Network Railcard strangeness

[mrbouffant]

Hi

Just tried to buy two Anytime Singles at 2.45pm from Hassocks to Brighton.

The TVM gave a total of 9.60 without the railcard and 26.00 with. What did I do wrong??

Thanks!

 

[JamesT]

Hi

Just tried to buy two Anytime Singles at 2.45pm from Hassocks to Brighton.

The TVM gave a total of 9.60 without the railcard and 26.00 with. What did I do wrong??

Thanks!

Minimum fare - Network Railcard

Minimum fare restrictions when using your Railcard. Discount your leisure travel up to a third with a Network Railcard in London and the South East.

www.network-railcard.co.uk

The minimum discounted adult fare payable is £13 on all journeys Monday to Friday.

 

[mrbouffant]

Ah thanks. I never realised that restriction applied to piddly little local journeys like this!

 

[alistairlees]

Ah thanks. I never realised that restriction applied to piddly little local journeys like this!

The TVM is the only thing that did anything wrong. It shouild have ignored the card and sold you tickets for £9.60 (preferably explaining on screen why). It's not that difficult. Except for TVMs.

 

[Watershed]

Ah thanks. I never realised that restriction applied to piddly little local journeys like this!

It applies to all journeys made on the Network Railcard. Hence it offers effectively no discount for short journeys on weekdays. The TVM shouldn't have offered the £13 minimum fare ticket, as there are literally no circumstances under which it's worth buying for this journey.

If you regularly make short journeys at Off-Peak times, it may be worthwhile buying a Gold Card season ticket. The cheapest available one is Hatton to Lapworth, which is £184 a year. This offers you 1/3 off as with the Network Railcard, but over a rather larger area of validity. The time restriction is less onerous (from 09:30 vs 10:00) and importantly, there is no minimum fare. You can buy discounted tickets for up to 3 adults and 4 children travelling with you (the latter 60% off as per the Family Railcard). You can buy any other Railcard for yourself or a friend/family member for £10. It can also be applied to an Oyster card, offering the same discount on Off-Peak fares and caps as 16-25, Senior etc. Railcards.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The TVM is the only thing that did anything wrong. It shouild have ignored the card and sold you tickets for £9.60 (preferably explaining on screen why). It's not that difficult. Except for TVMs.

They're set up like this because in some edge cases you may want to pay the £13 because you're also buying 4 discounted child tickets to go with it, or because of the old "Railcard discounted tickets on any train" thing Virgin used to do.

LNR's machines warn you of this and suggest you remove the Railcard manually if not doing something like this.

It applies to all journeys made on the Network Railcard. Hence it offers effectively no discount for short journeys on weekdays. The TVM shouldn't have offered the £13 minimum fare ticket, as there are literally no circumstances under which it's worth buying for this journey.

Umm, there are, though it's a little niche!

 

[alistairlees]

They're set up like this because in some edge cases you may want to pay the £13 because you're also buying 4 discounted child tickets to go with it, or because of the old "Railcard discounted tickets on any train" thing Virgin used to do.

No children or Virgin Trains were involved. So no excuse.

 

[Bletchleyite]

No children or Virgin Trains were involved. So no excuse.

Most TVMs aren't clever enough to do something different based on the number of passengers in the basket.

I think the way LNR's S&B machines let you do it but issue a warning is the best way.