Ladies Season Tickets

Before the Sex Discrimination Act came into being who remembers when season tickets bought by ladies had a "W" stamped on them? As seen bottom left in the attached photo.

If I remember correctly, it was to stop women using their husband's season ticket at the weekend - no W on the ticket and a lady would be turned away at the ticket barrier.

After BR was told it could no longer stamp ladies season tickets in this way, the use of photo ID cards was introduced for seasons (those for monthly/quarterly/annual at least).

By virtue of it being pre-decimalisation (pounds / shillings / pence) makes me realise how far back the season tickets actually go.

My mind now mischievously imagines Little Britain's "we are ladies" characters requesting the Ladies' Season Ticket "But this season we are ladies".

What's the most recent example of a season ticket, marked 'W'?

SargeNpton said:

Before the Sex Discrimination Act came into being who remembers when season tickets bought by ladies had a "W" stamped on them? As seen bottom left in the attached photo.

If I remember correctly, it was to stop women using their husband's season ticket at the weekend - no W on the ticket and a lady would be turned away at the ticket barrier.

After BR was told it could no longer stamp ladies season tickets in this way, the use of photo ID cards was introduced for seasons (those for monthly/quarterly/annual at least).

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I have myself used the 'W' rubber stamp at Northampton booking office. And one or two of those lady commuters remain in my mind ...
Another loss because of the Act was Ladies Only compartments, indicated by wording on a green background - in side corridor coaches as well as compartment ones.

A diagonal line was used on Tube tickets in the70s fir the same purpose. Known to staff, in those less politically correct times, as the "Crumpet Stripe"
I learned about them very early as my very first season ticket, when I was a student, was erroneously issued with one.

Mcr Warrior said:

What's the most recent example of a season ticket, marked 'W'?

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Good question.

I certainly remember the W stamp being used when I started in 1984.

I would say the last ones issued just before photocards were introduced for season ticket holders, with the photocard number written on the ticket, therefore making the use of the W stamp unnecessary; I'm not sure when that was, late 1980s/early 1990s seems to ring a vague bell.

Old style cardboard season ticket stock, like in the photo attached to the original post, was still being issued in the East Midlands until the late 1980s when APTIS was introduced to ticket offices across the area, I honestly can't remember if INTIS and APTIS seasons were W stamped, I would think they were if issued before the introduction of photocards.

However, all the above depends if sex discrimination legislation stopped the use of them earlier; as I previously stated though, they were certainly still in use in (late) 1984.

norbitonflyer said:

A diagonal line was used on Tube tickets in the70s fir the same purpose. Known to staff, in those less politically correct times, as the "Crumpet Stripe"
I learned about them very early as my very first season ticket, when I was a student, was erroneously issued with one.

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How can I put this...

The 70s. When young men growing their hair long became fashionable.

Were you a long-haired herbert of a student, the sort of young man that the older generation at the time looked down upon for their unruly long hair? A bit like Rigsby in Rising Damp looked down upon Richard Beckinsale's character.

Could an older booking clerk have been having a dig at your carefree youthful long hair, by effectively calling you a girl when giving you said wrong ticket?!



'Crumpet stripe', ha ha! That's fantastically politically incorrect!

whoosh said:

'Crumpet stripe', ha ha! That's fantastically politically incorrect!

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Crumpet Strip would be worse...

whoosh said:

Could an older booking clerk have been having a dig at your carefree youthful long hair, by effectively calling you a girl

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Try as I might, I was never able to grow long curly locks like Richard Beckinsale, although I now have more hair on my face than my scalp.
No idea why it happened, but I was stopped and questioned the very second time I used it, and it all got sorted out.

Here's some extracts from the January 1985 issue of B.R.25952 "Ticket Examiners Handbook", including amendments issued in April 1985, that refer to 7-Day Season Tickets issued to Females. It's the only indication that women travelled by train in 1985, as all references to ticket irregularities use the pronoun he as the errant passenger. At the time Travelcards as we know them were called 'Captalcards'. Both Capitalcards and BR Seasons valid for periods in excess of seven days had to have an accompanying photcard (B.R. 3588/9 if issued by B.R.) or the LT eqivalent. BR issued Capialcards valid for 7 days had no photocard requirement, so I assume (perhaps wrongly) that the 'W' overstamp disappeared along with Capitalcards.

The attachment originally contained a duplicate page. I've edited it to remove the duplication and added three pages, which not relevant to 7 day seasons, complete that section of the handbook and provide reference for the endorsements used on INTIS tickets and their valid values

I remember an incident hitting the national press where a woman went to pick up her husband's season ticket and the ticket clerk gave it a W stamp. Shock horror story about the "secret" stamp.

My sister-in-law had a local authority funded season to travel to 6th form college. Her father told her that she couldn't use it for leasure travel as the W meant "weekdays only". It took three of us to convince him that he was wrong

They weren't withdrawn because of the Sex Discrimination Act, Photocards (introduced around 1983/4) made the need for the W stamp redundant. Unlike Ladies only compartments, there was no discrimination involved - same ticket, same price, valid only for the person to whom it was issued. It was purely an anti-fraud measure which was superseded by a more effective one.