Network Rail Swipe Card

[mark7144]

Does anyone know if Network Rail are planning to have an Oyster type card eventually? I hate using paper tickets and I don't see why they shouldn't do it to help people who have to go through Oyster barriers.

I understand in zones 1-6 you can use Oyster but that's no use to me.

 

[Tom]

It's becoming part of the franchise commitments to have an ITSO compatible smart card - the first franchise to be forced into this is the SWT franchise, and is followed by all others after then. I suspect FGW won't be doing anything for quite some time as it involves something called money being spent.

 

[Tom B]

Help people who have to go through Oyster barriers? How many stations have barriers, let alone Oyster ones?

The money would be better spent on better ticket-issuing facilities.

 

[mark7144]

It's becoming part of the franchise commitments to have an ITSO compatible smart card - the first franchise to be forced into this is the SWT franchise, and is followed by all others after then. I suspect FGW won't be doing anything for quite some time as it involves something called money being spent.

So if you have to guess, when would you expect it to be implemented?

Help people who have to go through Oyster barriers? How many stations have barriers, let alone Oyster ones?

The money would be better spent on better ticket-issuing facilities.

What would be better is for Network Rail and Oyster to work together so that people can put Network Rail season tickets on their Oyster. That would be useful for me and any other person who travels frequently in and out of London.

 

[Tom]

The plan is for the ITSO smart cards to be cross compatible where possible with Oyster - I suspect rather similar to the Tube/Tram interchange at Wimbledon currently where you touch into the tram/tube from the tube/tram in order to register the interchange.

At a total guess, 2015.

 

[W14Fishbourne]

Does anyone know if Network Rail are planning to have an Oyster type card eventually? I hate using paper tickets and I don't see why they shouldn't do it to help people who have to go through Oyster barriers.

I understand in zones 1-6 you can use Oyster but that's no use to me.

Network Rail has no plans to introduce smartcards. Network Rail neither sells tickets nor installs or manages gatelines. To see when the newly-franchised TOCs will be introducing ITSO smartcards, scroll down here to see the DfT announcements about the franchise awards.

Whether ITSO smartcards will work Oyster gatelines depends on DfT paying TfL to make its gatelines ITSO-compatible. The DfT will not allow TOCs to extend Oyster outside London, so the TOCs will not be implementing Oyster as such.

 

[djw1981]

The latest Modern railways Informed Sources has a commentary on the nasty nasty mess that Oyster, DfT, ATOC, Banks, ITSO and their IT suppliers are getting caught up in.

 

[me123]

Would be a good idea if it happened: helps cut down on paper too. I was on a short train ride this evening (1812 Airdrie - Blairhill) and was shocked at how many tickets were lying on the ground, including an OUT ticket printed at 0621!

My latest brainwave was a small computer thing; you purchase your tickets on it and just show the screen (with the digital ticket on it) to the conductor when needed. You could obviously store loads of tickets on it. Pretty expensive though.

You can see I have too much time on my hands.

 

[Dennis]

My latest brainwave was a small computer thing; you purchase your tickets on it and just show the screen (with the digital ticket on it) to the conductor when needed. You could obviously store loads of tickets on it. Pretty expensive though.

Like mobile phone tickets

 

[me123]

Like mobile phone tickets

Actually, yes!

 

[W14Fishbourne]

Like mobile phone tickets

Mobile phone tickets are fine for Advance Purchase where you have to travel in a particular seat on a particular train but otherwise they need a raft of anti-fraud precautions, the cost of which would make the cost of paper tickets look small beer.

 

[class 313]

Would be a good idea if it happened: helps cut down on paper too.

Nothing like using more plastic which uses a nice amount of oil

 

[me123]

Nothing like using more plastic which uses a nice amount of oil

Metal Cards!!! They can be magnetic too.

 

[Nick W]

The only way I can see this working unless the fare system is completely changed and first class abolished, is for people to buy tickets in the normal way and then have them stored on the ITSO card.

This would be very interesting if more than one ticket can be used for the journey.

 

[metrocammel]

The only way I can see this working unless the fare system is completely changed and first class abolished, is for people to buy tickets in the normal way and then have them stored on the ITSO card.

This would be very interesting if more than one ticket can be used for the journey.

You could a system like in Belgium, where, if you are making several journeys (afaik within two months) you buy a carnet of 10 journeys- for anywhere within the country. These can be either 1st or 2nd class. It works fine in a small country, like Belgium, where the fare structure is very simple, but in the UK, with our ridiculously complex fare structure it couldn't really work- without £m's spent on simplifying it first, at least!

 

[adambro]

Metal Cards!!! They can be magnetic too.

Metal? Magnetic? Oyster cards are neither of these, well, there will be a very small amount of metal to be completely accurate but its really just a little chip embedded in plastic.

 

[Tom B]

What is wrong with normal tickets? They can easily be collected up and sent for recycling.

 

[W14Fishbourne]

What is wrong with normal tickets? They can easily be collected up and sent for recycling.

They can't be recycled. The iron oxide of the stripe contaminates the material.

 

[me123]

They can't be recycled. The iron oxide of the stripe contaminates the material.

Oops... [goes to collect the hundreds of railway tickets from his recycling bin]

 

[Tom B]

Why do tickets need those strips? Apart from a few near London?

Anyway surely you could feed them into a cutter, send the iron oxide bit to the rubbish dump and the paper bits to the recycling place?

 

[me123]

Why do tickets need those strips? Apart from a few near London?

Scotrail have installed electronic ticket barriers at many station. Glasgow Queen Street, Stirling, Ayr, Dundee, some platforms at Edinburgh Waverley etc.

I presume that the stripe prevents reuse of tickets, and traveling on incorrect routes however I do not know much about this technology.

Again, I can only presume that FSR isn't the only TOC to install these wonderful devices?

 

[Mojo]

Anyway surely you could feed them into a cutter, send the iron oxide bit to the rubbish dump and the paper bits to the recycling place?

They certaintly compost after being run through the shredder.

 

[W14Fishbourne]

Why do tickets need those strips? Apart from a few near London?

Anyway surely you could feed them into a cutter, send the iron oxide bit to the rubbish dump and the paper bits to the recycling place?

I was unaware that Plymouth, Exeter, Bath and Bristol were near London.

Nearer, I suppose than New York, but hardly close by.

 

[Jordy]

Lincoln has electronic barriers too, and apparently Leeds will have soon!

 

[mark7144]

With more electronic barriers being installed, surely rail card replacements will rise significantly as they will get bent and rubbed daily. This is one of the things that really annoy me, I don't want to have to put a bit of paper in a machine every day.