Railcard up to 30 years old, is it only available on a smart phone ?

[NorthernSpirit]

Speaking of smartphones is there anyone aged 26-30 on this forum who does not have one?

Well me for starters and I have no interest on buying a smartphone either.

 

[jon0844]

I use an iPhone, whose operating system is very strict about not letting apps do anything in the background unless they absolutely need to (a behaviour which I'm normally very happy about as I don't like loads of apps whirring away in the background), so I don't think I'd want to rely on the app having been given the chance to refresh without my intervention – not when penalty fares etc. are at stake.

Android is equally strict and carefully manages things, with the added ability to block individual apps from accessing data via Wi-Fi or mobile data on a user configurable basis.

Background app refresh is set to “on” by default on iPhones, so they can’t be that strict surely?

iOS and Android is strict in as much as it controls and regulates background data (or whatever you set if you are allowed to control things, which perhaps on iOS you aren't) and limits how much data can be sent, and for what reason. Apps can ping to stay alive, or perhaps authenticate in the case of a railcard app, and also request access to data within alloted timeslots - so the phone only has to come to life every now and then, and process all data requests in that window, before the phone goes back to sleep and the lowest possible power consuming mode.

Rogue apps could sometimes do things that would make your device get red hot and kill the battery in no time, but - touch wood- since Android Nougat and above (maybe even before that) I have never had such an incident. Power consumption is now quite predictable and should reduce 'battery anxiety' issues.

 

[Bantamzen]

Chip and pin readers won't go because contactless is only up to £30. Otherwise you'd have people doing transactions of £700 on a stolen card, rather than £30 on a stolen card.

That's the case at the moment, but don't expect that limit to stay so low for too long, especially with mobile payment methods. Although still something of a niche application, fingerprint and even facial recognition functionality is starting to become more commonplace and so could be used in conjunction with contactless, i.e. you have to hold your finger / thumb on the fingerprint reader or look at the device's front facing camera which will authorise the contactless payment. Of course you can't do this with the cards alone, but it could be possible to incorporate some additional functionality to the readers.

 

[Andrew1395]

While there are still horses on gods earth I will never ever use a train

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's the case at the moment, but don't expect that limit to stay so low for too long, especially with mobile payment methods. Although still something of a niche application, fingerprint and even facial recognition functionality is starting to become more commonplace and so could be used in conjunction with contactless, i.e. you have to hold your finger / thumb on the fingerprint reader or look at the device's front facing camera which will authorise the contactless payment. Of course you can't do this with the cards alone, but it could be possible to incorporate some additional functionality to the readers.

Or to mobile devices. Apple Pay already has no limit because fingerprint authentication is *more* secure than a regular card PIN. (Railway TVMs still apply the £30 limit but that's just poor implementation).

 

[Bantamzen]

Or to mobile devices. Apple Pay already has no limit because fingerprint authentication is *more* secure than a regular card PIN. (Railway TVMs still apply the £30 limit but that's just poor implementation).

I haven't used ApplePay (I have an Android phone at the moment) but it does seem sensible to increase the limit where a more secure authentication method is available. I use fingerprint auth to unlock my G7 Edge, and a couple of apps I use allow fingerprint auth to be used to unlock them rather than a PIN so its a technology that is ready to be implemented further for electronic / contactless payments.

 

[WelshBluebird]

Or to mobile devices. Apple Pay already has no limit because fingerprint authentication is *more* secure than a regular card PIN. (Railway TVMs still apply the £30 limit but that's just poor implementation).

I wonder how that works with Face ID on the iPhone X? Does it keep the authentication once you've unlocked the phone until it is locked again or?

 

[Justin Smith]

If you use rail travel that much, the cost of a low end smartphone and the railcard would easily be offset by the saving over the year. You don't have to use the smartphone for anything other than the railcard if you didn't wish to.

What ! You`re saying it`s acceptable that someone would have to buy a smart phone in order to access (effectively) a national service. I can`t believe you`re serious, are you sure you`re not just trying to annoy ?

 

[Justin Smith]

It's a problem if you're discriminating against 1% of those who should be able to benefit.

Also it's never just about that railcard. It's about when everyone else is going to be forced down that route.

I agree entirely. It`s not acceptable for, effectively, the government to do that. A private company subject to full competition maybe, they should be able to choose what customers they deal with, but that`s not what we`re talking about here at all.

 

[SWT_USER]

According to Philip Haigh on twitter the rollout will be scrapped: https://twitter.com/philatrail/status/948102331069067265

Philip Haigh‏ @philatrail 6h6 hours ago
Hearing that national roll-out of 18-30 Railcard has been blocked by the Treasury


Dissappointed if that is true - I would have got a couple of years use out of it. Anyone in a position to confirm or deny?

