johnnychips
Established Member
Unfortunately there was a very similar thread, which was just closed down before I could reply to it.
I have a South Yorkshire Travelmaster card. It looks like a credit card, and you can load various tickets on it. If you wanted the ’supreme’ version - South Yorkshire Connect Plus - which allowed you all trains, buses and trams in SY, when you bought your ticket, you were also issued with a ‘counterpart’, another credit card-sized paperticket with expiry date on it - and a receipt. This was because the buses could read the ’credit card’ but the rail guards’ machines couldn’t, so when asked, you showed them the Travelmaster card and the counterpart.
About six months ago, when you renewed the ticket, they stopped issuing the counterpart. This was because guards could apparently now read the ‘credit card’ on their portable machines, for which they had to download something to enable this. I had no trouble at all on Northern trains, but got some mild annoyance off a TPE guard who insisted I show my counterpart or receipt so I pointed out that counterparts were not now issued: I said the receipt was for me, not him, and in the end he managed to download whatever it was so be could read my ticket. No problems since then till this morning.
About a week ago (and I think I put this on another thread), I was going to walk through Sheffield station on the overbridge to where I live, (Park Hill), when a lady in a uniform thrust her arm out and asked if I was travelling. I told her I live here and she let me pass.
This morning, on my now-resumed way to work, I went from Park Hill, over the overbridge to pick up a Metro on the far side. On attempting to resume my journey, I was stopped by the same lady, who asked to see my ticket. I showed her my Travelmaster. She asked to see the receipt. I said ‘you don’t need to see a receipt’. She then asked me to put it against one of the yellow ticket scanners.
Now this is the bit I don’t understand: these ticket scanners at Sheffield station don’t seem to have any function at all - we don’t have an Oyster system (I wish I’d taken a photo). It showed up as ‘card not recognised` or something similar.
She said, ’well it says your card isn’t valid, where’s your receipt’ so I said ‘but it’s worked on all the buses and trams I’ve used this week and I don’t need a receipt’. So I tried it again and she said ‘How do I know your card is valid?’ and I said, ‘because I’ve told you it had worked on every bus and tram I’ve used this week’..
She said ‘well, if you get into trouble it‘s your own fault then.’
Unfortunately then I only had a minute to catch the train so I did not ascertain if she was an employee of EMR or an agency.
Could she have tried to stop me boarding the train when I have undoubtably a valid ticket?
I will be catching the same train tomorrow. Any recommendations on what I should say?
I must say, I have read some posts on this thread and thought ‘why did you have to lose your temper and put yourself in the wrong?‘ But I can see how it happens now. I didn’t lose my temper, by the way.
I have a South Yorkshire Travelmaster card. It looks like a credit card, and you can load various tickets on it. If you wanted the ’supreme’ version - South Yorkshire Connect Plus - which allowed you all trains, buses and trams in SY, when you bought your ticket, you were also issued with a ‘counterpart’, another credit card-sized paperticket with expiry date on it - and a receipt. This was because the buses could read the ’credit card’ but the rail guards’ machines couldn’t, so when asked, you showed them the Travelmaster card and the counterpart.
About six months ago, when you renewed the ticket, they stopped issuing the counterpart. This was because guards could apparently now read the ‘credit card’ on their portable machines, for which they had to download something to enable this. I had no trouble at all on Northern trains, but got some mild annoyance off a TPE guard who insisted I show my counterpart or receipt so I pointed out that counterparts were not now issued: I said the receipt was for me, not him, and in the end he managed to download whatever it was so be could read my ticket. No problems since then till this morning.
About a week ago (and I think I put this on another thread), I was going to walk through Sheffield station on the overbridge to where I live, (Park Hill), when a lady in a uniform thrust her arm out and asked if I was travelling. I told her I live here and she let me pass.
This morning, on my now-resumed way to work, I went from Park Hill, over the overbridge to pick up a Metro on the far side. On attempting to resume my journey, I was stopped by the same lady, who asked to see my ticket. I showed her my Travelmaster. She asked to see the receipt. I said ‘you don’t need to see a receipt’. She then asked me to put it against one of the yellow ticket scanners.
Now this is the bit I don’t understand: these ticket scanners at Sheffield station don’t seem to have any function at all - we don’t have an Oyster system (I wish I’d taken a photo). It showed up as ‘card not recognised` or something similar.
She said, ’well it says your card isn’t valid, where’s your receipt’ so I said ‘but it’s worked on all the buses and trams I’ve used this week and I don’t need a receipt’. So I tried it again and she said ‘How do I know your card is valid?’ and I said, ‘because I’ve told you it had worked on every bus and tram I’ve used this week’..
She said ‘well, if you get into trouble it‘s your own fault then.’
Unfortunately then I only had a minute to catch the train so I did not ascertain if she was an employee of EMR or an agency.
Could she have tried to stop me boarding the train when I have undoubtably a valid ticket?
I will be catching the same train tomorrow. Any recommendations on what I should say?
I must say, I have read some posts on this thread and thought ‘why did you have to lose your temper and put yourself in the wrong?‘ But I can see how it happens now. I didn’t lose my temper, by the way.
. Seriously I have never seen any revenue checking at Sheffield until the last week, so I assume EMR just left it to on-train staff previously.
