Railcards are going Digital

[Rover]

What about those who do not have a mobile - do they need to buy one in order to get a railcard?

I can foresee many issues with lost phones, broken phones, flat batteries and crashing apps.

I rest my case!

 

[AlterEgo]

What about those who do not have a mobile - do they need to buy one in order to get a railcard?

No.

I can foresee many issues with lost phones, broken phones, flat batteries and crashing apps.

It won't be nearly as bad as the number of (particularly young) people who forget their railcard, or who don't even realise it needs to be with them on the journey. It will help those people.

This development is long overdue.

 

[Lrd]

I look forward to the day that I can leave my wallet (and even one day, keys as well) at home and just use my phone. I can't do that now as not everywhere reliably accepts Android Pay. I stopped carrying cash a long time ago, unless I know I need to catch a bus outside of London then I have to go out of my way to withdraw cash and break it down into coins so I don't get moaned at by the driver.

To the person that said it would take too long to open the railcard app, all it would take for me (and a lot of others) is to tap your finger on the finger print reader and tap to open the app, or you could open the app beforehand and then you would just need to unlock the phone.

 

[Puffing Devil]

It's interesting to read the luddite responses when some new technology is introduced. Future generations will look back on our time and wonder how we managed to progress at all!

I rest my case!

Luddite? Maybe just a little more understanding of the application of technology gained through an extensive career in the IT industry.

Puffing Devil CEng, MBCS, CITP

(On a side note - I don't want to be carrying a phone and a backup battery or charger to replace my wafer-thin railcard. I would be happy to have a copy on my phone, just as I embrace Android Pay, but still keep a credit card in my wallet)

 

[sheff1]

But when I go out, I take my wallet every time, I regularly leave my phone at home.

Me too. But as there is no mention of making the digital railcard the only option I will continue to have the plastic one with me.

 

[Clip]

Luddite? Maybe just a little more understanding of the application of technology gained through an extensive career in the IT industry.

Puffing Devil CEng, MBCS, CITP

(On a side note - I don't want to be carrying a phone and a backup battery or charger to replace my wafer-thin railcard. I would be happy to have a copy on my phone, just as I embrace Android Pay, but still keep a credit card in my wallet)

Then you are more than welcome to do so. No one on this whole thread has said its a replacement yet many posters have jumped upon just that.

No wonder people get into trouble with not reading things properly on the railway - no matter how many letters they have after their name

 

[Seacook]

Me too. But as there is no mention of making the digital railcard the only option I will continue to have the plastic one with me.

Same here. As long as I have the option of a physical card, then that is what I use. Having an app as a back up could be useful, but it would not be the primary option. I suspect, though, that purchasing a railcard through the app might prove to be a hassle with the same validation problems I have with buying one online - I do not have a passport or a driving licence. I had to phone and have my name checked against the electoral register in order to get a three-year senior railcard.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Just another solution looking for a problem. It's not the concept of physical tickets and railcards that is broken, it's the inability of some to carry (or remember to carry) cards weighing a few grammes on their person when travelling.

That's just nonsense. Most people are imperfect, and many people forget or mislay things. For some a Railcard-on-a-mobile will be preferable to a physical card. If the rail industry thinks it can offer such a product in a secure way, why not do so?

 

[Wallsendmag]

How on earth can you have two copies (one electronic one paper) of a non photo card railcard, that just asking for fraudulent use.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Joe Paxton]

How on earth can you have two copies (one electronic one paper) of a non photo card railcard, that just asking for fraudulent use.

Er, who says there will be two copies (one electronic, one physical)?

My understanding is that it will be either/or - so you make the choice before you purchase your Railcard as to whether you want a digital (smartphone) or physical version.

 

[NSEFAN]

To be honest, it would help if people were required to have a railcard when purchasing/collecting tickets. It would solve the majority of cases of missing/forgotten railcards, since people will generally keep their railcard and ticket together.

If railcards and tickets were combined into a single app which covered tickets for the whole industry, that would be even better. Better still would be to expand to ticketing for public transport operators. Pure fantasy of course...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Railcards should either be smartcards on which all discounted tickets are loaded, or apps through which they are purchased. If they are that closely bound, all the "issues" go away.

Another option would be it being an online account through which you purchase name-bound tickets and ID must be carried to use them (any photo ID).

 

[Puffing Devil]

Then you are more than welcome to do so. No one on this whole thread has said its a replacement yet many posters have jumped upon just that.

No wonder people get into trouble with not reading things properly on the railway - no matter how many letters they have after their name

If it's not a replacement, what it is?

It may be an alternative to the usual railcard. If I accepted the alternative it would still replace my railcard, making it a replacement, no?

 

[MikeWh]

To be honest, it would help if people were required to have a railcard when purchasing/collecting tickets. It would solve the majority of cases of missing/forgotten railcards, since people will generally keep their railcard and ticket together.

