TPE Season ticket issuing

[158757]

The other day I tried to buy a weekly Metrocard to start on a Thursday on a Tuesday evening, as I was unsure whether I would be able to on the Wednesday due to time constraints. I was told that they would only be able to issue it after 12pm the day before the start date, to which I was confused and annoyed, since the start date is on the ticket it doesn't allow you to use it any earlier if you buy it earlier.

I emailed Metro to ask their policy on purchase of Metrocards and was told that they can be purchased up to 2 working days before they start. So I forwarded this information onto TPE and asked for a response. I got this:

Dear Mr ****

Thank you for your email that we received on 26 August 2011 and for the information you have provided regarding the renewal of your Metrocard.

I apologise that at present the ticket purchasing system used at Huddersfield can only produce renewals of some season tickets after 1200 the day before renewal is effective and I had advised Metrocard of this. Some stations, such as Leeds, do have a system in place that allows renewals to be made two days in advance.

I sincerely apologise for this inconvenience and I do hope that you will continue to take advantage of the savings you gain by using this card on our trains and thank you for contacting First TransPennine Express. If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me again.

Do TPE use a different software system to other operators? This month I needed to buy early again and Northern were able to issue me a Metrocard 2 days in advance at Halifax with no problems. The only way I can see this happening is that the TPE system prints on the ticket in the top right

STD SEASON-00M07D

whereas the Northern system prints it as

STD METROCARD

Other than that the text printed on the ticket is the same. For clarification the ticket I use is the Student Plus Metrocard, not the adult version.

Also, does this mean that all season tickets can only be issued after 12pm the day before the start date on TPE systems?

 

[First class]

One uses Fujitsu STAR (TPE), the other CUBIC FasTIS (NT).

The "ticket type" is irrelevant to the actual ticket.

The advance purchasing restriction will apply to any weekly season.

The "rules" are usually:

If the start date is a Sunday or Monday (or Tuesday after a Bank Holiday), the season ticket may be issued from noon on the previous Friday.If the start date is any another day, the ticket may be issued after noon on the previous day.

- and Fujitsu STAR applies that rule correctly AFAIK. It has to comply with that to be gain ATOC approval.

Where is it advertised that Metrocard can be purchased at Huddersfield?

 

[John @ home]

Where is it advertised that Metrocard can be purchased at Huddersfield?

How to buy your MetroCard states:

You can buy a MetroCard from: ...
All staffed rail stations in West Yorkshire.

http://www.wymetro.com/TicketsAndPasses/MetroCards/HowToBuyYourMetroCard

 

[Paul Kelly]

This doesn't really answer the question, but it might be helpful to note that in the fares database, season tickets of type MCM METROCARD 1MTH (adult fare £67.50) or MCW METROCARD 7DAY (adult fare £18.30) and a destination location of K806 WYPTE STUDENT can be issued with any of the following locations as an origin:

0424 BRADFORD YK STNS   8360    GLASSHOUGHTON   8484           BATLEY   8527   SOWERBY BRIDGE
0444   WAKEFIELD STNS   8411         HALIFAX.   8487           LEEDS.   8553          BINGLEY
1072 LONDON TERMINALS   8437    HUDDERSFIELD.   8499        HORSFORTH   8567         GUISELEY
2677        TODMORDEN   8468         KEIGHLEY   8506       NEW PUDSEY   8568           ILKLEY
8326        DEWSBURY.   8473      CROSS GATES   8514        BRIGHOUSE   8574          MENSTON
8347    SHIPLEY YORKS   8474         GARFORTH   8524    HEBDEN BRIDGE

 

[Ze Random One]

One uses Fujitsu STAR (TPE), the other CUBIC FasTIS (NT).

The "ticket type" is irrelevant to the actual ticket.

The advance purchasing restriction will apply to any weekly season.

The "rules" are usually:

If the start date is a Sunday or Monday (or Tuesday after a Bank Holiday), the season ticket may be issued from noon on the previous Friday.If the start date is any another day, the ticket may be issued after noon on the previous day.

- and Fujitsu STAR applies that rule correctly AFAIK. It has to comply with that to be gain ATOC approval.

Where is it advertised that Metrocard can be purchased at Huddersfield?

I disagree, because Metrocard is not an ATOC product. It is a WYPTE product which happens to be valid on train services and sold at railway stations.
Looking at
http://www.wymetro.com/TicketsAndPasses/MetroCards/HowToBuyYourMetroCard
clearly states

MetroCards can be bought up to two working days before the date you would like it to start.

TPE need to sort out their back office systems in this case, because I will be very surprised if their contract with WYPTE to issue the cards does not make this clear.
The OP was within his rights to expect that WYPTE's agent (In this case Huddersfield Station) would follow the rules of the contract into which he was entering, which entitles him to purchase two working days prior to first availability for use. Any other interpretation would be at risk of being deemed unfair in law (although IANAL).

 

[bb21]

This doesn't really answer the question, but it might be helpful to note that in the fares database, season tickets of type MCM METROCARD 1MTH (adult fare £67.50) or MCW METROCARD 7DAY (adult fare £18.30) and a destination location of K806 WYPTE STUDENT can be issued with any of the following locations as an origin:

0424 BRADFORD YK STNS   8360    GLASSHOUGHTON   8484           BATLEY   8527   SOWERBY BRIDGE
0444   WAKEFIELD STNS   8411         HALIFAX.   8487           LEEDS.   8553          BINGLEY
1072 LONDON TERMINALS   8437    HUDDERSFIELD.   8499        HORSFORTH   8567         GUISELEY
2677        TODMORDEN   8468         KEIGHLEY   8506       NEW PUDSEY   8568           ILKLEY
8326        DEWSBURY.   8473      CROSS GATES   8514        BRIGHOUSE   8574          MENSTON
8347    SHIPLEY YORKS   8474         GARFORTH   8524    HEBDEN BRIDGE

Of interest is the fact that it can be issued from London Terminals. hock: