Northern mTicket App

[johntea]

What on earth have Northern done with their mTicket app?!

In the previous version it was reasonable enough, saved your previous searches / purchases for easy access, and just worked basically!

Now they've released an update and so far the text needs a microscope to read, the previous searches have been wiped out and either removed completely or moved around, it didn't save the card details during the update meaning the faff of having to put them in again, my card then got declined the first couple of times for no logical reason!

On top of this return tickets seem to be actually categorized as two single tickets (doesn't affect much in practice but feels strange!), and also show the journey times you picked for out/return at the top of the screen when showing your ticket (for a day return I usually just pick any old train shown when purchasing as it hardly matters!) - this initially caused quite a bit of confusion with a guard who thought I had an advance ticket rather than an anytime day return! One slight positive is 'Purchase time' is clearly displayed for the guard however to hopefully cut down sneaky last minute purchasing by potential fare dodgers!

It was quite a useful app when boarding at an unstaffed station then not seeing a guard, but I won't be using it again until they get their act together and fix what they've broken! (App Store reviews seem to agree!)

 

[Mathew S]

Seems to be a standard app design for many TOCs now, presumably all the ones that use the same software provider. VTWC and TP apps are almost identical, as is Train line, who I'm assuming are the 'provider' involved.

No, I don't like them either. But then the previous Northern app used to conveniently forget about other operators trains... so I wasn't keen on that one to begin with.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Much as I criticise Northern, I don't think the revamp of the app is too bad. It all worked for me last weekend, even sending tickets ordered on the website to my phone. Legibility and functionality were OK, and I managed to find and activate my tickets without any issues. IIRC the old app also split tickets into out and returns and I wasn't thrown by the new app. It also appears that the use of the back key takes you back a level in the app, rather than bringing up a prompt asking if you want to quit.

I do feel pressured into using the app as on busy days the guard frequently manages to sell tickets to everyone from Crewe to Manchester and you face a long wait at Piccadilly if you haven't managed to get a ticket. OK for the outbound, but leaves me watching my phone battery nervously before the return. Let's hope that the promised ticket machine arrives soon at my station.

 

[pdq]

I only used the Northern app for live running info, which the old version was good for, as it saved favourite stations and combinations: hence it was easy to use whilst walking to the station. The new version requires the station name to be typed every time but - more crucially given its purpose - doesn't show where the selected train is NOW - only what time it will be at the chosen station and stations further on its journey.

 

[pemma]

More than likely The Trainline create the app and Northern white label it to have Northern branding.

As I mentioned in another thread the other day a warning pops up when you try to activate a ticket saying once you've done this you can no longer get a refund. Surely that's misleading as if the train is announced as cancelled after you activate and you choose not to travel, then you're entitled to a refund.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There's plenty of such misleading talk about. VTWC's website still say the only way to change a route on a ticket is by refunding and reissuing, which is utter rubbish (provided it's not a TOC route).

 

[pemma]

There's plenty of such misleading talk about. VTWC's website still say the only way to change a route on a ticket is by refunding and reissuing, which is utter rubbish (provided it's not a TOC route).

If you book on the VTWC site and select TOD on departure it tells you to use the Fastticket machines to collect your ticket, even if none of the TVMs at the station you selected are Fastticket machines. As the Virgin managed machines have lost their Virgin branding but still say Fastticket in big letters at the top, I imagine they want to encourage passengers to use one of their machines where possible.

 

[Merseysider]

If you book on the VTWC site and select TOD on departure it tells you to use the Fastticket machines to collect your ticket, even if none of the TVMs at the station you selected are Fastticket machines. As the Virgin managed machines have lost their Virgin branding but still say Fastticket in big letters at the top, I imagine they want to encourage passengers to use one of their machines where possible.

Yes, to minimise the amount they have to pay in ToD fees to other operators who have their own machines, such as Northern at MAN.

 

[Puffing Devil]

I only used the Northern app for live running info, which the old version was good for, as it saved favourite stations and combinations: hence it was easy to use whilst walking to the station. The new version requires the station name to be typed every time but - more crucially given its purpose - doesn't show where the selected train is NOW - only what time it will be at the chosen station and stations further on its journey.

Never used it for that..... Always Real Time Trains.

 

[pdq]

Never used it for that..... Always Real Time Trains.