How would you cope with the 59 and 3/4-year-old who wants to book cheap advances to celebrate their 60th birthday when they are then eligible for a senior railcard. Or people who use rail infrequently and might purchase railcards with gaps between validity.

Railcards should either be smartcards on which all discounted tickets are loaded, or apps through which they are purchased. If they are that closely bound, all the "issues" go away.

Until everyone who could possibly want to travel by rail is compelled to own a smartphone then this is a non-starter.


Moving to a constructive comment. If a ticket check at the beginning of a journey could maybe mark that a digital railcard has been seen, perhaps the concept of phone running out of charge might be mitigated.

 

[Andrewlong]

Would be best to launch it for 16-25 age group for whom carrying their mobile phones is a way of life.

As a 55 year old, I am perfectly happy with airline e-tickets and receiving emails containing details of pre-booked tickets I need to collect from machine at station. The quicker we move to e-tickets for me the better.

 

[Clip]

If it's not a replacement, what it is?

It may be an alternative to the usual railcard. If I accepted the alternative it would still replace my railcard, making it a replacement, no?

Ok then if you are being pedantic about it then yes it would be a replacement BUT as yet they are nto stopping to use paper cards so its your choice.

 

[shredder1]

I dont use an Iphone

 

[Temple Meads]

I'm 20 and I would much prefer a physical railcard over a digital one, but then I don't struggle to pick up my phone and my wallet if I'm going on a train.

 

[AlterEgo]

I dont use an Iphone

That's fine, because you don't have to.

Nobody has suggested paper railcards are dead.

 

[Essan]

Would be best to launch it for 16-25 age group for whom carrying their mobile phones is a way of life.

I do see a problem when they are in the midst of texting their friend in the next seat and the guard demands they stop doing so in order to show him their digital railcard. At present they can do both at the same time.

Though I suppose they will solve this by justing having two phones

 

[Hadders]

I'm generally an advocate of new technology where it benefits me and doesn't result in less flexibility. I'd never leave the house without my phone or some cash.

Technology can fail - if all you've got is a phone or bank card that might not be any use if you need to make an urgent transaction.
Digital transactions can be tracked - this could be a good or bad thing depending on your own point of view but many large organisations do not have a good track record of looking after such data.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I dont use an Iphone

Unfortunately the railways are proposing rounding up people who don't use iPhones and publicly flogging them. It is currently in the Secretary of State's 'in tray', and Grayling is expected to approve the measure.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

Although we're not as advanced with cashless payment, here, we do have mobile ticketing and I have never seen any empty battery excuses or anything. Those who use mobile ticketing generally use their phone also a lot for other things, so many have a mobile charger, also, many trains have a chargers at the seats or at least in the guard's compartement.

 

[Marklund]

Sounds like a great idea, if it's added as an e-wallet widget.
As a stand alone app? No.

 

[bearhugger]

I dont use an Iphone

Other smartphone brands / types are available. Android & Windows phones are the other two popular Operating Systems. I'm fairly sure you can get a reasonable Android phone for relatively cheap on contract or Pay As You Go.

 

[Essan]

Other smartphone brands / types are available. Android & Windows phones are the other two popular Operating Systems. I'm fairly sure you can get a reasonable Android phone for relatively cheap on contract or Pay As You Go.

I have an adequate Android phone on Vodafone pay-as-you-go which cost me £25 ..... No use for games and has limited storage for Apps. But handy as a phone that will also enable me to have internet access when travelling away from home on holiday etc (the only time I need it or, indeed, usually carry it)
.

 

[richw]

This should stop me putting mine through the wash!

 

[Seacook]

To be honest, it would help if people were required to have a railcard when purchasing/collecting tickets. It would solve the majority of cases of missing/forgotten railcards, since people will generally keep their railcard and ticket together.

I do that already when I travel alone. The ticket goes straight into a travelcard wallet which holds my railcard.

 

[Seacook]

Railcards should either be smartcards on which all discounted tickets are loaded, or apps through which they are purchased. If they are that closely bound, all the "issues" go away.

Another option would be it being an online account through which you purchase name-bound tickets and ID must be carried to use them (any photo ID).

Every once in a while I and two friends take a train trip for a day. I order the tickets in advance (sometimes they are advance tickets also) to save time and book seat reservations. Two of us have railcards and the third does not. In this situation smartcards would generate more issues than they solve.

 

[takno]

It is not hard to keep a phone charged, most travellers carry a battery pack or a charger and many trains have plug sockets.

Hardly any travellers carry a battery pack, reducing to virtually none if they aren't carrying a bag. I also don't tend to carry around a cable, and definitely don't carry a mains adapter, so the wall sockets are often useless to me even if they are working.

You may also struggle with battery packs in hand-luggage, which is a factor I'mv often dealing with when I go away given the high chance of me returning by plane.