Greater Anglia forcing use of Smart Cards for monthly or longer seasons

[Sleepy]

From November Greater Anglia will not issue paper season tickets for monthly or longer duration, all will be issued on smart cards. Can't see this going down well especially if your season is also valid on Great Northern route from Cambridge !!

 

[londonboi198o5]

why wont it go down well the UTS gates will have validators added to them if they dont already.

Not a bad move if i am honest saves the rail companys money not having to buy ticket stock which is not cheap.

So fail to see "why you cant see this going down well"

 

[Surreytraveller]

From November Greater Anglia will not issue paper season tickets for monthly or longer duration, all will be issued on smart cards. Can't see this going down well especially if your season is also valid on Great Northern route from Cambridge !!

Just buy a ticket from a non-GA station or another company's website

 

[dk1]

Will be rolled out nationally before long. I'm sure the GN issue will get resolved.

 

[chubs]

Makes sense, it's a superior system in every way.

Most other countries did this 10+ years ago.

 

[deltic]

In theory, reduces donuting - that was certainly the view of C2C

 

[DarloRich]

Seems like a sensible idea. My season ticket is replaced several times a year as it often stops working the barriers

 

[The Planner]

Seems like a sensible idea. My season ticket is replaced several times a year as it often stops working the barriers

This, fed up of getting the paper ones replaced, sooner this happens elsewhere the better.

 

[SPADTrap]

In theory, reduces donuting - that was certainly the view of C2C

What is donuting?

 

[Surreytraveller]

In theory, reduces donuting - that was certainly the view of C2C

Nothing stopping someone having two smartcards, is there?

 

[ainsworth74]

I'm sure the GN issue will get resolved.

I mean it would be nice if they sorted this sort of thing before making it compulsory to purchase medium that doesn't work...

More generally I would tend to agree that for season tickets smart cards are clearly the way forward over paper tickets. The industry just needs to get its act together to ensure that they can, you know, read season tickets on smart cards that were issued by other TOCs. It really shouldn't be flipping rocket science.

 

[deltic]

Nothing stopping someone having two smartcards, is there?

but if you dont tap in and out firstly there will be a penalty payment applied and secondly its easy to pick up a pattern

 

[ainsworth74]

but if you dont tap in and out firstly there will be a penalty payment applied and secondly its easy to pick up a pattern

Quite. The pattern of touch in/out will soon make it quite obvious what someone is up to and will give you enough evidence to utterly bury them in court.

 

[deltic]

What is donuting?

having two tickets for a journey covering either end but not the middle section eg on C2C having a Shoeburyness to Southend and a Barking to Fenchchurch street ticket while travelling all the way - a fairly common ploy and difficult to pick up on routes where trains are too packed to do on train checks

 

[Malcolmffc]

Excellent news, hopefully this will catch on at other TOCS

 

[Sleepy]

Don't know if it's changing but currently smart cards cannot be retailed/ issues looked at in ticket offices, it's also being rolled out to branch lines which could lead to "free" travel as how many guards will stand there scanning smart cards when they could be selling several Anytime tickets ?

 

[Buggleskelly]

I noticed this a few months back while trying to renew my season ticket online. It only gave me options for a smart card, which I found odd because my journey ends at a TfL run station, where these smartcards will not work the barriers according to a TfL official I spoke to. I suppose swapping the stations might be a way around this?

 

[Sleepy]

Quite. The pattern of touch in/out will soon make it quite obvious what someone is up to and will give you enough evidence to utterly bury them in court.

All good for journeys through gated stations but plenty of open stations on GA so many will only touch out.

 

[Sleepy]

I noticed this a few months back while trying to renew my season ticket online. It only gave me options for a smart card, which I found odd because my journey ends at a TfL run station, where these smartcards will not work the barriers according to a TfL official I spoke to. I suppose swapping the stations might be a way around this?

GA might get a shock if people realise they can buy a paper season on other TOC's websites ( and earn nectar points eg. GWR) Paying out commission to the retailer on Annual Seasons will please Abellio !

 

[HH]

Nothing stopping someone having two smartcards, is there?

Algorithms. Revenue Protection is about to get a lot smarter.

GA might get a shock if people realise they can buy a paper season on other TOC's websites ( and earn nectar points eg. GWR) Paying out commission to the retailer on Annual Seasons will please Abellio !

I'm not sure how they will get round this, but if I were running GA I would simply stop accepting such tickets.

 

[deltic]

All good for journeys through gated stations but plenty of open stations on GA so many will only touch out.

Presumably readers will be installed at all stations - DLR stations are all open but people still touch in and out and fare evasion is lower than on the gated Underground

 

[Surreytraveller]

I'm not sure how they will get round this, but if I were running GA I would simply stop accepting such tickets.

How would you stop accepting valid tickets?

 

[HH]

How would you stop accepting valid tickets?

Simples! They would no longer be valid.

You do realise that the only reason that they are valid is because there is an agreement?

 

[Surreytraveller]

Simples! They would no longer be valid.

You do realise that the only reason that they are valid is because there is an agreement?

The law says they are valid. Unless they change the law.
The Railways Act 1993 or whatever law it was that privatised British Rail.
The Ticket and Settlement Agreement from the same era. TOCs cannot just pull out of it. Unless they wanted to lose their franchise.

 

[route:oxford]

Nothing stopping someone having two smartcards, is there?

Unless you have to provide formal ID to obtain one, nothing to stop someone having multiple IDs.

 

[Surreytraveller]

Unless you have to provide formal ID to obtain one, nothing to stop someone having multiple IDs.

I think I'd have a short distance season for each end of my journey on a smartcard, then have a paper ticket for the bit in the middle just to see their faces when they pulled me up!

 

[HH]

The law says they are valid. Unless they change the law.
The Railways Act 1993 or whatever law it was that privatised British Rail.
The Ticket and Settlement Agreement from the same era. TOCs cannot just pull out of it. Unless they wanted to lose their franchise.

DfT wants to move everyone to Smart and hates ticketless travel. I'm pretty certain that things will change in the not too distant future - the days of the paper ticket are numbered.

Unless you have to provide formal ID to obtain one, nothing to stop someone having multiple IDs.

Do you really think it's that simple these days?

 

[route:oxford]

Do you really think it's that simple these days?

Isn't it? A colleague has two American Express cards, on one he is James, on the other she is Mercedes.

On one of my credit cards, my surname doesn't contain a single letter from my surname.

Looking through the T&Cs of various sites, some ask for photo ID - others don't.

 

[Surreytraveller]

Next time the council send the letter out for the electoral roll, put a couple of non-existent people on it. Just for future use

 

[adrock1976]

why wont it go down well the UTS gates will have validators added to them if they dont already.

Not a bad move if i am honest saves the rail companys money not having to buy ticket stock which is not cheap.

So fail to see "why you cant see this going down well"

Could this be translated please so as to make it easier for readers to understand?

It is a long standing forum policy not to use abbreviations or acronyms without first saying what they mean.