Why can't people buy train tickets at newsagents?

[Scotty]

In Belgium and Switzerland you can buy tickets on the platform using your smartphone.

You can here, as well

 

[radamfi]

In Belgium and Switzerland you can buy tickets on the platform using your smartphone.

You can here, as well

But with a few exceptions, you can't just get on the train with the ticket you have just bought.

 

[monsento]

would it be possible to put an actual ticket machine inside a shop?

it would be ideal at Tilehurst,a mile+ from the village to the station you could get a plus bus for reading or tilehurst and just collecting tickets in general

 

[daikilo]

But with a few exceptions, you can't just get on the train with the ticket you have just bought.

Really? Isn't it related to the time-stamp e.g. if it is stamped before the departure of the journey then it is OK but if not then no. I understood this was to avoid having cases where the fare was paid after boarding.

 

[najaB]

Really? Isn't it related to the time-stamp e.g. if it is stamped before the departure of the journey then it is OK but if not then no. I understood this was to avoid having cases where the fare was paid after boarding.

I think the problem is that the majority of TOCs do not offer mTicket facilities. So you would still need to collect the paper ticket from the station before boarding.

 

[radamfi]

I think the problem is that the majority of TOCs do not offer mTicket facilities. So you would still need to collect the paper ticket from the station before boarding.

Not only that, but mTickets need to be offered for regular walk on tickets, not just train specific Advance fares.

It would be a boon in places like northern England where many stations don't have machines.

 

[Class 170101]

Paper travelcards and bus passes in London were stopped being sold in newsagents a few years ago. Bit of a shame if you want to avoid using Oyster and don't live within walking distance of a station.

Thats interesting because I was about to add that Newsagents I know of used to sell just the travelcards.

However I suppose with Oyster and credit/debit cards that can take the fare directly is it really needed anymore?

 

[Abpj17]

Quick answer is that ticket pricing is excessively complicated (which is partly driven by the franchise system).

Even the current ticket machines don’t cope with complicated options. I’ve asked a number of times, and the only way I can buy a gold-card discounted ticket for an adult plus accompanying kids is in person -_-

‘rail-appointed travel agents’ - used to be much more common, as others have stated in the good old days of simple BR pricing, then local, expert travel agents and tourist offices issued tickets (Tongue only slightly in cheek) I believe they are still common where, for example, you buy a UK + International ticket including for regional travel to connect with the eurostar.

DownSouth - sorry, your explanation stopped too early, at least for the UK. Fees are charged by the acquiring institution by the merchant as you say. But the vast majority of that fee is then passed over to the bank that issued the card (in this case Santander). It’s for that reason, your suggestions of a single ATOC as a CC acquiring, while it has a little merit, is nothing like the silver bullet you’re suggesting it is.

 

[HH]

Quick answer is that ticket pricing is excessively complicated (which is partly driven by the franchise system).

Yes and no. DfT have it within their purview to change things; however, there appears neither the will, nor the understanding, to change anything.

 

[Deerfold]

Also for Metro Cards https://www.wymetro.com/TicketsAndPasses/MetroCards/HowToBuyYourMetroCard/

and others as well, I think.

I thought this was quite good - until I discovered the the electronic MCards cannot be loaded on at any stations - there you can pay the same price for a non-transferable ticket requiring a photocard.

So I looked up my local Paypoint on the website - open 0700 to 2200 every day. I walked there yesterday to find it closed at 1815.

According to the door, opening times are 0745 to 1945, 0745 to 1800 Sundays (and presumably Bank Holidays). So I'd missed it last night, it opens too late today and the nearest staffed station can't sell me one anyway.

 

[Busaholic]

Thats interesting because I was about to add that Newsagents I know of used to sell just the travelcards.

However I suppose with Oyster and credit/debit cards that can take the fare directly is it really needed anymore?

I think there was an issue with some 'dodgy' travelcards being sold at a few newsagents.

 

[Hassocks5489]

Another one to add to the list of off-station TVMs: my contact in the general vicinity of the Midlands tells me a Shere FASTticket machine has been installed in the food court in the University Centre at the University of Birmingham. Tickets are issued from UNIVERSITY BIRM, obviously!