tsr
Established Member
I wonder if there could be one National Railcard, with blanket terms and conditions, but with different prices for different demographics / age brackets, special promotions aimed at various travel patterns, First Class upgrades applicable at certain times, etc.
At the moment there are so many different combinations of T&Cs it gets confusing, not to mention different retail prices. It also takes ages to iron out the bugs in ticket issuing systems whenever they are released.
You could price it according to today's rates (or as per inflation), so £20 for the Disabled Railcard, £30 for the 16-25, etc., but with a slightly higher price for 26-30, and in turn also for anyone else.
You would simply bring the required proof of eligibility to a ticket office, or upload it online, and it would be retailed at the correct price.
Off peak travel for accompanying passengers could be provided on the basis of the Gold Card discounts, or Network Railcard ones, or whatever was appropriate.
Two Together would be harder to implement, though there could be an upfront discount for buying more than one at once, or something. That sort of thing would need more work!
(The waters may be further muddied by regional Railcards and employer / student discount schemes, but there would be no reason not to sell those at a lower price for a more limited area, for example. You could have different regions, eg. South East / South West / North West, and National, a bit like the different regional rovers and rangers, with the ALR towering over the lot.)
At the moment there are so many different combinations of T&Cs it gets confusing, not to mention different retail prices. It also takes ages to iron out the bugs in ticket issuing systems whenever they are released.
You could price it according to today's rates (or as per inflation), so £20 for the Disabled Railcard, £30 for the 16-25, etc., but with a slightly higher price for 26-30, and in turn also for anyone else.
You would simply bring the required proof of eligibility to a ticket office, or upload it online, and it would be retailed at the correct price.
Off peak travel for accompanying passengers could be provided on the basis of the Gold Card discounts, or Network Railcard ones, or whatever was appropriate.
Two Together would be harder to implement, though there could be an upfront discount for buying more than one at once, or something. That sort of thing would need more work!
(The waters may be further muddied by regional Railcards and employer / student discount schemes, but there would be no reason not to sell those at a lower price for a more limited area, for example. You could have different regions, eg. South East / South West / North West, and National, a bit like the different regional rovers and rangers, with the ALR towering over the lot.)