Thanks to
kwvr45 for posting the scans. Compared to the original mockups I saw some months ago, some improvements have been made ... but I'm not entirely convinced.
I have an unusual position on this: I am a regular buyer of tickets, but also a collector. Having collected (and researched) tickets since the start of the APTIS era 25 years ago, this is a big thing to get used to - probably bigger than the change from APTIS to New Generation systems. Like most collectors, I collect mainly by machine number and system (S&B, Shere SMART, TRIBUTE etc). Having the machine number, NLC and window number in tiny print in the lower orange band is reasonable because that info is irrelevant to the passenger, but it will make my life more difficult!
Other than that, the layout looks quite cluttered: as
BB21 said, the classic five-character status code (Y-P, CHILD etc) was perfectly clear; why do we need a whole line of text? Why is the Class relegated to that same line?
Some other things that occur immediately:
- We have lost the long-established convention of having an asterisk after the station name, to prevent fraudulent additions (DERBY > DERBY RD IPSWICH and that sort of thing).
- Having more than 16 characters available for the route is good
- I think the circle/rhombus thing will work quite well
- Northern Rail, who are doing the trial, have two self-service TIS: Scheidt & Bachmann and Parkeon. Will we see one of each being used, I wonder? Whatever happens, the tickets won't look quite like the scans, given the unconventional fonts used by those systems
- I don't like the Advance ticket much. Why is the date so buried? Why so much unused space?
Just some random initial thoughts from somebody who has been looking at tickets day in day out for years
Please could anybody who gets hold of one of these tickets next week upload a scan if possible - that would be much appreciated.