16-25 vs Scottish Youth Railcard on a TVM

[NotATrainspott]

The TVM at my local station only lists the UK-wide railcards, but I have a Scottish Youth Railcard which has the same 1/3 discount on standard off-peak travel as the standard 16-25 railcard. Would it be permissible to select the 16-25 option on the TVM if it's a SYR I would be using with it? The only difficultly I can really see is the difference in peak minimum fare (£8 for SYR, £12 for 16-25).

 

[sonic2009]

Which local station are you referring to?

 

[reb0118]

No, It is technically not valid. Although the fare you pay will in most cases be the same there is a revenue loss to Scotrail. (As Transport Scotland pay the "missing" third).

Scottish Youth Railcard (SYR) discounted tickets can only, at present, be purchased at the booking office or , with the usual caveat, on board the train.

I believe it is possible to purchase on line and pick up SYR tickets from a TVM though?

 

[yorkie]

16-25 railcard. Would it be permissible to select the 16-25 option on the TVM if it's a SYR I would be using with it?.

If the ticket office isn't open, you should buy on board the train (or, if you are unable to buy on board, at the destination, or if you are changing, possibly the interchange station).

 

[clagmonster]

The TVM at my local station only lists the UK-wide railcards, but I have a Scottish Youth Railcard which has the same 1/3 discount on standard off-peak travel as the standard 16-25 railcard. Would it be permissible to select the 16-25 option on the TVM if it's a SYR I would be using with it? The only difficultly I can really see is the difference in peak minimum fare (£8 for SYR, £12 for 16-25).

If the booking office at your origin station is open (assuming it exists), then as your desired ticket is not available from the TVM you should purchase your ticket from the booking office.

The National Rail Conditions of Travel state:
"3. Where the full range of tickets is not available
If you cannot buy an appropriate ticket for the journey you want to make because the
range of tickets that is available at the station from which you intend to start your journey
is restricted, you must buy a ticket or Permit to Travel before you travel that entitles you to make at least part of the journey. You must then, as soon as is reasonably practicable, buyan appropriate ticket to complete your journey. In these circumstances, you only need to pay the fare that you would have paid if you had bought a ticket immediately before your journey. The price you will have to pay will be reduced by the amount paid for the ticket or Permit to Travel."
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/NRCOC.pdf

Thus, if only a TVM is available (ie if there is no booking office or the booking office is closed), you should purchase a full fare adult ticket (a 16-25 railcard ticket would not entitle you to make any of the journey as you do not hold said railcard) for part of the journey, and pay the difference in fares to the guard on board the train. Did you have a particular journey in mind?

 

[reb0118]

Thus, if only a TVM is available (ie if there is no booking office or the booking office is closed), you should purchase a full fare adult ticket (a 16-25 railcard ticket would not entitle you to make any of the journey as you do not hold said railcard) for part of the journey, and pay the difference in fares to the guard on board the train. Did you have a particular journey in mind?

Whilst I can appreciate what you are stating this is not the custom and practice here in Scotland. Stations are either staffed or unstaffed. If a station only has a TVM then it is unstaffed and the full range of tickets are available from the on train staff.

Originally it was felt that there was a requirement for passengers to use the TVMs where provided, but there are too many variables in force to make this practical. TVMs can not ask the questions that are required to ensure that the passenger will be issued the correct ticket for their journey. TVMs are not a replacement for on train & booking office staff but a (useful) adjunct to them. Passengers should & do use them but they should not be compelled to do so esp. if they require more information prior to purchase.

Where a booking office is provided passengers should, however, use that facility to purchase tickets prior to boarding the train.

You will have no problems purchasing on board the train with your SYR if boarding at an unstaffed station. If in the unlikely event that you are challenged as to why you didn't use the TVM simply state that as SYR discounted tickets are not available from the TVM your only option is to purchase on board. I doubt it would come to that.

 

[clagmonster]

If only that were the case throughout England and Wales too.

 

[NotATrainspott]

At this station, the TVM is the only method of buying tickets - it was only installed a year or so ago - and it is a card-only machine. The annoying thing is that the Visa Debit card I have on a Lloyds student account will not work onboard the train, so I would need cash to buy a SYR fare.

Hopefully with the rollout of the Saltire ITSO cards along this route this won't be a problem in the future.

Edit: And it's of no real consequence whatsoever but this is in the Strathclyde area so all the trains are DOO with a ticket inspector.