Railcards: the good, the not so good.

[whole diary]

[Mark A]

There's that question of whether they should exist at all - and its counterpoint: would the railway and its travellers benefit from a national railcard available to anyone? The railway in the south east certainly still thinks so, though its version has a crippling "Not before 10am" restriction. Even with that restriction, it's a mystery how it's existed for so many years without the rest of the country rising up in revolt and marching on the capital. The question of a national railcard is a discussion that for the time being could only thrive well out of the hearing of the current DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) though...

Personally, my most positive experience of railcards was as the possessor of the very useful and with no restrictions annual season ticket holder's second railcard (can't recall what it was called, and I think it's long gone now). As well as trips up to town, it enabled me to run a business that involved a certain amount of up-to-150-miles round-trip travel - and do that without needing more than a bike.

Then, the individual quirks such as, for the senior railcard, the peak restriction in the former Network Southeast area. Not that it bites people on the Great Western Lines so badly - but apart from any other consideration, hello Worcester, hi, Exeter Central, and 'Oh, is that you, Kings Lynn? (and all stations between them and London) and we had better not think of various far-flung parts of, say, Kent.*

4.2. Discounts are not available on tickets for travel on morning peak services for journeys that start and end within the London & South East area (defined by the Network Railcard area – network-railcard.co.uk/map) on Monday to Friday (except on public holidays). The time when off-peak services start can vary by station. Use nationalrail.co.uk to plan your journey to identify when off-peak services start or ask rail staff for details.

So. Railcards. Bring Sam Fay forward 125 years and, in this age of sometimes oversubscribed but often empty(ish) trains, on a system that's capacity constrained, let him loose on the railcards - and I wonder what he'd do?

Mark

* The network railcard validity area map. Now that's a very shy animal - it's not easy to find a copy that's both from an authoritative source and at a scale that makes it useable.

[TaplowGreen]

Given that business travel is in inexorable decline, I think a nationwide railcard available to all aimed primarily at leisure travellers is an excellent idea.

I will now sit back and await the cries of "Oooooos gonna pay for it?" 

[ChrisB]

Better idea - simply reduce all off-peak tickets by the railcard discount, currently 33%.

[IndustryInsider]

I will now sit back and await the cries of "Oooooos gonna pay for it?" 

With the way the railway is now structured post-COVID, that’s an easy question to answer.  The government and therefore ultimately the taxpayer would.

[Mark A]

With respect to the senior railcard bought online, here's an example of the bad, and at the point of purchase too.

Once you've purchased, the site drops the following baited hook, at which point it's probably a good idea to read the small print.

I've raised it, the site owners have *no* interest in ceasing this trashy behaviour, which after she was caught by it,  sent a relative on a fixed (low) income straight to the ticket office to buy their next railcard - at which point she found that the ticket office wasn't able  to sell her the three year variety.

Mark

[ChrisB]

Worth highlighting in your response to the consultation. I doubt the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) knows this stuff is going on, and shouldn't be permitted

[Surrey 455]

* The network railcard validity area map. Now that's a very shy animal - it's not easy to find a copy that's both from an authoritative source and at a scale that makes it useable.

https://assets.nationalrail.co.uk/e8xgegruud3g/5FDJOxUpy7GtHrhhPz9IyS/5426eeddd4a9ef55dfbac1a72ffecdc0/LondonSouthEastNetworkRailcard_map_May2023.pdf

There used to be a link from the homepage of the National Rail site to all the maps. This time I had to perform a search for it.
Seems to be viewable ok on a PC. I haven't tried to view it on a phone / tablet though.

[Mark A]

Thanks.  The Network Railcard area boundary is certainly a wonderful and curious thing. Does it date from the days of Chris Green's Network Southeast perhaps...

Mark

[PhilWakely]

Thanks.  The Network Railcard area boundary is certainly a wonderful and curious thing. Does it date from the days of Chris Green's Network Southeast perhaps...

Mark

Yes!

[1st fan]

Thanks.  The Network Railcard area boundary is certainly a wonderful and curious thing. Does it date from the days of Chris Green's Network Southeast perhaps...

Mark

Yes!

And when the 1st Gold Card Upgrade was removed the Gold Card usage area was increased from the old Network South East area. It was mostly in the North and now reaches as far as Stafford and Shrewsbury.

[CyclingSid]

The Network Railcard area boundary is certainly a wonderful and curious thing.

But it excludes Melksham! Residents of Melksham rise up.

[PhilWakely]

Then, the individual quirks such as, for the senior railcard, the peak restriction in the former Network Southeast area. Not that it bites people on the Great Western Lines so badly - but apart from any other consideration, hello Worcester, hi, Exeter Central, and 'Oh, is that you, Kings Lynn? (and all stations between them and London) and we had better not think of various far-flung parts of, say, Kent.*

4.2. Discounts are not available on tickets for travel on morning peak services for journeys that start and end within the London & South East area (defined by the Network Railcard area – network-railcard.co.uk/map) on Monday to Friday (except on public holidays). The time when off-peak services start can vary by station. Use nationalrail.co.uk to plan your journey to identify when off-peak services start or ask rail staff for details. 

I have spoken with several folks living in or between Honiton and Exeter, who are of qualifying age for (and possess!) the Senior Railcard. All of whom are still working and commuting into Exeter. They all have season tickets, knowing that their railcard does not allow them to use it between home and Exeter Central. I have simply told them to ditch their season tickets and purchase daily Anytime Returns to Exeter St Thomas (which just so happens to be outside of the 'South East'). I also reminded them that the Anytime Return T&Cs will allow them to alight and board at Exeter Central, so their ticket will qualify for the discount and save them money!

[grahame]

There's that question of whether they should exist at all - and its counterpoint: would the railway and its travellers benefit from a national railcard available to anyone?

[snip]

* The network railcard validity area map. Now that's a very shy animal - it's not easy to find a copy that's both from an authoritative source and at a scale that makes it useable.

http://www.projectmapping.co.uk/Reviews/Resources/Network%20Railcard%20map%20%28FWT%204.jpg is old but I think broadly right; errors are things like lack of Elizabeth line and connection southwards from Kings Cross onto Thameslink.

In my view, yes, these should be a national card.   However ...

The Network Railcard area boundary is certainly a wonderful and curious thing.

But it excludes Melksham! Residents of Melksham rise up.

... if you put a national card in place, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) or the recipients of their ticket revenue will loose a cash cow in Melksham Swindon to London day return trips