On a railcard made for two?

[karmacommuter]

My wife and I live and work in London. We'd like to move to Broadstairs in Kent and continue to work in London - each for 2 days a week.
It seems that 2 returns are about the same price as a weekly railcard (a monthly for one person is about £700). Times that by two and it's too much.

Is it possible to share any kind of ticket between 2 people?
We're never going to be traveling on the same day.

Thanks!

 

[wibble]

Most TOCs offer an 'Impersonal Season Ticket'. This is like a normal season ticket and is valid for use by 'the bearer' of the pass.

Only one person can use the pass at a time, but anyone can use it. The Impersonal Season Ticket will cost more than the cost of a normal season ticket, which you will need to take into account.

For the Impersonal Season Ticket, most TOCs charge 1.5x the season ticket rate but you would need to check whether the same applies for Southeastern services.

e.g. for a weekly Broadstairs to London (excluding Travelcard):

4x Anytime Day Return: £191.20 (not valid on High Speed 1)
4x Anytime Day Return: £224.00 (valid on High Speed 1)

Normal: £97.50 (not valid on High Speed 1)
Normal: £116.20 (valid on High Speed 1)

Impersonal: £146.30 (not valid on High Speed 1)
Impersonal: £174.30 (valid on High Speed 1)

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Impersonal season tickets are aimed at companies and thus I don't know if you would be able to get one, but you should talk to South Eastern Trains to confirm.

 

[karmacommuter]

Thanks for the advice.
Still too expensive so we're stuck in London.
Shame. Railway Companies need to wise up. We're not the only family to be working part-time and sharing childcare.

 

[wibble]

Thanks for the advice.
Still too expensive so we're stuck in London.
Shame. Railway Companies need to wise up. We're not the only family to be working part-time and sharing childcare.

That just goes to show how expensive the railways are to run!

 

[Nightrider]

My wife and I live and work in London. We'd like to move to Broadstairs in Kent and continue to work in London - each for 2 days a week.
It seems that 2 returns are about the same price as a weekly railcard (a monthly for one person is about £700). Times that by two and it's too much.

Is it possible to share any kind of ticket between 2 people?
We're never going to be traveling on the same day.

Thanks!

Problem solved.

Get yourselves a job in the railways and pick up your free passes.

 

[swt_passenger]

To the OP, if this is a 50/50 job share, can you arrange things so you each work four consecutive days with a break over the weekend? So instead of working like this:

Week 1 AA BB
Week 2 AA BB
etc

do this

Week 1 AA BB
Week 2 BB AA
Week 3 AA BB
etc

Then buy alternate weekly season tickets at the mid week changeover day, say Wednesday to Tuesday?

Obviously you can't take advantage of monthly of annual rates that way, but four days travel from a 7 day season may be a partial result...

 

[karmacommuter]

That's a great idea. Thanks.
Unfortunately, our work patterns don't fit in with it.
Any more ideas anyone?!

To the OP, if this is a 50/50 job share, can you arrange things so you each work four consecutive days with a break over the weekend? So instead of working like this:

Week 1 AA BB
Week 2 AA BB
etc

do this

Week 1 AA BB
Week 2 BB AA
Week 3 AA BB
etc

Then buy alternate weekly season tickets at the mid week changeover day, say Wednesday to Tuesday?

Obviously you can't take advantage of monthly of annual rates that way, but four days travel from a 7 day season may be a partial result...

 

[John @ home]

Any more ideas anyone?!

It would help if you could tell us your work patterns.

 

[karmacommuter]

Our proposed work pattern would be this:
Both going to London for 2 days a week. We'd be working on different days from each other. We'd always travel on the same days. So I could work Monday and Tuesday, my partner could work Wednesday and Thursday, for example.
My partner's hours are pretty much 9-5 whereas mine are more varied.
Hope this helps!

 

[jon0844]

That's a great idea. Thanks.
Unfortunately, our work patterns don't fit in with it.
Any more ideas anyone?!

One good idea would be a move towards smartcards, allowing more flexible ticketing offerings - especially for frequent travel. You could then have a system that offers discounts based on how many days you use(d) your ticket over a week, month or year.

This would be a real bonus to people who work flexible hours/part time.

I am sure it is inevitable that it will happen one day, but the industry is very slow to embrace new technology (well, not that it's that new!)

 

[Deerfold]

One good idea would be a move towards smartcards, allowing more flexible ticketing offerings - especially for frequent travel. You could then have a system that offers discounts based on how many days you use(d) your ticket over a week, month or year.

This would be a real bonus to people who work flexible hours/part time.

I am sure it is inevitable that it will happen one day, but the industry is very slow to embrace new technology (well, not that it's that new!)

It might take a long time. I'm sure Oyster was supposed to do this but doesn't - I don't know if it was too complicated or TfL thought they'd lose too much revenue. I seem to remember a plan at one point for it to cap weekly and monthly in the same way it does daily but I think it was too complicated to be processed in time (as your week or month could start at any time).

 

[Daniel]

seem to remember a plan at one point for it to cap weekly and monthly in the same way it does daily but I think it was too complicated to be processed in time (as your week or month could start at any time).

That's still in the pipes..!

 

[jon0844]

It might take a long time. I'm sure Oyster was supposed to do this but doesn't - I don't know if it was too complicated or TfL thought they'd lose too much revenue. I seem to remember a plan at one point for it to cap weekly and monthly in the same way it does daily but I think it was too complicated to be processed in time (as your week or month could start at any time).

But that would be the idea. Cap at £5 or whatever for each day, and after 30 days, it caps at a lower amount or you get a credit back or something.

I'm sure someone can do the maths and work out the logic, although I'd say that we'd want this with a proper smartcard system that's ITSO compliant and not the bodge that is Oyster!

 

[MikeWh]

The problem with monthly capping would be occasional out of zone journeys. It is quite reasonable to bump up an effective 2-6 travelcard to a 1-6 travelcard on one day. I recently went all over the place avoiding zone 1 throughout the day, then fell asleep and had to change at London Bridge rather than New Cross which cost me £2.40. However, it would not be reasonable to automatically up a 2-6 monthly cap to 1-6 because the passenger went to see a show one night.

 

[jon0844]

An alternative might to be apply a discount on a sliding scale as usage on that card increases. A simple loyalty discount scheme, in effect.

I am sure they can do something.

 

[Deerfold]

The problem with monthly capping would be occasional out of zone journeys. It is quite reasonable to bump up an effective 2-6 travelcard to a 1-6 travelcard on one day. I recently went all over the place avoiding zone 1 throughout the day, then fell asleep and had to change at London Bridge rather than New Cross which cost me £2.40. However, it would not be reasonable to automatically up a 2-6 monthly cap to 1-6 because the passenger went to see a show one night.

That's why it's so complicated - it has to work out lots of possible permutations and which is cheapest - is it a z1-6 or a z2-6 plus a couple of journeys. Or a z1-4 plus lots of journeys. Or a bus pass plus several tube journeys...