New ticket design

[tsr]

Since this thread has reappeared, I should add that the outside TVM at Albany Park has new stock in it. I'm not sure if it's been mentioned already.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Loads of places have this stock, Little Sutton, Hooton, Chester, Liverpool Lime street,Central and South parkway, Bebington, Port Sunlight and I could go on and on.....

 

[alex17595]

Hayes and Harlington has some in the TVM

 

[transportphoto]

Received an advance ticket through the post from East Coast today with a design I haven't seen before.
On the left side there's a QR code, plus a slightly different layout.

Please enlighten us, with a picture / scan!

TP

 

[Cletus]

Sorry, can't at the moment, will try at work tomorrow!

 

[Cletus]

please enlighten us, with a picture / scan!

Tp

Here is the ticket as mentioned above, sorry for the poor camera phone quality of the picture.

 

[TheEdge]

As an aside to those new QR code tickets. I've seen a few of them appear but so far only issued by EC. Also they've moved the railcard code, it now sits in small text in the blank area next to the price, under the title "status"

 

[Eagle]

Here is the ticket as mentioned above, sorry for the poor camera phone quality of the picture.

Still on old stock though.

 

[jon0844]

Here is the ticket as mentioned above, sorry for the poor camera phone quality of the picture.

View attachment 16283

Given the slight blur, I can't scan the QR Code. Have you tried? Can you let us know what the code actually brings up?

I'm wondering if it's a unique code, some text to repeat what's on the ticket, or a URL that takes you to something online for more information.

 

[Deerfold]

Given the slight blur, I can't scan the QR Code. Have you tried? Can you let us know what the code actually brings up?

I'm wondering if it's a unique code, some text to repeat what's on the ticket, or a URL that takes you to something online for more information.

Although it's obviously something very similar it's not a QR code. QR codes have "alignment" squares in three of the corners.

 

[jon0844]

Although it's obviously something very similar it's not a QR code. QR codes have "alignment" squares in three of the corners.

Yes, it appears to be an Aztec code - but the principle is the same.

It should still be possible to read using a suitable app.

 

[Cletus]

Never heard of Aztec codes.
I have a Nokia Windows, I don't even know if I can scan these or Qr codes?

 

[jon0844]

Windows Phone can scan QR codes and normal barcodes, and probably others too. You do it via the search button and using image search.

http://www.barcode-generator.org/ will let you generate loads of codes, and here's one for the forum...



And to answer my previous question, my scanner app can't read the above code. However, as an Android user, I've just checked on the Play store and found there appear to be loads of them!

 

[Hazlehead]

Here is the ticket as mentioned above, sorry for the poor camera phone quality of the picture.

View attachment 16283

Hope this isn't final layout choice. Ones that atoc sent out for views had much more info on but info was much clearer. ie This ticket only valid with railcard, Ticket valid on this train only with reservation shown on same ticket.

 

[marks87]

In theory, could a QR or Aztec code be used to help guards/RPIs be sure a ticket is valid on that train?

Obviously for simple journeys it wouldn't be needed (it's patently obvious that presenting a Dundee-Broughty Ferry ticket on a train heading south over the Tay Bridge would get you a proverbial kick up the backside), but I'm thinking along the lines of routes that require the routeing guide.

 

[jon0844]

I know East Coast have barcode readers on the gates at King's Cross, although why you'd use that instead of the normal reader with a standard sized ticket I do not know.

So, perhaps the code isn't for that and might actually contain some additional info (like the seat reservations on the second voucher?) for staff to scan? That obviously means that at some point in the future, staff will have the necessary equipment to scan this.

I don't know the maximum number of characters an Aztec code can have, but clearly from the image you can see it has a lot more 'bits' than the one I generated for the forum URL - so I am pretty certain it contains quite a bit of data.

I really want to know what that code actually contains now!

EDIT: From a simple search, I've found the following:

http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/travel-information/train-ticket-information/mobileticketing/

And

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_Code

An Aztec code barcode is used by Eurostar, Deutsche Bahn, Czech Railways, Slovak Railways, Trenitalia, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, PKP Intercity, VR Group, Virgin Trains, Via Rail, Swiss Federal Railways, SNCB, SNCF, and its subsidiary iDTGV for tickets sold online and printed out by customers. An Aztec code barcode is used by Heathrow Express and East Coast in tickets delivered to mobile phones and displayed on their screens, on self print tickets, and on tickets ordered online. VR Group uses Aztec barcode in every ticket type excluding the ones sold on board. The barcode is scanned by a handheld scanner by on-train staff to validate the ticket.
The Aztec Code has been selected by the airline industry (IATA's BCBP standard) for the electronic boarding passes. Several airlines send Aztec Codes to passengers' mobile phones for ticketing purposes, relating to online (or paperless) ticketing. Air New Zealand will be using the code domestically for ticketing, but this deployment is still in progress.[4]

So, it would seem the code is just what got printed on mobile e-tickets. And I assume staff already have the necessary readers!

