New design of common stock ticket

[whole diary]

[paul7575]

East Coast is the only place I've seen these Aztec Codes, (not actually QR^▸ (QR Code - Quick Response code) codes) in use so far. 

Wikipedia reckons Heathrow Express use them as well, as do a number of mainland Europe operators.

Paul

[Super Guard]

East Coast is the only place I've seen these Aztec Codes, (not actually QR^▸ (QR Code - Quick Response code) codes) in use so far. 

Wikipedia reckons Heathrow Express use them as well, as do a number of mainland Europe operators.

Paul

I've seen them when travelling on HEX on "Print-at-home" tickets and they are scanned when checked.

[BerkshireBugsy]

East Coast is the only place I've seen these Aztec Codes, (not actually QR^▸ (QR Code - Quick Response code) codes) in use so far. 

Wikipedia reckons Heathrow Express use them as well, as do a number of mainland Europe operators.

Paul

I've seen them when travelling on HEX on "Print-at-home" tickets and they are scanned when checked.

I also saw this format on a colleagues first capital connect ticket issued at kings cross

[SDS]

Print@Home tickets have the Aztec Code on them, this includes the First Group Staff ^5 ^6 Day Tickets.

The PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-OXF^» (Oxford - next trains) ^4.40 Advance singles tend to be print@home jobbies and these contain Aztec codes.

HC and HX use Aztec codes and actually have scanners to scan them.
EC use them and the guards have an extra device to carry around which scans the code.

I also understand that some Foreign undertakings also use them on printed tickets, DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about), SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) and NMBS.

[Super Guard]

Print@Home tickets have the Aztec Code on them, this includes the First Group Staff ^5 ^6 Day Tickets.

For someone who doesn't work for FGW^▸ (First Great Western), you seem to know quite a lot about internal communications and policies...

[Chris from Nailsea]

Fair comment.

Or, Fare comment, perhaps? 

[Tim]

proposed design is an improvement, but if I was in charge, I would pass a law stating that all restrictions that were too complicated to actually be printed on the ticket itself would be unenforceable.

[Surrey 455]

The Daily Mail has published an article about the redesign.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2934200/Rail-tickets-redesigned-time-30-years-bid-make-travel-simpler-easier-clearer.html

[Brucey]

Saw one of the new layout tickets yesterday that hadn't been issued by the new Northern machines.  It was a London Terminals to Cambridge return (still comes as two coupons), not sure where it was issued but will have been in London.  The font was the traditional font (rather than the new one used by Northern or in the ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) press releases).  Station names now appear in normal case rather than entirely in upper case.  Everything looked much neater than Northern's attempts.

[readytostart]

Most of the Northern machines are now issuing in the fonts and letter case you describe following feedback from the initial trial, though in my opinion some of the lettering is still too small.

[Bmblbzzz]

Got a ticket from TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) at an unmanned station the other day and the machine still gave me an extra piece of card to say... what? That I had bought a ticket, I suppose. But what is the point of this extra non-ticket? Is it to function as a receipt and if so is it required by law? If not, it seems a bit of a waste.

Also, as the TVMs do not take cash ^ which seems a sensible move on the whole ^ what effect does this have on the legality of the posters warning that you must have a valid ticket before boarding the train, which are prominently displayed at most stations with TVMs?

[paul7575]

Also, as the TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) do not take cash ^ which seems a sensible move on the whole ^ what effect does this have on the legality of the posters warning that you must have a valid ticket before boarding the train, which are prominently displayed at most stations with TVMs?

Assuming there is also no open ticket office, then you can definitely buy on the train with cash if a TVM doesn't take cash. 

What you cannot do is get on the train and ask to pay by card, as you have passed an opportunity to pay.

Paul

[BerkshireBugsy]

I know the issue of buying a ticket on the train has been covered many times but saying there is a TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) present doesn't always mean it works as required.

I can only speak from experience of using the TVM at Thatcham but after some nights when the screen gets cold/damp they just don't respond to human touch making them unusable especially if you have to type in details such as a station name and/or travel card number

[Fourbee]

I picked up some tickets today which more or less are using the layout BNM posted earlier in this thread http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=12268.msg130412#msg130412

I can't say I like it that much, when lower case font is used it is not proportionate and very small in places; there is a lot of blank unused real estate as a result.

I also don't like "Valid for one journey from X to Y" at the top. I've had a hard enough time explaining to my friends that break of journey is permitted on most "normal" tickets and IMO^▸ (in my opinion) this implies that benefit has been removed.

Maybe they'll work better for advances (these tickets were Off-Peak Day Returns).

[ChrisB]

I also don't like "Valid for one journey from X to Y" at the top. I've had a hard enough time explaining to my friends that break of journey is permitted on most "normal" tickets and IMO^▸ (in my opinion) this implies that benefit has been removed.

To me, that reads as though you can't use the ticket for more than one (ie no repeat) journey.