Next question: I don't care too much if my ticket is magstripe, paper roll or smartcard (as long as no phone is involved) but I don't consent to my personal details being shared with "selected third parties" including advertisers and "data analysts" whenever I want to travel - I've just had a read through the GWR smartcard privacy policy.
Will this still be possible on future, or will we end up with every journey being linked to my identity and analysed for advertising purposes some day?
I can see a case for replacing mag stripe tickets as:
1) data held on the stripe can be corrupted by magnetic fields from things found in passengers' pockets or other objects that they might be placed near
2) they are a special pringted format that the railway needs to have manufactured, to reduce the incidences of fraudulent changes to the printed details
3) gateline readers can be unreliable, and at times create difficulties when the ticket isn't returned to the passenger
A ticket system based on a QR code would have the following advanteges:
1) one unique image can be generated at the time of purchase for all forms of the ticket
2) that image can be carried as a screen display on a portable device, a home-printed paper ticket from an e-mailed pdf, or when bought as a walk-up ticket, from a very simple paper roll printer, (much like a supermarket till roll as used tens of millions of times per day)
3) that image on any of those three media, can be read by a simple optical scanner at the gateline and by a pocket device, (including a smartphone with an appropriate software application installed) that can be carried by authorised rail personnel.
4) that image on any of those three media cannot effectively be altered for the purposes of fraudulent travel, - the QR code would not be valid at all
5) a scanner at a remote station would have no moving parts, no retained tickets and with the increasing 4G coverage and forthcoming 5G rollout, all checking operations can be conducted in aback offic data centre
Most of the above is required for e-tickets so the only difference would be to update the current troublesome TVMs with simpler types that can print roll paper tickets.
There would then be no need for anybody to give their personal details to the TOCs for them to track movements and buying habits. As others have indicated, not having an internet account/smartphone/smart card/etc., is for many people not a lifestyle choice, but often linked to their health state of even just age, - so penalising them financially to reduce some of the TOC's costs would be a retrograde step that would certainly be challenged. The railway is a public service and passengers are only required to pay the fare, - not join a data gathering net.