Great Western Coffee Shop

The Networker card that allows purchasers reduced rate off peak travel in "London and the South East" has a very strange shape on its western side ....

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/stangeshape.jpg)

So you can get price reductions from Worcester, Banbury, Salisbury and even Exeter (just off my screen capture to the South) and Weymouth to London ... but you cannot take advantage of the card from Swindon, Trowbridge, Bath or Melksham ....

http://www.railcard.co.uk/network (http://www.railcard.co.uk/network)

This was, of course, based on the area covered by Network South East, although that didn't appear to include Worcester originally: 1991 Network South East route map (http://www.rodge.force9.co.uk/images/map.jpg)

Technically speaking Network South East never served Melksham, Westbury, Swindon, that was purely Intercity and Regional Railways - hence why you can't get the Network Railcard there.

Exeter was served by the West of England which was a NSE service, hence availability there - but you can't get Network Railcard discounts on FGW services at Exeter via Castle Cary.

Banbury is Chiltern territory and that is ex-NSE hence availability there - not sure about Worcester.

Basically the Network Railcard is all lines out of central London at time of privatisation to the "boundary" of their services, with exceptions of Ipswich, etc.

Blame the oh so perfect BR!

Better than FGW ;)

I seem to recall Thames Trains extended it out to Worcester in one of the few post privatisation expansions to the network railcard.

I certainly wouldn't call Exeter 'east', nor would I call Worcester 'south'!

Anything that encourages people to give up the car I approve of, though :) Just wish we had one covering the Bristol/SW  area!

Except the really annoying part is that, as per usual, you get no discount on first class

To be honest you pay a premium for first class as it is - and it goes back to the "classes" of people that existed years back.

Those who want cheap fares will pay for cheap standard fares, those who want cheap first class fares can now use advance purchase.

No you cant

There are very very few advance purchase fares for first class - certainly on the WOS-PAD line

You can get a CDR that takes it from 117 to 77 but only off peak and its not advance purchase it is walk on

I have no problem getting cheap FC AP on Bristol-PAdd, infact at least twice FC has been cheaper!

Not on my line

In fact one of the FGW staff on here double checked and nope, nothing

Anything via Evesham and beyond Oxford doesn't seem to have advanced purchased fares. Something that needs to be addressed now that HST's are being introduced on the line.

The Network South East area, One of Chris Green's babys (ScotRail was another), was a good Idea at the time, Now I'm not a ticket seller but I persume the Network South East Card isn't valid at peak hours.

What is needed for all those who AREN'T YOUNG OR OLD, AREN'T STUDENTS OR TRAVELLING WITH CHILDREN OR DISABLED, is a nice National Rail Card avaiable to ALL.

Railway Development Society (RAILFUTURE) has been banging a drum about a national railcards for years.

Agreed, 110%. 

I did ask about getting an "able bodied rail card" once on the grounds of disability discrimination, but apparently it's a one way street. Discrimination against the able bodied is perfectly legal!

I have also wondered about a "taxpayer's railcard" and feel there's a strong moral case for one of those ...

The Cotswold Line was added to the Network Railcard area in May 1995, by BR Network South East, to end an anomaly, where it had been running almost all the trains on the line since 1993 (except the peak InterCitys and a London-Malvern and return off-peak working), but the railcard wasn't valid. Thames Trains wasn't awarded its franchise until 1996.

And I thought I was the last taxpayer left in the country!  Glad to know there is someone else out there paying tax as well.......

Well i'm one of the few taxpayers that keep the spongers alive and feed their drug habbits etc etc!!