Forged tickets on Dark Web

[Hadders]

The tickets issued by the ticket office at Welwyn Garden City now come out like this, with what I'd assume is a secure Aztec code. However, I don't know if you can actually scan them on the readers at King's Cross.

It's odd that given we're trying to go for a new, standard, ticket design, that these have things placed in totally different positions - which, as ever, must be a bloody nightmare for RPIs doing checks at speed.

Plus, while the code is a good thing for security, this design doesn't allow for the extended descriptions and information.. so why are they being introduced like this?

View attachment 29273

Do paper season tickets get barcodes now? Being able to embed data on where sold, when, photo ID etc could all help reduce fraud through tampering. As it is, if a season is lost it can't be blocked - but gates could be set to stop season ticket holders (like railcard users often do) from time to time, or just random checks of seasons during onboard checks.

GTR at Stevenage are issuing these too. VTEC at Stevenage have issued them for some time.

At least they're not in the awful new ticket format!

 

[miami]

I agree with that.

However, a bigger problem is, what happens if there is no signal at the location where someone is purchasing a walk-on ticket. Then there's no means for the central database to know that the ticket that person holds is in fact valid. You could provide some means for a ticket to be marked as valid-but-not-in-the-database, but that would then open a loophole for fraudsters - somewhat destroying the point of the central database!

If there's a ticket machine, then there's a connection of some form. If there isn't, then you're buying on the train. What happens now when you board at a ticket machineless station, and the guard doesn't bother appearing, or his ticket issuing equipment is broken? Well you buy at destination. No ticket issuing there either? Well never mind, you get a free ride.

It's possible to get a network connection from planes over the mid-atlantic, so it would be possible to strap a bgan or similar ontop of a rural train for a limited data connection which would allow transfer of a packet consisting of the ticket number, location etc, and get a reply saying if it's valid.

 

[DarloRich]

All very technically splendid. What about those who do not have a suitable device, or have one but choose not to carry it at all times, or whose device is broken, stolen or simply runs out of power?

Perhaps we can look forward to a day when we will apply, in advance of travel, to a government department, and be given permission to travel. Our movements can then be tracked and no-one will be on the train who doesn't have that movement permission for fear of the consequences. Indeed there will be no need for ticket checks because everyone on the train will be being tracked in real-time by the railway GCHQalike. Alternatively I can stroll up to the station and buy a ticket because I fell like it that morning.

Tin foil alert! :roll: That really is a silly post. I am fairly certain the government aren't going to use train tickets to track you. After all the implant in your brain is a much better location beacon.....................

 

[miami]

Tin foil alert! :roll: That really is a silly post. I am fairly certain the government aren't going to use train tickets to track you. After all the implant in your brain is a much better location beacon.....................

On the contary, I'm fairly certain the government will use train tickets to track you, AS THEY ALREADY DO

However this is just inevitable and there's not much that can be done about it, train tickets are just one of many ways you're tracked, from CCTV, to credit card use, to ANPR. These ways become more and more automated as time goes on.

 

[jon0844]

EE has a contract to provide a network for the emergency services, which it would appear will have a significantly higher density than any network would normally install (and pay for). Sites will have two backhauls for extra resilience, and emergency power.

The sites funded by the Government may not initially be usable by the public, but those part or entirely funded by EE will. Likewise, going forward, other networks should be given access too.

I cannot believe that by 2020, or soonish after (I hear things have slipped a bit, much like the electrification projects on the railway) there will be any rail route not covered almost 100% of the time. Any loss of signal will be insignificant, and any half decent software will be able to queue checks and flag up issues even if not instantaneously.

If the railway invests the money, it should be able to introduce a system that is very secure. Obviously never 100% fraud proof (say someone hacking the system to make invalid tickets valid) but certainly enough to make it near impossible for opportunists to fake tickets in a somewhat easy fashion like today.