Printing tickets at home - now possible?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I booked a series of advanced ticket online over the weekend (FGW^▸ (First Great Western) booking site).  Need to be collected ahead of time or couriered, so I'm picking up from BOA this evening as there's no ticket machine at my local station.

Got a survey in the last hour or so about my booking experience and in the "how did you get your ticket" there was a "downloaded and printed at home" option.   I didn't think that was possible for FGW tickets, or has the facility now been added?

[Southern Stag]

Available for Bristol Temple Meads to Reading at the moment only I believe. If you book through FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s mobile app for the same journey you can get tickets delivered to your phone instead. Previously there had been trials of the systems, but through a different booking engine and only between London and Oxford. These seem to be further trials, but this time available through the standard FGW booking engine.

[JayMac]

Kept that quiet haven't they?
 

[Southern Stag]

I think the mobile ticket option was mentioned on twitter or facebook and I found the e-ticket option purely by chance. They certainly haven't publicised it. I wonder whether the staff know anything about it.

[JayMac]

Perhaps as it's a trial at just two stations then only the gateline staff at Reading and Bristol have been briefed. Both these stations already see CrossCountry passengers with P@H tickets. Logical extensions to the trial would be other FGW^▸ (First Great Western) served stations where P@H tickets are already seen.... Cardiff Central, Newport, Gloucester, Cheltenham Spa, Bristol Parkway and principal stations from Taunton to Penzance.

One hopes that, more importantly, Train Managers have been briefed about these new FGW tickets.

[bobm]

I have just looked at the app and it only seems available for advance tickets between BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) and RDG^‡(resolve).  If you choose an Super Off Peak (for example) it offers you a pickup at TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) ticket.  This I assume caters for those who break their journey (which of course you cannot do with an Advance) and saves involving gateline staff elsewhere.

What I cannot see is an option to specify a pickup ticket for an advance which I would need if I bought a ticket for someone else - otherwise they would need my phone to travel!

As an aside there is an interesting piece from Barry Doe in Rail 700 about changes to the National Conditions which caters for those who buy tickets for other family members etc.  I haven't got it to hand to quote.  For non subscribers it will be in the shops this Wednesday (11th).

[JayMac]

The relevant part in the National Rail Conditions of Carriage (from 20th May 2012) now states:

6. Transferring a ticket to another person
A ticket may only be used by the person who bought that ticket, or the person on whose behalf that ticket was bought. When a ticket is purchased on behalf of an organisation, business or similar entity, then that ticket may be used by any person employed by such entity unless otherwise shown on the ticket by means of a person^s name, photocard number or other identifying mark. In such cases it may only be used by the person so identified.

The previous condition stated:

6. You may not transfer a ticket to another person
A ticket may only be used by the person for whom it has been bought. It may not be resold or passed on to anyone else unless this is specifically allowed by the terms and conditions which apply to that ticket and which are set out in the notices and publications of the relevant Train Company.

[readytostart]

I have just looked at the app and it only seems available for advance tickets between BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) and RDG^‡(resolve).  If you choose an Super Off Peak (for example) it offers you a pickup at TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) ticket.  This I assume caters for those who break their journey (which of course you cannot do with an Advance) and saves involving gateline staff elsewhere.

P@H are only issued for Advance as the date and time of travel are mandatory. The risk of fraud with other ticket types, such as duplicate printing and photocopying is considered too high.

[JayMac]

The risk of fraud would be considerably lower if complementary technology was used to validate P@H tickets at stations and on board trains.

What's the point of having bar codes and QR^▸ (QR Code - Quick Response code) codes all over P@H tickets if the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) aren't providing the equipment to read them? Not to forget there's already a pretty robust system of checking the ticket is genuine - asking the passenger to show the debit/credit card used to purchase the ticket and checking the name and last four digits match. This should be done every time. I've used CrossCountry P@H on 5 occasions in recent months. I was asked to show the card used to purchase once.

There are always going to be fraudsters. Stifling demand by limiting choice isn't the answer.

[Glovidge]

I was ona trainf rom Reading to Bristol yesterday at 09:11 and swear I heard the TM^‡(resolve) asking for tickets and mobile devices. I may have been daydreaming though... is this how it works when/ if you buy a ticket on your phone. Would save the hassle of dealing with those magnifcenit ticket machines and their incredible non-touch sensitive keys

[Southern Stag]

What's the point of having bar codes and QR^▸ (QR Code - Quick Response code) codes all over P@H tickets if the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) aren't providing the equipment to read them?

You don't see the equipment in this area because FGW^▸ (First Great Western) haven't taken up P@H tickets much yet but on East Coast the barriers are fitted with QR readers and guards are provided with QR readers, which they do use in my experience.

[grahame]

From the Norwich Evening News

Travellers will be able to book and pay for their tickets online and then print them at home or have them sent to their phone through operator Greater Anglia^s app.

The pilot is in operation on the mainline, connecting stations from Sheringham and Cromer, and from Great Yarmouth to London.

From the autumn, the project will extend to other connecting stations and other routes where advance tickets are available such as a Lowestoft to London, and some mainline intermediate journeys. By January next year, all remaining routes will be covered.

The operator says the innovation will mean less queuing for passengers and, at rural stations without a ticket machine, the ability to buy advance tickets closer to the time of travel as they do not need to be delivered.

Andrew Goodrum, Greater Anglia^s customer service director, said the changes would make the ticket-buying process ^simpler, easier and faster^ for customers.

Do we have any FGW^▸ (First Great Western) feedback as to how the Temple Meads <-> Reading tests are going?  It would/will be a huge benefit to some custmomers in this area to have such a system in place.  And this isn't just about convenience for those customers - it's a very real case of the capture of custom from non-rail modes of transport.

Scenario ... I'm going to London and hope to catch the direct Paddington train from Trowbridge tomorrow.   There's a 30 pound single on offer (as I write, on Wednesday) ... but how do I get my ticket ahead of time?  It's certainly too late to have it posted.   It's even too late for me to pay more for it to be couriered. There's no ticket machine at Trowbridge station to collect on departure. The ticket office there won't be open that early, and (as yet) the onboard staff on the train won't accept a printout of my booking.   Heaven only knows why not if my seat has a reservation tag on it that matches the printout ...

So I'm left with a trip from home to a station that HAS got a ticket machine sometime later today if I really want to use that train from Trowbridge - that's a round trip to Bradford-on-Avon, Chippenham, Westbury or Bath stations which will take an hour out of my Wednesday (much longer if I have no car available) And the extra expense. OR I could pay 74 pounds on the train (as opposed to 30 pounds if I buy online now).   

Frankly, I object to paying more than twice the fare because of the archaic "printed ticket only" rule and the lack of provision of either an adequate collection system.

The dating for this example is hypothetical ... but I HAVE replaced London trips on that early train with none-FGW alternatives, with the ticketing issue tipping the balance of my decisions as to how to do the trip.  Come on First - time to routinely accept a printout, especially where there's a reserved seat involved.  You already have proof of a booking in the form of a seat label on the train as a check against fraud!