It’s not exactly hypocritical to choose to do some things digitally, while advocating that other things (or even the same things) shouldn’t have to be done digitally.
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Paper tickets looking a bit retro
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
So if you're happy with electronic discussion, why not an electronic ticket?
When my phone runs out (or breaks down) the worst that will happen is that I will miss out on some of my favourite threads for a few hours.
If my ticket was on said phone, I could face the full legal ire of the railway industry.
(By the way, this probably will be mentioned in the pub at some stage as well
)
BenS123
Member
They infested Waterloo some time ago sadly, I have a bog roll ticket from the 25th October 2022
The crumbling edge of quality indeed !
Somehow I find myself thinking that we wouldn't care about it anywhere near as much as you do
Yet again we see the entirely-false conflation between "removal of mag-stripe ticketing" and "removal of all physical ticket options".
Saying that the elimination of mag-striping is occurring because it's "old" is an oversimplification. It's occurring because the technology has been superseded by alternatives that are cheaper and easier to deploy and maintain.
You will still be able to buy physical tickets, but sooner or later they will be provided on thermal paper rather than cardstock. This paper is cheaper, can be issued using cheaper printers, and can be read by gates fitted with barcode scanners that are cheaper than mag-stripe mechanisms. This process is already underway for many TOCs that don't issue many tickets involving LU validity, and will accelerate rapidly when LU get up to speed with barcode acceptance.
As to whether or not you will be able to buy them in person - that's an entirely different matter, as anybody not indulging in silly hyperbole should be able to understand.
Somehow I find myself thinking that we wouldn't care about it anywhere near as much as you do
Yet again we see the entirely-false conflation between "removal of mag-stripe ticketing" and "removal of all physical ticket options".
Saying that the elimination of mag-striping is occurring because it's "old" is an oversimplification. It's occurring because the technology has been superseded by alternatives that are cheaper and easier to deploy and maintain.
You will still be able to buy physical tickets, but sooner or later they will be provided on thermal paper rather than cardstock. This paper is cheaper, can be issued using cheaper printers, and can be read by gates fitted with barcode scanners that are cheaper than mag-stripe mechanisms. This process is already underway for many TOCs that don't issue many tickets involving LU validity, and will accelerate rapidly when LU get up to speed with barcode acceptance.
As to whether or not you will be able to buy them in person - that's an entirely different matter, as anybody not indulging in silly hyperbole should be able to understand.
If you have all these wonderful technologies, put them on a nice, tidy CCS ticket.
Cardstock is going away because there's no need to pay for it once you remove the need for the ticket to be physically handled by the reader. That doesn't, however, preclude a more space-efficient layout being used for PRT - as I indeed hope does happen.
We shouldn't get rid of things just because they're old.
But most newly installed light bulbs are not using technology from before the 1980s. And the number of internal combustion engines in use is falling as less polluting alternatives replace then.
We still have light bulbs and engines, just better ones.
Cardstock is good and hardwaring in the pocket/wallet though.
Great, so long as the replacement is better.
Great Fleetwood Mac track.
jon81uk
Member
We already have got rid of the filament light bulb, it was replaced with compact fluorescent bulbs about 25-30 years ago, then halogen bulbs and now LED bulbs.
Internal combustion engines are slated to be gone for standard consumer cars soon too as the government have announced a move to electric cars.
The issue with current printed roll "bog roll" tickets is they print the "wrong way" for the printers - they are designed to print text perpendicular to the paper. This is one of the main reasons they print so slowly, as the printer has to draw a lot more lines.
They're also currently using more paper than required, there is plenty of scope to make them shorter (and also potentially move to a more recyclable form of paper in the process)
Some TPE/EMR ticket machines essentially do this onto standard white reciept paper. Similarly TOCs who offer payzone/paypoint purchasing of tickets (eg TfW) also come out in a similar way.
Bog roll format is only really needed for ticket types that cannot be fulfilled as etickets due to lack of ability to scan the AZTEC for verification, eg PlusBus, through ferry tickets etc, but in time these will move over too I'm sure. Then of course tickets crossing London which are still stuck as only CCST.
Wallsendmag
Established Member
I don't think TfL will be the last bastion of CCST.
Sleepy
Established Member
TOCs are starting to make it compulsory for staff to wear a camera on board - they claim it reduces staff assaults.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
It probably does, but it gives traincrew the feel of enforcers so doesn't promote good customer service.
pokemonsuper9
Established Member
I don't see why the people who directly confront people without tickets having cameras is a bad thing.
They are literally enforcing tickets, and I'd much rather them (hopefully) feel safer.
I wonder if I'll get a rare Avanti ticket check when I travel with them soon.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
RPIs maybe, but guards are primarily there for the train's safety, secondarily for customer service and only thirdly for enforcement.
pokemonsuper9
Established Member
Avanti are currently calling them "Train Managers"
The most interaction I've had with one any extent of recently was the time they apologised for missing Penrith station because it "wasn't on their paperwork" (Despite displaying on the Website linked to on the train itself, app, and people's tickets) in July last year.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
There's a million and one different names for them, but generically they are guards.
SussexSeagull
Member
Wasn't aware of it but will have a look. I live about 2 minutes from my local station so went and tapped in with it - despite the fact I haven't got a ticket on there - and it said it had activated.
Seems odd you need to go to a station and activate before putting a ticket on there.
Wallsendmag
Established Member
You don't there's also an app, with tickets the card is like a carrier bag, products don't just magically appear in the bag you need to fill it.
boiledbeans2
Member
If you wanted to buy a ticket with a Maltese Cross valid on LU, do they still have the old machines to print CCST?
The SPORTIS-style thing is a bit of a laugh, but in my own opinion that's pretty much the direction that the PRT format should be headed. No larger than a £20 note, maximum.
For the avoidance of doubt, the difference here is the security paper, not the format.
Yes, they still have CCST printers and the computer will automatically print tickets with LUL validity on them.
Wallsendmag
Established Member
Fixed that for you.
The Wheel is quite old technology, but we still use it.
Wallsendmag
Established Member
Indeed we do but it doesn't have wooden spokes and generally isn't made of rock. The wheel is the same as a ticket but it's construction changes.- Status