Hi guys. Sorry about this. Well I am wanting to understand the backend system more. For example when a user books a seat on the train that slot is then taken however as the current system stands there isn't a way to know if theres specific seats available and efficiently cancelling and changing your seat/ticket, my thinking of this is it could be to avoid the hassle of users continuously changing on the booking systems. Ideally why couldn't the train systems operate under a system where users can see active seats more clearly?
CrossCountry and East Coast do - if you book on their websites, and for their trains.
There's no national system because the industry is hopelessly fragmented.
I guess what I'm trying to drive at is a possible better idea towards Non-refundable etickets and more efficient way of doing things for both Stakeholders of the train companies and its customers. As Yorkie mentioned in a message to me I did create an FOI
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/reque...#comment-51056 which as he said I was kind of just given any old excuse or whatever they wanted to say, then I was given the correct answer with a bit of a twist.
So yes EC do provide Etickets but are ' working towards a mobile version' so instead they can cut down on people losing tickets perhaps however those who which to change a booking and still losing out.
Yes, e-tickets are marginally better from the point of view of people losing the tickets, but as you say worse in respect of people wanting to change a booking - they lose the right to do that with an e-ticket!
My understanding of Etickets is that they are generated and once done you cant change it. Wouldn't a fully integrated digital system allow people to cancel and manage their bookings more smoothly through its operators or even its own users?
I can't see that happening. Such a system could exist, but the challenges for the privatised railway would be immense. The current e-tickets are a short-term stop-gap towards the eventual aim of smart card ticketing, however that has it's own challenges (and has been discussed in other threads - let's not go there now).
The current e-tickets have been around since late 2007/early 2008 at least, and the technology has not changed.
With most operators (an exception is Chiltern) you have to specify the 'lead passenger' at the time of purchase, and specify ID. If that ID (e.g. a bank card) is lost/stolen, your ticket is invalidated!
You can't change the time/date of travel, which you can with other Advance tickets, either.
They cost the same as 'normal' tickets. Avoid!
