Fading Railcard

[Lampshade]

Hey guys

Recently I've noticed my railcard (station issued) is starting to fade quite noticeably, it's quite hard to see some of the details now although the expiry date is still readable. I think I can put it down to keeping it in my back pocket most of the time which obviously causes the 'ink' to rub off onto the plastic wallet.

If it becomes too badly faded can I just get it replaced free of charge like season tickets or would I need to buy a new railcard?

Cheers

 

[Mike395]

When that happened to mine, I had to pay a £5 admin charge to get it reprinted, so opted to buy a new railcard instead as it was only a month before expiry.

 

[First class]

You can get a free replacement from the station at which you bought it, so long as you have the original receipt.

 

[A60K]

When that happened to mine, I had to pay a £5 admin charge to get it reprinted, so opted to buy a new railcard instead as it was only a month before expiry.

If it was simply a case of the print becoming invisible then it should be replaced free of charge. Thermal printed tickets seem much more prone to quick fading than ink printed tickets used to be. If the railway can't issue a document that lasts for one year without fading it's their problem and not that of the customer.

 

[imagination]

I had this happen to my railcard last year, but I was told I should keep it as:
- it was only a month before it expired anyway
and
- the date on it was still just about legible, which according to the person in the ticket office at Aberdeen station, is the only thing that has to be visible for you to travel with it. It seemed that way with the people on my journeys too.

That said, I don't actually know the details of when it becomes invalid. It is entirely possible that it just so happened that everyone I ran into was giving me the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Oracle]

There was a very wide problem with Disabled R/Cs a year or so back, and holders were contacted with an offer to replace FOC. I had a look at mine and all the writing had faded away or lifted off.

 

[jwos]

From the manual:

"Replacements

•Ask the customer to complete the Application for Replacement Railcard form fully and legibly.
•Applicant must produce the completed receipt portion of the respective leaflet, which was completed at the time of the original purchase and has the issuing office stamp. If the applicant received their Railcard by post via a special promotional offer then the accompanying letter must be produced.

No completed receipt portion or ‘Letter of receipt’ is required where the applicant provides the Police Crime Report number in respect of a Railcard which has been stolen.
•Issue a Railcard at the full Railcard Price.
•Input the expiry date written on the application form.
•Write 'Replacement Railcard' on the back of the card at the top.
•Charge the customer the replacement fee of £5·00. No charge is made if application is due to a reported crime and a Police Crime Reference number is produced.
•Send the top copy of the application form in with your other Railcard application forms in the normal way. Attach the bottom copy to your accounts.

It is intended that in the case of loss, only one replacement will be issued for each Railcard purchased.

Replacement Railcards can be issued at any office regardless of the original issuing office except:


•Travel Agents cannot replace any Railcards and applicants should be directed to a staffed station.
•Stations and Travel Agents cannot replace any Railcards purchased online and applicants should be directed to the website from where it was purchased.
•Stations and Travel Agents cannot replace any Railcards originally issued by HSBC, NatWest or RBS and applicants should be directed to the issuing office shown above or telephone 01454 846124 (HSBC), 0191 501 3806 (Natwest) or 0191 501 3381 (RBS).


If the customer loses only their Photocard or if their appearance changes significantly during the period of validity of the Railcard, you may issue a replacement Photocard. However, you must also issue a new Railcard at the same time. The customer must pay the appropriate fee of £5·00 for the replacement and the Railcard and Photocard are issued as described above.

Back to top
Replacing faded Railcards
Customers whose Railcard has faded to the extent that the details on it cannot be read should not be charged a replacement fee.

A replacement Railcard should be issued using the procedure detailed above. Ask the customer to endorse the application form ‘Faded Railcard’ in the ‘Loss/Damage/Theft’ section and ensure the faded Railcard is attached to the application form for audit purposes.

To establish the expiry date of the replacement Railcard, please ask the customer to show either the receipt from their original application form or a card payment receipt voucher. However, if neither of these can be produced then the date of purchase provided by the customer should be accepted. "

 

[Lampshade]

Aha, cheers guys

 

[metrocammel]

Just a few notes:

This is beginning happen to mine, and it's only 2 month old!

It's not ink, tickets are heat sensitive, which are prone to fading - which is why it's ridiculous to issue railcards in this fashion- they should be printed in ink or even handwritten.

The ticket issuing system used until 2006, APTIS, used ink, which didn't fade - it seems a case of building unnecessarily on tried and tested printing technology- though the costs saved by not needing new ink ribbons must outweigh passenger inconvenience! (Though many countries I've visited around the word have 'modern' ticket issuing systems with dot-matrix printers, so possibly that's not the logic in other countries?)

Finally, I'm not sure if this works or not, but a friend of mine who works at a Virgin ticket office informed me that they've been instructed not to give out the blue 'National Rail' ticket wallets, as they worsen ticket fading- ridiculous, or what?

