Southern Season Failure

[Deepgreen]

There is no ink, as modern (!) tickets use thermal printing. However, this can wear off and fade.

I used the term "ink" inaccurately to mean printing. Do we know why some TOCs' printing is far less durable than others'?

 

[maniacmartin]

Being thermally printed, they are sensitive to heat. My experiences are that if it is kept in a trouser pocket for example, then due to your body heat it will fade faster. Admittedly that's not too helpful to those of us who don't carry bags or wouldn't feel comfortable leaving an expensive ticket in a bag.

 

[Haywain]

Some plastic ticket wallets also seem to have a negative effect on thermal tickets.

 

[Deepgreen]

Being thermally printed, they are sensitive to heat. My experiences are that if it is kept in a trouser pocket for example, then due to your body heat it will fade faster. Admittedly that's not too helpful to those of us who don't carry bags or wouldn't feel comfortable leaving an expensive ticket in a bag.

I keep mine in my (leather) wallet in either my jacket or bag. The use of printing which degrades with (body) heat doesn't seem to be a brilliant idea, given that so many people are likely to carry their tickets in warm environments. I had no idea that this was what was meant by "thermal printing"! In any case, the colleagues I have consulted about the degradation of their tickets all generally keep theirs in their jackets (in wallets).

I would venture that the printing method is not fit for purpose if it leads to such rapid deterioration.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

I suspect this is all a conspiracy by Southern, to make you so tired of using paper tickets, that you turn to 'The Key' ...

 

[talldave]

I suspect this is all a conspiracy by Southern, to make you so tired of using paper tickets, that you turn to 'The Key' ...

There's nobody clever enough at Southern to come up with that plan!

 

[tsr]

There's nobody clever enough at Southern to come up with that plan!

One of the major reasons the key is promoted to customers is that it's more durable than a paper ticket - certainly face-to-face by individual staff when somebody complains. This, and the fact that you can block it remotely if it is lost/stolen/misused, are the only "selling" points for a lot of people!

 

[Deepgreen]

Things have taken a bizarre turn. Yetserday I found that my season will not operate the 'suburban' gate line (opposite platforms 9-12) at Victoria, but it will operate the 'mian line' gate line (platforms 15 - 19)! I tried every gate in the suburban row and none worked - all the ones I tried on the main line set worked. So - the ticket now appears to be even further restricted than I had previously realised! I have only just discovered this after so long because I have become so fed up weith the Redhill line's service that I have started using the more laborious but much more reliable Betchworth - Dorking - Epsom - Victoria route, where trains arrive at platforms 9 - 12, rather than 15 - 19 for the Redhill line.

I find it completely baffling (and very annoying) that this ticket seems to have such a ridiculous degree of unavailability at stations (and even within stations) at which it is valid! Southern are going to get another rocket today!