 

[Chester1]

According to Philip Haigh on twitter the rollout will be scrapped: https://twitter.com/philatrail/status/948102331069067265

Philip Haigh‏ @philatrail 6h6 hours ago
Hearing that national roll-out of 18-30 Railcard has been blocked by the Treasury


Dissappointed if that is true - I would have got a couple of years use out of it. Anyone in a position to confirm or deny?

I will be astounded if it is actually cancelled rather than delayed. Its probably revanue neutral therefore the cost to the goverment of guarenteeing that ToCs won't lose money from it would be miminal. It is a quick political win for a party that is struggling to gain support from younger people. Id guess the worst case senario would be it is included as a compulsory feature of all new franchises and rolled out over the long term.

 

[roversfan2001]

What ! You`re saying it`s acceptable that someone would have to buy a smart phone in order to access (effectively) a national service. I can`t believe you`re serious, are you sure you`re not just trying to annoy ?

The national service is the rail travel itself. You don't need a smartphone to access that.

 

[BigCj34]

I will be astounded if it is actually cancelled rather than delayed. Its probably revanue neutral therefore the cost to the goverment of guarenteeing that ToCs won't lose money from it would be miminal. It is a quick political win for a party that is struggling to gain support from younger people. Id guess the worst case senario would be it is included as a compulsory feature of all new franchises and rolled out over the long term.

Will have to await official confirmation but for now I have my 26-30 card as I live in the Greater Anglia area. I cannot understand why the Treasury would block something they recently announced in their budget.

In other news I just learned that it is cheaper to have unlimited rail travel in Germany than it is to have a Peterborough to London season ticket. Plus you get free local transport travel in most cities. It makes the Annual Gold card offering of a 1/3 discount on off-peak journeys in parts of the Midlands and South look rather meagre.

 

[SWT_USER]

Will have to await official confirmation but for now I have my 26-30 card as I live in the Greater Anglia area. I cannot understand why the Treasury would block something they recently announced in their budget.

In other news I just learned that it is cheaper to have unlimited rail travel in Germany than it is to have a Peterborough to London season ticket. Plus you get free local transport travel in most cities. It makes the Annual Gold card offering of a 1/3 discount on off-peak journeys in parts of the Midlands and South look rather meagre.

That is how politics works. Announce something to great fanfare, then quietly cancel at a later date.

 

[gray1404]

A friend of mine has just informed me that he has purchased a 26-30 railcard. He said that he just entered any address [within the trial area] into the online application as it didn't matter because it was a digital railcard anyway so it doesn't matter where he lives. He is basically of the view that he has the railcard now and they won't be sending anything out in the post. Is he likely to be ok? He has the railcard on his app and is using it. I don't know what to say to him. "You should be fine but best following the rules in future."

 

[Chester1]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/remember-tories-millennial-railcard-you-11785412

It was the gleaming jewel in November's Budget - a discount ' Millennial Railcard ' for people aged 26 to 30.

But you could be waiting rather longer for it than we first thought.

The card's full national rollout might only finish as late as December this year, government officials have told the Mirror.

That's despite the government saying it was expected to be "available to travellers from Spring 2018".

At the time, you might have assumed this meant there would be a full national scheme ready to go in the springtime.

However, today the Treasury told us they never meant that.

Instead, officials say, they meant it was when the industry would begin "wider trials" of the card - the details of which are still being agreed.

That will then be followed by a full national launch "in 2018", officials say - without specifying any time of year. It is thought this could mean spring, summer, autumn or winter.

The 26-to-30 railcard, which offers a third off most off-peak fares, has already been undergoing trials with 10,000 customers of Greater Anglia since December.

We can find no explicit mention of "wider trials" from the time of the Budget.

At the time, the Budget said: "Further details will be announced in agreement with the industry and will be implemented from Spring 2018."

And a Treasury press release boasted of "the expectation it will be available to travellers from Spring 2018".

However, today the department insisted nothing has changed.

A spokesman told the Mirror: "There is no contradiction here, that is why we’ve said implemented from Spring 2018.

"The trials will mean people are using and benefiting from the railcard."

A spokesman added: "As announced in the Budget, the 26-30 railcard will be introduced in 2018. The rail industry will begin trialling this card shortly."

The revelation, on the day fares face their steepest hike for five years, came as the Treasury denied it had blocked the national rollout.

The claim was tweeted by Philip Haigh, a former deputy editor of Rail magazine.

But a Treasury source said there was "no truth" to claims "we are holding up or blocking the railcard, in any sense."

A spokesman for shadow chancellor John McDonnell said: "This admission only further confirms that Philip Hammond is the real slow coach in this government.

This is probably closer to the truth than yesterdays tweet. The ToCs are probably neogiating tough on the conditions of the roll out and costs.