Difficult to use RTT one handed, though, which was possible with the Northern app with its big icons and stored favourites.
I can understand upgrading the parts of the app that relate to ticket sales, as that's a developing area of business, but surely leave alone the other components, or ensure usability isn't diminished.

 

[janb]

More than likely The Trainline create the app and Northern white label it to have Northern branding.

Yep, Masabi who made the previous app withdrew support so they looked for a new supplier, and Trainline produced this one.

 

[TUC]

Another annoying aspect the first time I used the new app was that it was difficult to find where the ticket I'd just bought was located
The guard managed to sort out that it was in the rectangular shape in the row of icons, but it was far from obvious.

Also, why does in insist on showing the time of journey you had to select at the time of booking, even where it is a non-Advance ticket and so this is meaningless? The statement that it is Anytime/Off-Peak etc. ticket should be sufficient, even if it included a line summarising the times it is valid. I know stating a time doesn't affect ehen it is actually valid, but I can see some passengers wrongly thinking they are tied to a particular train.

 

[pemma]

I also don't see why activating those type of tickets put a time on it.

 

[Mathew S]

I also don't see why activating those type of tickets put a time on it.

Guessing, but probably to make sure you did it before boarding the train. So that you can't just do it only if you get stopped by staff and asked for the ticket.

 

[ooo]

Yep, Masabi who made the previous app withdrew support so they looked for a new supplier, and Trainline produced this one.

Is that why lots of TOCs have replaced their apps recently then?

 

[ricoblade]

I saw this thread yesterday and as I need to go from Retford to Sheffield next week downloaded it.

I registered and bought my ticket really easily (Advance Single), however my plans changed slightly and I want to change the train time. It seems I can't do this and I'd have to somehow pay £10 to change a £5 ticket (but not on the app). Is this right, it seems crazy to ask for £10 when I feel I should be able to change the time at the click of a button at no cost to anyone.

 

[Mathew S]

I saw this thread yesterday and as I need to go from Retford to Sheffield next week downloaded it.

I registered and bought my ticket really easily (Advance Single), however my plans changed slightly and I want to change the train time. It seems I can't do this and I'd have to somehow pay £10 to change a £5 ticket (but not on the app). Is this right, it seems crazy to ask for £10 when I feel I should be able to change the time at the click of a button at no cost to anyone.

What type of ticket did you buy? Is it an advance?

 

[ricoblade]

What type of ticket did you buy? Is it an advance?

Yes, Advance Single as I put in the post. I understand the rules on advances, I was just wondering how these work (or should work) with an App.

 

[Mathew S]

Yes, Advance Single as I put in the post. I understand the rules on advances, I was just wondering how these work (or should work) with an App.

Sorry, my bad not seeing that. I haven't woken up yet!
Anyway, the terms and conditions of an advance basically state that there's a £10 admin fee for any changes. I've never had to do it, but the fee is the same whether it's in the app or not. Flexibility is one of the things you sacrifice to get the cheap advance ticket.

 

[janb]

Anyway, the terms and conditions of an advance basically state that there's a £10 admin fee for any changes. I've never had to do it, but the fee is the same whether it's in the app or not. Flexibility is one of the things you sacrifice to get the cheap advance ticket.

Yep, and obviously if the ticket cost less than £10 its cheaper to just buy a new ticket rather than change it.

 

[kieron]

I also don't see why activating those type of tickets put a time on it.

I know the ATW app has some tickets which it lists as "expired" a few hours after you activate them. I don't know if this is connected.

 

[pemma]

Sorry, my bad not seeing that. I haven't woken up yet!
Anyway, the terms and conditions of an advance basically state that there's a £10 admin fee for any changes. I've never had to do it, but the fee is the same whether it's in the app or not. Flexibility is one of the things you sacrifice to get the cheap advance ticket.

Indeed. Where there's huge discounts for buying in advance e.g. £5 advances when it would be £60 for single bought on the day, some people buy 2 x £5 advances well in advance so they don't finish up missing their train or having to wait around for 2 hours if things don't take as long as they expect.

 

[pemma]

I know the ATW app has some tickets which it lists as "expired" a few hours after you activate them. I don't know if this is connected.

The instructions just say 'activate on the day of travel.' While I understand they are trying to avoid people using single/returns twice that is much less likely than with cardboard tickets.