Recent content by classicmds

Yes, I was thinking only about the Central London stations where there is likely to be the most confusion. i.e. where there is a shared ticket gate between National Rail and non-National Rail services. Is there are other case on the National Rail network where this happens other than EL and...

That's a useful link. I've previously used Britrail at Tottehnam Court Road (and other central London EL stations) without issue. I think it all depends on the person running the gate. Given that this central London area is the one with most likely confusion re: national rail passes, I think...

I know this topic is discussed regularly - I previously posted about similar problems on London Overground - but just starting a new thread to report experience yesterday, and with some updated links. Yesterday i tried to exit the Elizabeth Line at Tottenham Court Road using a Britrail Pass...

Yes I think training is the issue. But I do wonder whether the pass needs more info on it, though, given that the ideal world where every member of staff knows about Britrail Mobile passes will probably never exist? Should it actually state something like "Valid on all National Rail routes"? (If...

On Monday I had a bumper day experience with the M-Pass. Greater Anglia on-train guard: "What the...?! I've never seen this. This tells me nothing. Well I guess if you say it's valid. Can I take a photo of this to show someone?" Gate line at Stratford Mainline: "What's this? Hey Sam, come look...

Whatever the brightness, it always scans, in the sense that the ticket barrier recognizes that some kind of data has been sent. It always triggers the message "Seek Assistance" on the barrier LCD screen. I therefore think that the brightness or zoom or whatever isn't the issue: I suspect it is...

That's a good idea; I'll try it next time and see what happens. 1625329904 I did crank the phone brightness to max but did not make a difference. 1625329984 One train guard told me something like this... although it scanned something, he said the info provided on the screen was useless to him...

I've tried on Greater Anglia, Thameslink, London Overground, Southeastern, Heathrow Express and Great Western...so I'm guessing from this sample that the chances of a ToC having it working are probably slim! 1625313723 One other thing is that when scanned by a guard on the train with a handheld...

I posted a few years ago about some problems using a Britail pass. I'm visiting UK again and this time decided to use the Britrail M-Pass. This basically gives you a PDF with a QR code to scan at the ticket gate. However, the main problem is that the QR code does not work. It scans at the...

But does the Euston ticket inspector know that? :wink:

Yes: it seems one of the issues is that the retailers all sell the pass without mentioning that you will actually need a passport. The pass is then delivered and the pass itself mentions taking your passport to the ticket office, without any acknowledgement that you may not have one and that...

I think officially (i.e. based on what the Rail Delivery Group -- who are, i I believe, the ultimate authority on this -- have told me), they want to see a passport. The T&Cs also do state that a passport should be presented for the initial validation at a ticket office. In practice, I think...

I think they'd say they are providing the service (i.e. selling the ticket) on the basis of residence not nationality but, to quote the Rail Delivery Group, "The recognised form of identification on National Rail is Passport". In other words, it doesn't matter your nationality, as long as...

Yes, I agree. It would make most sense for the vendor to check residency, and then for any checks in the UK to be about establishing identity (i.e. is the person named on the pass the one actually using it?) rather than residency (let alone nationality). The requirement in the UK would then...

Yes, it's against the T&Cs. But I think the point here is to observe it seems strange that no-one ever actually checks residency. Also, although the eligibility says it is available to residents overseas, only a passport will suffice to prove this. So it is not, actually, available to anyone who...