Network Railcard

[Cundy66]

Seen this advertised online where is it valid is it regional or national ,like the 16-25? It costs the same price as the 16-25 and what is needed to qualify for one?

Tom

 

[MikeWh]

It's valid in the former Network South East area only. http://www.railcard.co.uk/clientfiles/File/map.pdf

 

[LexyBoy]

It's also heavily restricted compared to other national Railcards - on weekdays there's a minimum fare of £13 and it's not valid at all before 1000.

It is very worthwhile though if doing a few longish journeys in the NSE area. Anyone 16 or over qualifies - there's no requirement to live in the area covered.

 

[Zoe]

it's not valid at all before 1000.

There are some exceptions to this unless they have recently been removed.

 

[jopsuk]

There are some exceptions to this unless they have recently been removed.

There's a comprehensive list of them here. Mainly services departing the origin station just before 1000/starting a long way from London.

There are some wierdly anomolous stations- for example, Peterborough not being in the zone- it would surely be possible to write the restriction such that it was within the zone, but not valid on EC services, and to keep the Ely-Peterborough line outside it as well (Kings Lynn, like Exeter, is in the "south east"...)

 

[LexyBoy]

There are some exceptions to this unless they have recently been removed.

There's a comprehensive list of them here. Mainly services departing the origin station just before 1000/starting a long way from London.

Yes, indeed - as with all things railway related, there's always a layer of exceptions to miss out!

There are some wierdly anomolous stations- for example, Peterborough not being in the zone- it would surely be possible to write the restriction such that it was within the zone, but not valid on EC services, and to keep the Ely-Peterborough line outside it as well (Kings Lynn, like Exeter, is in the "south east"...)

It's the same on many of the mainlines - Ipswich, Rugby and Westbury are all just outside the area. It would make sense for the area to terminate at the more major station, but I think putting a restriction on which TOCs may be used from these stations would only lead to confusion and annoyance by passengers boarding "forbidden" services. Unless it's changed recently the leaflet advised splitting tickets when travelling outside of the boundary in order to make use of the Railcard; this effectively enforces travel on the stopping services without putting restrictions on which operator may be used.

 

[benk1342]

Unless it's changed recently the leaflet advised splitting tickets when travelling outside of the boundary in order to make use of the Railcard; this effectively enforces travel on the stopping services without putting restrictions on which operator may be used.

In the specific case of Peterborough, though, in my experience splitting at Huntingdon generally doesn't make the journey cheaper. Huntingdon - Peterborough fares are relatively high.

 

[jopsuk]

With Peterborough, there's already FCC-only fares- it would surely be trivial to make the discount only applicable to those.

 

[island]

With Peterborough, there's already FCC-only fares- it would surely be trivial to make the discount only applicable to those.

Yes, but then you lose the quiz question "What is the only FCC station outside the Network Railcard zone"!

 

[LexyBoy]

Yes, but then you lose the quiz question "What is the only FCC station outside the Network Railcard zone"!

"FCC station" or "station served by FCC"?

 

[island]

"FCC station" or "station served by FCC"?

If you're talking about management, then no answer exists.

 

[jopsuk]

Yes, but then you lose the quiz question "What is the only FCC station outside the Network Railcard zone"!

Pfft! Frankly, I'd like to see the whole of GA included as well- including Norwich and its branches is no more ridiculous than including Weymouth or SWT's route to Exeter. I can accept that not all FGW, Chiltern and London Midland routes are covered (and EMT/Virgin/EC are really beyond the point of the card) but including GA plus Peterborough would neaten things up a little.