The Key seems to be a retrograde step and appears to be something that is designed to erode passenger rights the way things are going.
The more I read, the more it seems that smartcards will be used to get rid of interavailabilty and flexibility.
This has been my concern for some time. It is very easy to see how it will be done, and once "trial" smartcard systems are in place it will be presented as a
fait accompli with no option to return.
The medium
does matter. Smartcards can have additional T&Cs, and the tickets they hold are not identical to the paper ones, though they may have the same price and validity.
If the ticket on the Smart card is the same cost as an any permitted, surely it has to be valid as an any permitted?
I bet FCC has put pressure on Southern because it can't read the cards.
No - TOC restrictions are different to route restrictions and cannot be excessed (or accepted) for other TOCs. For example, MK-London has both
Virgin Only and
LM Only tickets, which are the same price.
You may be right about FCC, or that Southern say this to prevent customers having problems with FCC as they don't want to take FCC on themselves.
I have just realised that our friend johnnycache had stated categorically on a previous
occasion that agreements are indeed in place between Southern and FCC/FGW with regard to acceptance of tickets held on The Key.
I don't find that especially reassuring. If the ticket is valid, there's no need to make agreements on accepting tickets. Having internal agreements between TOCs is not clear to passengers, and can be reneged upon without any consultation or publicity.
Having already had to replace my 2 week old paper season ticket because it no longer worked the barriers I can't wait for the Key to come to my route.
What happens when your Key stops working I wonder? At least with a paper ticket you still hold a valid ticket, even if it no longer works the barriers. With a smartcard you just hold a piece of plastic, until you can re-load your ticket onto it.