Numpty who's never had a season ticket before

[Comstock]

Hi,
I'm now doing a daily commute between Derby and Burton on Trent.

I've never had a season ticket before. This,therefore is going to sound a really stupid question. Do I just go up to the ticket counter and ask for a season ticket? I read something online about needing a photo card. Where do I get that?

Sorry again for the dumb question .

Anything else I need to know, for example is a Derby to Burton season ticket the same price as Burton to Derby?

 

[_toommm_]

Completely fine to go up to a ticket office and get one. You'll just need a passport sized photo and they will do the photo card there and then.

The cost of the season is the same whether you get Derby to Burton or Burton to Derby. Some flows are charged differently in certain directions, but this one isn't.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Completely fine to go up to a ticket office and get one. You'll just need a passport sized photo and they will do the photo card there and then.

The cost of the season is the same whether you get Derby to Burton or Burton to Derby. Some flows are charged differently in certain directions, but this one isn't.

Indeed, and in the few cases where there is a directional difference, you can just buy it in the cheaper direction!

 

[Surreytraveller]

Indeed, and in the few cases where there is a directional difference, you can just buy it in the cheaper direction!

I didn't realise there were flows with a different price in each direction!

 

[185143]

I didn't realise there were flows with a different price in each direction!

Middlesbrough-Whitby used to be one, no idea if it still is.

 

[_toommm_]

I didn't realise there were flows with a different price in each direction!

I think it's mainly in the old First area down south centred around Reading area. That's nowhere near my area of expertise.

 

[maniacmartin]

As mentioned above, you just need to hand over a passport sized photo.

Photo cards don’t expire, so you don’t need to get another one when you renew your season ticket. A colleague of mine still commutes on one issued in the 1990s!

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi,
I'm now doing a daily commute between Derby and Burton on Trent.

I've never had a season ticket before. This,therefore is going to sound a really stupid question. Do I just go up to the ticket counter and ask for a season ticket? I read something online about needing a photo card. Where do I get that?

Sorry again for the dumb question .

Anything else I need to know, for example is a Derby to Burton season ticket the same price as Burton to Derby?

If you have never had a season ticket before it is worth noting that (I think still applies, as it certainly used to be the case) they can be offered for any period at pro rata rates (eg you don't have to stick to weekly / monthly / annual ones if the period you needed one is not exactly a month say - eg for a work contract). During my FE college days mine were done like that to fit the exact college term dates - and at the time I got a grant from the local council to help pay for them so that's going back a bit...

I also think you can get refunds for unused portions (say if you lose your job part way through the period of an annual season).

Ask at the ticket office at Derby station and they will explain (as opposed to juts going an asking for a weekly season which might be what you then get given when a longer one could be better value if you can stump up for a longer period ahead of course)

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

The best way of getting a season ticket, if you can't afford to buy an annual up front, is often to buy tickets for periods just over a month, from one Monday to a Friday five weeks later. Saves you paying for a season ticket for a weekend at either end of the season ticket, plus pro-rata daily portions of season tickets are calculated at favourable rates.

 

[cuccir]

And if you want to know the cost for any given period you can enter your dates here.

If you're not familiar with ticketing issues, you may not know that you can combine a season ticket with another ticket(s) for journeys beyond the area of your season ticket validity, even if the train doesn't call at the point where you move from your season ticket to the other ticket.

In other words, presuming from your post that you live in Derby, if you want to take the train to anywhere that involves passing through Burton then you only need to get a ticket from Burton. Your train does not have to call at Burton (just pass through it). For example, if doing a day trip to Birmingham you can buy a Burton-Birmingham Off Peak Day Return for £13.85, rather than a Derby-Birmingham Off Peak Return for £18.65.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi,
I'm now doing a daily commute between Derby and Burton on Trent.

I've never had a season ticket before. This,therefore is going to sound a really stupid question. Do I just go up to the ticket counter and ask for a season ticket? I read something online about needing a photo card. Where do I get that?

Sorry again for the dumb question .

Anything else I need to know, for example is a Derby to Burton season ticket the same price as Burton to Derby?

and of course rather stating the obvious to many of those of us on here, but no reason why anyone would automatically know this: - you can get on any train, any time, peak, off peak etc, no need for seat reservations etc etc, between the stations on your season ticket etc. So you get both a good discount AND lots of flexibility (eg using at weekend for trip to Brum, say, as cuccir outlines).

 

[aye2beeviasea]

And you can use if for journeys along just part of the distance - you can use it on the new 350km/h Peartree to Willington express bullet train without ever going to Derby or Burton.

 

[PeterC]

and of course rather stating the obvious to many of those of us on here, but no reason why anyone would automatically know this: - you can get on any train, any time, peak, off peak etc, no need for seat reservations etc etc, between the stations on your season ticket etc. So you get both a good discount AND lots of flexibility (eg using at weekend for trip to Brum, say, as cuccir outlines).

Indeed, in the past I have known somebody convinced that a season ticket was only valid for end to end trips on Mondays to Fridays.

 

[Marton]

Middlesbrough-Whitby used to be one, no idea if it still is.

It is for day tickets. BR Fares shows the season and short return as the same both ways. But why anyone would have a season is beyond me as an Esk Vslley Railcard @ £10 pa renders a season more expensive.

 

[185143]

It is for day tickets. BR Fares shows the season and short return as the same both ways. But why anyone would have a season is beyond me as an Esk Vslley Railcard @ £10 pa renders a season more expensive.

A non local visiting to tick off the stations may have one. Err... possibly.

 

[Mojo]

Worth pointing out that it doesn’t have to be a passport-style photo just a passport-sized one. You don’t have to pay £4 or whatever those booths charge, you can cut one to size or upload a photo to one of those websites that gives you an image file suitable for printing on a standard 10x15cm photograph.

 

[WesternLancer]

And you can use if for journeys along just part of the distance - you can use it on the new 350km/h Peartree to Willington express bullet train without ever going to Derby or Burton.

does that still stop at Ramsline Halt on match days?

 

[A Challenge]

Photo cards don’t expire, so you don’t need to get another one when you renew your season ticket. A colleague of mine still commutes on one issued in the 1990s!

My one has split in two (thickness, so it's still readable but just even thinner than it already is) but I've told by two ticket offices that it can't be reissued until I renew my railcard without charging me for replacement.

 

[_toommm_]

My one has split in two (thickness, so it's still readable but just even thinner than it already is) but I've told by two ticket offices that it can't be reissued until I renew my railcard without charging me for replacement.

As long as it wasn't deliberate damage I don't see why they won't. Virgin tried to charge me when the thermal print faded on the date on my 16-25, but Leeds did it without blinking.