction SUP OFFPK DAYTC can only mean it's a Super Off-Peak Day Travelcard. There's no problem if you just look up the restriction code associated with that on either link suggested.

What restriction code? It’s not to be found on either the booking confirmation email nor within the smart code data.

 

[Watershed]

What restriction code? It’s not to be found on either the booking confirmation email nor within the smart code data.

It is displayed when buying the ticket, under the "See fare validity" link on the basket/payment page. I agree that it should also be shown, or at least linked to, in the booking confirmation email too.

There is no expectation that customers can read the contents of the smartcard themselves, and I don't think the ITSO format supports having a verbatim restriction code, so I don't think you can expect to directly read it off there.