 

[Greenback]

Every year my annual season has begun to fade and is pretty much illegible by the time it's six months old. At first I thought it was due to the ticket gates, then I was told it;s the thermal printing.

I do find it a bit of a chore having to get it replaced, as the ticket offic eis only open in the morning, when there is always a queue unless I go down there very early.

 

[Lampshade]

Finally, I'm not sure if this works or not, but a friend of mine who works at a Virgin ticket office informed me that they've been instructed not to give out the blue 'National Rail' ticket wallets, as they worsen ticket fading- ridiculous, or what?

Hmm, mine's a Southeastern one, must have something to do with the material, it seems to be a different kind of plastic on the Virgin/SWT ones.

 

[Solent&Wessex]

Every year my annual season has begun to fade and is pretty much illegible by the time it's six months old. At first I thought it was due to the ticket gates, then I was told it;s the thermal printing.

I do find it a bit of a chore having to get it replaced, as the ticket offic eis only open in the morning, when there is always a queue unless I go down there very early.

There are problems in West Yorkshire with annual Metrocards and Season Tickets also. Huddersfield station have recently been putting stickers over the top of the ticket which appears to preserve the information on the front, while still allowing the tickets to work in gates.

 

[Greenback]

That's interesting. I wonder if I could persuade ATW to try the same thing!

 

[RJ]

If the railway can't issue a document that lasts for one year without fading it's their problem and not that of the customer
.

May I ask how you think a railcard becomes faded? It's not something which needs to go through barriers or even needs to removed from the ticket wallet. If you will insist on shoving other tickets over it/taking it out of the wallet daily, putting it in the washing machine or otherwise maltreating it then it will get damaged.

 

[Lampshade]

May I ask how you think a railcard becomes faded? It's not something which needs to go through barriers or even needs to removed from the ticket wallet. If you will insist on shoving other tickets over it/taking it out of the wallet daily, putting it in the washing machine or otherwise maltreating it then it will get damaged.

As I mentioned in the OP, I keep it in my back pocket most of the time which means it squashes the railcard up against the plastic and when I stand up again it reduces the pressure so it has the same effect as removing it. The effect of this is increased when I have many tickets (and my Oyster) in the bottom part of the wallet, meaning the 'squashing' effect is even more apparent.

 

[Deerfold]

May I ask how you think a railcard becomes faded? It's not something which needs to go through barriers or even needs to removed from the ticket wallet. If you will insist on shoving other tickets over it/taking it out of the wallet daily, putting it in the washing machine or otherwise maltreating it then it will get damaged.

You do like to make assumptions don't you?

Where is there any evidence that these things were being done?

In my experience the lastability of text on tickets varies enormously. I had a ticket and reservation last week which I'd taken out of a fastticket machine a fortnight earlier. The ticket was clear as day. The reservation which had been kept in the same wallet behind it was so faint as to require squinting to read it.

 

[tony_mac]

There's always one!

My 2009 Railcard is still as clear as ever, my 2010 railcard is badly faded. Both are kept in the same wallet, and go through the same outrageous mistreatment. (Such as taking it out of a darkened, humidity-controlled environment and putting it in my pocket).

 

[sprinterguy]

Fading railcards only seems to have become a problem for me recently, I wonder how long ago it is that they stopped using ink printing? This years' railcard lasted about four months before it begain to fade. And thanks to the vagaries of sods' law, this year is the first year that I have no idea where I've put my railcard receipt: In previous years I've always filed it away somewhere fairly obvious for just such an occurence, but not this time, now that it would actually be useful...:roll: So it looks like I'll be forking out for a complete new railcard just half way through it's validity

Most of the cards and things I keep in my pockets get fairly worn: Debit cards, uni card, etc, end up fairly battered over time. I blame it on an outdoors-ey lifestyle. So I generally try to keep my railcard in a jacket pocket wherever possible, as its' a more weatherproof location, and the railcard never gets taken out of the wallet, and yet it has still faded.

I've had a handwritten railcard in the past, and that one was fine!

 

[Greenback]

May I ask how you think a railcard becomes faded? It's not something which needs to go through barriers or even needs to removed from the ticket wallet. If you will insist on shoving other tickets over it/taking it out of the wallet daily, putting it in the washing machine or otherwise maltreating it then it will get damaged.

My season is never removed from it's wallet except to go through barriers. Iw as told it;s not the barriers that causes it to fade, but the method of printing. If that is correct, it will affect railcards too, regardless of how often it is removed.

Just for the record, there has been no mention of washing machines or maltreatment by anyone. I look after my ticket as best I can, it cost me a good few quid! (Though nothing like as much as most people I hasten to add!)

