Digital Railcard : Trainpal

[Willie Bee]

I see Trainpal is offering cheaper digital railcards.

I fancy getting the Senior Card for 3 years (£46-20) .. it's my birthday next week, so thought it would be a decent present from my 3 kids .. better than more socks

Just checking .. can the railcard just be stored on the Trainpal app, then simply used to show a conductor, although I shall book tickets elsewhere .. possibly on the RailUK Tickets site

thanks !

 

[AgeoftheTrain7]

Yes, that's right.
All UK National Rail tickets can be brought from any retailer or booking office and used with your Senior Railcard on Trainpal, as where you buy the Railcard from is just a third party entity.

For example, I have a Trainline Railcard and book regularly through other TOC sites like TfW/GWR, and that's absolutely fine!

 

[Willie Bee]

Yes, that's right.
All UK National Rail tickets can be brought from any retailer or booking office and used with your Senior Railcard on Trainpal, as where you buy the Railcard from is just a third party entity.

For example, I have a Trainline Railcard and book regularly through other TOC sites like TfW/GWR, and that's absolutely fine!

Many thanks .. I thought that was the case, just wanted to make sure

 

[trei2k]

For those that use digital railcards - how do you find using a digital railcard and an eTicket together?

I have always made use of a physical railcard as it is easier to show an eTicket and physical railcard at the same time, but I wondered what the experience was like for those that have both in 'e' format?

 

[Solent&Wessex]

Just be aware that Trainpal only seems to work when you have good 4G connection. It seems nigh on impossible to access tickets or railcards unless you have good 4G signal, even if they have been downloaded beforehand.

It makes it very difficult to produce a railcard when requested.

 

[WelshBluebird]

For those that use digital railcards - how do you find using a digital railcard and an eTicket together?

I have always made use of a physical railcard as it is easier to show an eTicket and physical railcard at the same time, but I wondered what the experience was like for those that have both in 'e' format?

If you are using different apps it is a bit of a pain. Not too bad, but still a faff.
But at least with the Trainline, if you have bought both your ticket and your railcard via their app, you get a nice button on the eticket screen to show the railcard.
I would assume other providers that offer railcards and tickets are similar, but can't confirm!

 

[pokemonsuper9]

For those that use digital railcards - how do you find using a digital railcard and an eTicket together?

I have always made use of a physical railcard as it is easier to show an eTicket and physical railcard at the same time, but I wondered what the experience was like for those that have both in 'e' format?

I very rarely get asked for my railcard anyway, but if I need to show it it usually only takes a few seconds to switch app. (Railcard app and (usually) Northern app)

If I could get a physical copy of my railcard to go alongside my digital one that'd be nice since the ticket for commuting (Northern Flexi Season) needs to be on my phone, and it would give me about 15 seconds more to look out the window.
It'll also help if barrier gates start calling for staff to check my railcard.

 

[Feuillesmortes]

Just be aware that Trainpal only seems to work when you have good 4G connection. It seems nigh on impossible to access tickets or railcards unless you have good 4G signal, even if they have been downloaded beforehand.

It makes it very difficult to produce a railcard when requested.

can you screenshot it?

 

[pokemonsuper9]

can you screenshot it?

Probably not if the Railcard App is anything to go by

 

[Starmill]

Just be aware that Trainpal only seems to work when you have good 4G connection. It seems nigh on impossible to access tickets or railcards unless you have good 4G signal, even if they have been downloaded beforehand.

It makes it very difficult to produce a railcard when requested.

That's surprising and actually fairly worrying. The trainline app seems perfectly capable of producing a railcard for display even when the device is in 'flight mode' - hopefully that's the intended behaviour and Trainpal have got a bug.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Feb 2023 ==

Probably not if the Railcard App is anything to go by

The trainline app doesn't seem to try to apply a no-screenshot security policy. Of course the trainpal one may do so.

 

[Willie Bee]

can you screenshot it?

On one website it states 'screenshots are not allowed' as far as on train verification goes

 

[Starmill]

If I could get a physical copy of my railcard to go alongside my digital one that'd be nice since the ticket for commuting (Northern Flexi Season) needs to be on my phone, and it would give me about 15 seconds more to look out the window.

It is a little bit frustrating I agree. Before the pandemic when I travelled I used a plastic railcard and that was straightforward to display with the ticket. However a mobile one usually needs to be shown in two steps, first the ticket either on paper or the phone, then, if asked, you say "just a moment" and then open the one on the phone. If you're sitting at a table it can be possible to have them both out at the same time though if you have a paper ticket or printed your eticket (or have two devices, I guess!). Apparently the trainline app can also show the Railcard button on the eticket display in the app, but I've not seen that myself.

 

[_toommm_]

However a mobile one usually needs to be shown in two steps, first the ticket either on paper or the phone, then, if asked, you say "just a moment" and then open the one on the phone. If you're sitting at a table it can be possible to have them both out at the same time though if you have a paper ticket or printed your eticket (or have two devices, I guess!). Apparently the trainline app can also show the Railcard button on the eticket display in the app, but I've not seen that myself.

iPhones, and I believe a quick setting change in Android, allow you to swipe through apps very quickly with a left-to-right gesture along the navigation bar on the bottom. If I know the guard is coming down, I'll load the Railcard app, then the Apple Wallet, so I can swipe quickly between my ticket and my railcard after the ticket scan.

