You don’t have to use the TVM if you don’t like it. You have never had so much choice over how and where to buy tickets.
That's a good thing, because it means I can buy tickets from a TOC wherever in the country I like, and don't have to give the comission for my ticket sales to a company whose ticket machines are obtusely designed.
However I
used to like using TVMs.
Type in your destination - choose ticket type and routing - choose discounts - pay - pick up tickets. Simple. If you wanted a journey planner then you just used a website.
Now it's more along the lines of
Type in destination - choose time & single/return - realise that desired outbound train is not displayed because of a bug - choose first displayed train that looks like the correct routing - choose return train - confirm that I don't want an outbound reservation - confirm that I don't want a return reservation - choose anytime/off-peak - choose discounts - pay - pick up tickets.
Far too many steps have been added the process.
And don't even get me started on "Promise to Pay Permits"...
Those machines need an "expert mode" - a button "I know what ticket I want" - which would take you to a traditional screen as per older TVMs where you just pick. It could perhaps print "restrictions advised" on the ticket to confirm that you've made a choice yourself against the restriction code text rather than them advising you based on a journey plan.
Indeed. I have suggested exactly the same concept before on this forum, and several times, depending on the nature of the thread, I have either been agreed with, or shouted down because the journey planner is "intuitive" or whatever. It's intuitive to new passengers. To regular passengers, it feels nothing more than dumbed-down.
I have no objection to attracting new passengers with intuitive design - in fact, in a time when people are more cautious to take the train than ever, it's a necessity for the railway to survive - but I don't see why that has to be at the expense of everyone else when there is such an obvious solution that suits everyone. Just have the journey planner, but with an inconspicuous button for "fast track" or whatever.