 

[Deerfold]

Fading railcards only seems to have become a problem for me recently, I wonder how long ago it is that they stopped using ink printing? This years' railcard lasted about four months before it begain to fade. And thanks to the vagaries of sods' law, this year is the first year that I have no idea where I've put my railcard receipt: In previous years I've always filed it away somewhere fairly obvious for just such an occurence, but not this time, now that it would actually be useful...:roll: So it looks like I'll be forking out for a complete new railcard just half way through it's validity

Most of the cards and things I keep in my pockets get fairly worn: Debit cards, uni card, etc, end up fairly battered over time. I blame it on an outdoors-ey lifestyle. So I generally try to keep my railcard in a jacket pocket wherever possible, as its' a more weatherproof location, and the railcard never gets taken out of the wallet, and yet it has still faded.

I've had a handwritten railcard in the past, and that one was fine!

Can you still see the date? If you can I'd nip down the station pronto and get a replacement whilst you still can.

 

[sprinterguy]

Can you still see the date? If you can I'd nip down the station pronto and get a replacement whilst you still can.

Just barely, think I'll have to get on with buying a replacement soonish!

 

[Magicake]

I asked a guard on a XC train about this the other day. He said it didn't really matter how much it faded as he could read the expiry date off the magnetic strip. He also said that I could take it to the station and they would stamp the date on the back rather than issue a new card. Judging by the excerpt from the manual this doesn't sound like correct procedure though.

 

[janb]

I asked a guard on a XC train about this the other day. He said it didn't really matter how much it faded as he could read the expiry date off the magnetic strip. He also said that I could take it to the station and they would stamp the date on the back rather than issue a new card. Judging by the excerpt from the manual this doesn't sound like correct procedure though.

Indeed. Guards are quite often the driver for change telling people they have to go get their cards replaced. Some booking office staff are either unfamiliar with the process or unwilling to fill the form in etc, so stuff like stamping/writing on cards happens.

 

[A60K]

May I ask how you think a railcard becomes faded? It's not something which needs to go through barriers or even needs to removed from the ticket wallet. If you will insist on shoving other tickets over it/taking it out of the wallet daily, putting it in the washing machine or otherwise maltreating it then it will get damaged.

From the condescending nature of your reply and your ignorance about the way in which thermal printing degrades unexpectedly I guess you've not recently had a ticket or railcard valid for a year? Your assumptions about what you need to do to one of these tickets or railcards to make it fade are bulldust!

 

[RJ]

From the condescending nature of your reply and your ignorance about the way in which thermal printing degrades unexpectedly I guess you've not recently had a ticket or railcard valid for a year? Your assumptions about what you need to do to one of these tickets or railcards to make it fade are bulldust!

I have actually. Keeping it in the same wallet without subjecting it to repeated friction with other tickets reduces the chance significantly of it fading to the point of illegibility. If you chose to believe otherwise, that's your shout but is it really necessary to throw your toys out of your pram?

 

[NLC1072]

lol, same with season tickets you can get them replaced at the ticket office if they fade or stop working the barriers free of charge, this service is called an encode exchange!

 

[A60K]

I have actually. Keeping it in the same wallet without subjecting it to repeated friction with other tickets reduces the chance significantly of it fading to the point of illegibility. If you chose to believe otherwise, that's your shout but is it really necessary to throw your toys out of your pram?

Ah, that must be the problem for me then, I must keep chucking the railcard out of my pram with my toys and that's what damages it. Cheers!

Obviously all the other people who have posted and questioned your assumptions are wrong as well. You don't work for ATOC by any chance...

 

[shinkansen1966]

When I first saw the thread title "fading railcard", I was about go into a full blown rant about how the Network Card's benefits have been steadily erroded over the years. Hey, ho.

 

[Deerfold]

I have actually. Keeping it in the same wallet without subjecting it to repeated friction with other tickets reduces the chance significantly of it fading to the point of illegibility. If you chose to believe otherwise, that's your shout but is it really necessary to throw your toys out of your pram?

You don't think your original response was a little condescending?

 

[Lampshade]

Sorry for dragging up this thread again but this particularly annoyed me earlier.

The other week I bought a ticket from the booking office at Preston station, the clerk took my railcard and wrote the date on it before stamping the back of it, she said that would be fine and it is, no Guard on any train or any booking office staff have any problems with it whatsoever.

However, I got off the train at Manchester Piccadilly today (only from Oxford Road) and obviously had it checked by the G4S staff on platforms 13/14. As soon as I showed him the ticket and railcard he pretty much snatched it from me exclaiming "now let's see what date you've written on here then". Thankfully the 11 part of 03 AUG 11 was still visible enough for him to read so he let me through.

Would it still be best to get it reprinted to avoid situations like this again or could I just put it down to pure "jobsworthiness" of the G4S staff?