The 16-18 zip Oyster card allows half price travel throughout the Oyster area. If residence and/or education requirements are met then you also get free TfL bus travel.
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Do train companies lose money from railcards?
- Thread starter faddy
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The 16-18 zip Oyster card allows half price travel throughout the Oyster area. If residence and/or education requirements are met then you also get free TfL bus travel.
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R
RailUK Forums
I saw a piece on BBC Breakfast recently about a teen who is trying to get similar half-price travel for 16-18 year-olds extended to LM as she now has to pay full price to travel to school somewhere near Birmingham (missed the stations involved).
Llanigraham
On Moderation
Llanigraham
On Moderation
So a person who is disabled and holds down a job should be precluded from using their card?
How nice of you!
PeterY
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I'm surprised the Network card hasn't been withdrawn either. Even though I only travel for leisure, I brought my last Network card last week. Next year (unless the goalposts are moved) I'm getting my first senior card.
paul1609
Established Member
If you were going to have an all comers railcard on the ex Inter City franchises you'd have to have some pretty elaborate restrictions to prevent some enormous revenue extraction. Thats why Virgin etc didn't want to play with the Gold Card.
As somebody who is still entitled to an existing railcard I think it would be a very bad idea
I think they'd have a battle on their hands if they withdrew it. Off Peak travel increases of 50% wouldn't go down well in the marginal constituencies.
If you were going to have an all comers railcard on the ex Inter City franchises you'd have to have some pretty elaborate restrictions to prevent some enormous revenue extraction. Thats why Virgin etc didn't want to play with the Gold Card.
As somebody who is still entitled to an existing railcard I think it would be a very bad idea
I suppose even if you were to exclude InterCity services, a Network/Regional railcard would still be very handy for a lot of people. It would continue to encourage off-peak travel on south eastern commuter trains whilst also encouraging Northerners to get their local line to the rugby or the market, or to explore the hills.
Of course, such a card would be easier for people to understand if all IC services shared an IC livery (i.e. "you can use it on any trains except the beige ones with the red stripe").
Maybe a bit off topic...
Anyone remember the Voyager Railcard? Only issued at Stoke on Trent and giving half price off-peak travel for the holder and up to four people (? the details are a little hazy now). I have come across one with an expiry date of 24th January 1987, but I can't remember if I had more than one. No internet in those days, I remember travelling to Stoke from Chester in a then brand new class 150 sprinter to buy one. It was valid system-wide, and was well recognised within a wide radius of Stoke. However I remember using it at London Waterloo and it took a helpful clerk a long time to find the dusty dog-eared memo that explained its use.
Faded away quickly, but that brand name was reused in another context!
Anyone remember the Voyager Railcard? Only issued at Stoke on Trent and giving half price off-peak travel for the holder and up to four people (? the details are a little hazy now). I have come across one with an expiry date of 24th January 1987, but I can't remember if I had more than one. No internet in those days, I remember travelling to Stoke from Chester in a then brand new class 150 sprinter to buy one. It was valid system-wide, and was well recognised within a wide radius of Stoke. However I remember using it at London Waterloo and it took a helpful clerk a long time to find the dusty dog-eared memo that explained its use.
Faded away quickly, but that brand name was reused in another context!
RJ
Established Member
Whilst that is true, not everybody uses season tickets to commute. I have some regular customers who buy 5 days of Anytime Day Travelcards with a 16-25 railcard as it is a fair bit cheaper than a weekly Travelcard. Similar story for people who can commute on Off Peak tickets.
As for the Network Railcard, I wouldn't be suprised if it does cost certain TOCs more than it generates. The likes of SWT for example with a sprawling network within the area. I occasionally work at stations on the periphery of the Network area where almost every single person coming to the ticket office window has one. The trains are pretty busy, but not overcrowded but then we run trains longer than 4 coaches on weekends!
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AlterEgo
Veteran Member
I also buy Anytime Day Returns with a Disabled Railcard. It works out, anually, as a tiny bit cheaper than an annual season, with the added perk of not having to "pay" for days where I work from home, or elsewhere, or on leave.
It also comes with none of the fear factor of losing a season worth thousands of pounds. And a better rate of Delay Repay!
The glory days are gone! When BR introduced the Family Railcard they had promotions where you could buy a single ticket for a whole family to anywhere in Britain for £5. It was very handy for 2 adults and 2 children being able to travel to Fort William from Reading (and then £5 for the journey back). But such promotions, and the Railcard discount, instill the habit of using rail for leisure journeys. There is long-term payback even after the holder has ceased to be eligible for any Railcard.
It might sound a bit like cheating but I travel extensively in Britain by train as a charity volunteer ( expenses paid). It would cost the charity a fortune if I (we) didn't have Senior Railcards.
It might sound a bit like cheating but I travel extensively in Britain by train as a charity volunteer ( expenses paid). It would cost the charity a fortune if I (we) didn't have Senior Railcards.
But with the railcard only costs them 2/3 of a fortune?
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Locally this has been the case in West Yorkshire for many years - half price fares until the August after your 18th birthday.
Or a local Metrocard valid on trains and buses for about the cost of an Adult bus only card. Just extended to anyone under 25 as well as students - previously anyone under 19 and students.
DelW
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AIUI Senior cards are not valid in the morning peak anywhere in the London and south-east area. The earliest train on which I can use mine arrives in London at 10:13. Similar restrictions apply even when travelling against the peak flow (away from London).
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