Great Western Coffee Shop

(http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt68/bignosemac/ttgrcall-1.jpg)

This new Railcard will be available from 5th September in the West Midlands as an initial trial. It will offer the usual 34% discount on most Standard Class ticket types as well as 1st and Standard Class Advance Purchase for travel across the GB rail network. Discounts are not available for trains departing between 0430-0930 Monday-Friday. No time restrictions on Weekends or Bank Holidays. Cost will be ^28 a year.

Use of this Railcard is strictly only by the two named and photographed persons, who must travel together at all times.

Whilst the Railcard is initially only being sold at staffed stations within the postcode areas of Birmingham (B), Coventry (CV), Dudley (DY), Walsall (WS) and Wolverhampton (WV) there appears to be no issue with people from outside those areas purchasing one. I've checked the retail guidance issued to staff and there is no requirement to provide proof of residence. All that is said is:


Once purchased the Railcard can be used to purchase discounted tickets from any National Rail ticket office throughout Great Britain.

ATOC say this a trial with limited duration, to assess demand, gain feedback and carry out research.

Whilst don't have to prove to ticket office - the address you put down needs to be in the area. Ticket office just doesn't need to have proof that it is your address.

Agreed. I'll not be needing one, but if I did and was in Brum for the day, it wouldn't be too difficult to make up an address, say of a nearby hotel.....

although states  can buy from any ticket office, can it be used for any routes, or just routes in the midlands areas mentioned

You will be able to purchase Railcard discounted 'walk-up' tickets for any Standard Class National Rail journey as well as any 1st Class or Standard Class Advance Purchase.

so  potentially every family who travel together regularly could pop in to birmingham ticket office, give a random address in the local area of a friend or relative and get one of these cards to say use regularly on say a penzance to Plymouth journey?

Families would be better off with a Family & Friends Railcard. This new trial Railcard is for two people who regularly travel together. Ideal one assumes for married/cohabiting couples or two friends.

And yes, I'll say it again. The railcard is valid for any Standard Class National Rail (or Std and 1st AP) journey subject only to the time restrictions. And issuing staff are not required to check proof of residence during the trial.

Ok, that removes the kids requirement...now the only 'combination' duscriminated against is the solo traveller!

Absolutely. What about a solo traveller railcard for those of us who do often travel solo?

while i agree a national railcard for people without disability's,kids, or being a certain age should be available .... i dont think that this is the best solution

Would it be more straightforward to have a Groupsave Two fare?

(Apart from the difficulty of getting XC to accept it of couse...)

Paul

i just love the idea of two people following eachother everywhere :-)

Reminds me of a pub in Plymouth ...

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/odd0.jpg)

What I would like is a nice simple "anyone can buy" loyalty card - pay x per year and get y% off rail tickets.  It would certainly persuade me to use the train rather than driving in a number of cases where the decision is finely balanced.

Single travellers are always on a short straw.  Think of hotel rooms and single supplements. 

Not just XC, Arriva Trains Wales don't do Groupsave either as far as I know. I don't think Groupsave is readily apparent enough, for example I don't think the East Coast website booking system includes that option. Traveling with certain combinations of passengers on non-Arriva services can sometimes render the Family & Friends railcard redundant if the passengers know about Groupsave.

Yep. The 'singletons' always seem to be given short shrift. Such is the way of the world....

Now.... who's up for being my 'significant other'? Ideally you'd be living in the West Midlands and be happy to tag along with me when I go 'line bashing' hither and thither.

Oh, hang on. I've already got a DSB Railcard which allows two to travel together. So scratch that idea..... ;D

I'll go for the 2x 8oz Gammon Steak. No price advertised. So, free then?  :P ;D

What happens if you used to have a dy post code but in the last week or so house was bought out and you still have proof of dy".........

Officially meant to be a resident - the ticket office doesn't have to ask for proof though.

I understand the solo complaints - however, before I joined the railway, I always looked at how much a trip to Birmingham to see family would be, and compared to driving the railway was an equivalent price if it was just me driving, but as soon as the wife came along it made the car the easy option.

So, it's already the easy option for couples, then why the need for the rauilcard?

Surely it's the singles who might take the car that some other offer ought to be made to temp them onto the train.....like a solo railcard!

Sorry but not required.  The current fares are (or ought to be) competative with alternatives modes (driving) for a single traveller.  Group discounts are all about maintaining that competiveness.

A group or couple rail card is no more discriminatory against single travellers than the fact that my car refuses to burn half the amount of petrol when when the passenger seat is unoccupied.

Eh?

I repeat....

Couldn't we set up a Coffee Shop Partnering Scheme for members who often travel alone? Use the forum to arrange to meet and get photographed together and apply for the pass, and then off you go!

Just a thought....

I'll get me coat.

i was going to say if you see someone on the platform/train quite often (how often this happens after 930 i do not know), i keep forgetting to ask about this one as its a trial i dont expect to see many if any of them however i did find it on the system i will ask as i have a habit of jynxing things like this !  ;D

I didn't make that point at all.  I was saying it isn't an easy option for couples as double the fare, makes the car a cheaper option.

This railcard redresses the balance and makes rail a more comparable option for 2 rather than the cost of the car - so a good thing.

If we are concerned about making the railway attractive and competative for solo traveller versus the car, then the answer is to price the tickets fairly, not to complicate matters with rail cards

I still don't think this railcard will attract many new customers.

My recent journey from Havant-ish to a village in Bedfordshire cost about ^35 in diesel for three people in a Peugeot 307.  It took about 2 hours and we ended up directly in the village.

By train, a GroupSave CDR would cost ^102.60 (via. London) to MK Central and takes 2.5 to 3 hours.  In addition to the inconvenience of transferring across London, we would have to drive to Havant and then travel by bus to the final destination (which takes about 40 minutes).

Even if there were just two people, with one of these railcards, it would still cost ^68.40, which is considerably more than the fuel cost in the car.  In addition, we had full use of a car at the destination.

At the current pricing levels, the train still fails to remain competitive on routes where advance fares are not available.

The Two Together Railcard trial in the West Midlands is ending on May 19th and no new Two Together Railcards will be issued after this date.

ATOC are still undertaking research and a decision whether to roll out the railcard nationally will be taken later this year.

From 'The Manual':

I'll go for the 2x Haddock, chips, and peas. Dunno what my wife wants.

Um, what's "Special" about 2 x Cod & Chips????!!!

Nothing - that's why I'm having haddock.

I was referring to the picture