 

[Starmill]

iPhones, and I believe a quick setting change in Android, allow you to swipe through apps very quickly with a left-to-right gesture along the navigation bar on the bottom. If I know the guard is coming down, I'll load the Railcard app, then the Apple Wallet, so I can swipe quickly between my ticket and my railcard after the ticket scan.

Yes that is possible. I usually am using the phone for something else though independent of my travel documents so that's actually a third thing to flick through. And if I'm using a ticket from a ticket machine it's still a two-handed job.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Yes, that's right.
All UK National Rail tickets can be brought from any retailer or booking office and used with your Senior Railcard on Trainpal, as where you buy the Railcard from is just a third party entity.

For example, I have a Trainline Railcard and book regularly through other TOC sites like TfW/GWR, and that's absolutely fine!

No they can't only GB tickets can.

 

[Starmill]

No they can't only GB tickets can.

Is this a useful distinction? The person said "National Rail" and Northern Ireland Railways aren't National Rail services.

 

[Haywain]

No they can't only GB tickets can.

Pedant. But are there National Rail tickets for the non-GB parts of the UK?

 

[Wallsendmag]

Is this a useful distinction? The person said "National Rail" and Northern Ireland Railways aren't National Rail services.

Sorry it's just one of my triggers when UK is used when really it should be GB, had a good discussion at work yesterday about GBRTT and if it should be GBR

 

[sheff1]

But are there National Rail tickets for the non-GB parts of the UK?

You can certainly buy through tickets using National Rail, then ferry, then Northern Ireland Railways. Senior Railcard discounts apply for some such journeys.

 

[Haywain]

You can certainly buy through tickets using National Rail, then ferry, then Northern Ireland Railways. Senior Railcard discounts apply for some such journeys.

Ah, but they still have to include 'mainland' journeys.

 

[alistairlees]

Sorry it's just one of my triggers when UK is used when really it should be GB, had a good discussion at work yesterday about GBRTT and if it should be GBR

And how long have you been at GBRTT for before you start to challenge the name?

 

[Par]

On one website it states 'screenshots are not allowed' as far as on train verification goes

We have a Two Together digital Railcard via Trainline. Whilst it’s possible to screenshot on an iPhone, I don’t believe it is valid. The Railcard when viewed “in-app” has a dynamic [colour changing] background to the “BR“ logo.

I find it slightly annoying that you can’t seemingly add the Railcard to the Apple wallet, that could make matters a little easier, however it’s not really a problem for us, as one of us can use their phone to show the tickets, the other to show the Railcard on a second phone.

 

[Wallsendmag]

And how long have you been at GBRTT for before you start to challenge the name?

Lol

 

[Hophead]

Hope it's ok to piggy-back onto this thread and ask if anyone has applied a Railcard discount to an Oyster Card when the railcard is held on an app. Do TfL staff (those who understand the system) deal with this without problem?

I will shortly be purchasing an oldies Railcard and the prospect of an even cheaper card has a certain appeal.

 

[TUC]

I am surprised no one has built an app that allows a railcard and ticket to be stored together.

 

[Par]

I am surprised no one has built an app that allows a railcard and ticket to be stored together.

I really don’t understand why it (the Railcard) can’t be added to the Apple Wallet (or Android equivalent) in the same way, say supermarket store cards can be. Surely it can’t be that difficult?

 

[Hadders]

I really don’t understand why it (the Railcard) can’t be added to the Apple Wallet (or Android equivalent) in the same way, say supermarket store cards can be. Surely it can’t be that difficult?

Because it could be distributed to others and added to Apple Wallets on their phones. Having the railcard in an App meas this can't happen.

 

[_toommm_]

Because it could be distributed to others and added to Apple Wallets on their phones. Having the railcard in an App meas this can't happen.

It still can be distributed to others currently, as I could just give a railcard download code to my friend.

 

[Cdd89]

Because it could be distributed to others and added to Apple Wallets on their phones. Having the railcard in an App meas this can't happen.

Digital railcards shouldn’t work by visual inspections in the first place, that is the same silly logic that surrounded m-tickets (no offence to you, I mean silly railway logic ); you can’t trust anything visually presented on a customer’s device. The standard should instead be centred around the signed barcode which displays the information (and photo from a database, if applicable) on the inspection device.

 

[Adam Williams]

Digital railcards shouldn’t work by visual inspections in the first place, that is the same silly logic that surrounded m-tickets (no offence to you, I mean silly railway logic ); you can’t trust anything visually presented on a customer’s device. The standard should instead be centred around the signed barcode which displays the information (and photo from a database, if applicable) on the inspection device.

I agree with this, but it would not appear to be the favoured approach taken by RDG, despite the digital railcards having an Aztec barcode with the customer's name and scans (I believe) being dealt with in much the same way as rail tickets.

I don't think railcard retailers like the Trainline actually make the cardholder photos available (they're not linked from within the barcode or anything) and there's a reliance on being able to display a "hologram" within the app and have the customer's device check-in with a retailer system to detect blocked cards etc. Not really how I would've designed it, but I guess one of the constraints with having the photos retrievable are areas of limited mobile signal etc.