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

A new magstripe ticket design is shown in the recent DfT Fares Review document and is apparently being introduced early in 2014:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...ta/file/249001/fares-ticketing-next-steps.pdf

There are two examples on page 55. I can't work out how to copy the image, sorry.
The fields and layout are quite different to what we have now.
I'm not sure I like it any better...

 

[jon0844]

Lots of good stuff about smart ticketing there too, including the possibility of using a contactless bank card to travel, or setting up an account (akin to a mobile phone contract) to pay for travel afterwards - rather than having to hold the funds on the card in the first place.

The latter would certainly work well for businesses, as well as semi-regular users - and I'd hope and expect there to be discounts and loyalty schemes in place for those that do. It might also make it a lot easier for businesses to give staff cards to use - thus making it easier to manage expenses and keep records.

 

[starrymarkb]

I know East Coast have barcode readers on the gates at King's Cross, although why you'd use that instead of the normal reader with a standard sized ticket I do not know.

So, perhaps the code isn't for that and might actually contain some additional info (like the seat reservations on the second voucher?) for staff to scan? That obviously means that at some point in the future, staff will have the necessary equipment to scan this.

I don't know the maximum number of characters an Aztec code can have, but clearly from the image you can see it has a lot more 'bits' than the one I generated for the forum URL - so I am pretty certain it contains quite a bit of data.

I really want to know what that code actually contains now!

EDIT: From a simple search, I've found the following:

http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/travel-information/train-ticket-information/mobileticketing/

And

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_Code



So, it would seem the code is just what got printed on mobile e-tickets. And I assume staff already have the necessary readers!

I just tried scanning an Old DB ticket with my phone, the data is encrypted (obviously to stop people making tickets up with a barcode maker)

 

[CallySleeper]

Add Derby TVM to the list.

 

[jon0844]

I can't imagine it being that hard to hack the encryption, but the tickets shouldn't need to be encrypted if they will simply hold a code that is checked by staff against a database. If you made a ticket up, it wouldn't be on the list and you'd be told it wasn't valid.

What worries me about the use of codes is that in nearly all cases where I've tried barcodes over the years (whatever the format), I've found that staff are always told to just let you through/in if they can't read the code.

I've been to events and gigs that had barcodes and I'd either printed one out, or had it on my phone display. In two cases they couldn't scan with their terminal, and just gave me the benefit of the doubt.

If it becomes the same policy as someone not being able to read an Oyster card, expect the fraudsters to come out of the woodwork in seconds!

 

[rebmcr]

There are two examples on page 55. I can't work out how to copy the image

Here you go.

As someone who uses Advances a lot, these will be welcome for not having to extract the reservation from the ticket wallet to find my seat!

 

[Manchester77]

Is the font different?

 

[CallySleeper]

Is the font different?

It's the 'Rail Alphabet' font.

 

[jon0844]

With the new text, perhaps Southern will finally be able to add extra text to ban Gatwick Express travel on Southern tickets!

 

[ModernRailways]

With the new text, perhaps Southern will finally be able to add extra text to ban Gatwick Express travel on Southern tickets!

It would still be impossible to do since Gat Ex is part of Southern whether they like it or not! That's for another time though!

The new font size looks a bit small to me, but it could just be how it's done. I also think having square edges may be a bad thing as it would make tickets easier to copy, although it may not I'm just guessing that cutting a corner would be more difficult than cutting a right angle.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Here you go.

Thanks for doing that. Maybe it's my setup but I couldn't copy the image, or the page, or even do a screen print to scan and post!
I though maybe they had restricted what you can do the to pdf.

 

[swt_passenger]

The new ticket layout being discussed is the same as that in the thread we had back in July isn't it?

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=87240&highlight=New+ticket+format

Second document of the two linked in the first post - they do seem familiar...

 

[34D]

I know East Coast have barcode readers on the gates at King's Cross, although why you'd use that instead of the normal reader with a standard sized ticket I do not know.

So, perhaps the code isn't for that and might actually contain some additional info (like the seat reservations on the second voucher?) for staff to scan? That obviously means that at some point in the future, staff will have the necessary equipment to scan this.

I don't know the maximum number of characters an Aztec code can have, but clearly from the image you can see it has a lot more 'bits' than the one I generated for the forum URL - so I am pretty certain it contains quite a bit of data.

I really want to know what that code actually contains now!

EDIT: From a simple search, I've found the following:

http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/travel-information/train-ticket-information/mobileticketing/

And

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_Code



So, it would seem the code is just what got printed on mobile e-tickets. And I assume staff already have the necessary readers!

Arguably a smartphone would be all they need.

 

[Eagle]

It would still be impossible to do since Gat Ex is part of Southern whether they like it or not! That's for another time though!

They can just put "not Gatwick Express", which is exactly the same as Southeastern putting "not HS1"; it doesn't matter that it's just a branded service.

It'll become easier after the franchise merger when they aren't simultaneously trying to compete with FCC using "Southern only" tickets (which is where the issue arises).