Stopping repeated use of Anytime Returns

[LexyBoy]

indeed!

And he said the more modern, shiney, ticket stock might as well be a wipe clean white board!

I bet those new ITSO cards are a bugger to stamp

 

[pemma]

I have several Anytime Returns which have not been marked and of which the returns are valid for a month and if I so wished I could probably use some of these several times over without a Northern guard even marking anything.

From my experience Northern guards usually date mark the return part of Anytime and Off Peak Returns but don't normally mark outward parts or return parts of day returns.

 

[MKB]

Here's a suggestion for such a low-tech "Self-validation" system. The only physical requirement is that the return coupon (or an additional mandatory "Ticket Use" coupon) should carry a grid with empty Date/From/To columns.

This system is not easy for fraudsters to get round, because it does not rely exclusively on on-train ticket checks. But it still allows you to have BOJs, even ones you suddenly decide on while en-route.

Process

- Before going through the barriers at the station where you are starting from, or where you are resuming after a BOJ : You fill in the next Date and From boxes. These will be requied by gate staff and train staff.

- Before exiting the Destination, or BOJ, station barriers : (There's no need to do this if changing trains and staying within the barrier) You fill in the To box. All three boxes will be required by gate staff.

- If you manage to fill all the grid rows you can surrender the coupon for a new one (the first Date, and the last Date and To would be copied over).

I'd go further and automate the process with self-validation machines as used in many continental European countries. The cost of these would be considerably less than what they've been spending on barriers. It achieves the same end as described above, but the machine effectively fills out your ticket for you.

If you want to leave a station for a BoJ, you just stick your ticket in the validation machine again before you exit the intermediate station.

At those stations that already have barriers, the barriers could be programmed to do all of this automatically.

 

[HowMuch?]

I agree that an automated process would be sensible. I do, think though that it's also a good idea to try to come up with a cheap, if imperfect and a bit clunky, system that could be implemented without investment in new software and equipment.

I believe we should have a few cheap solutions in mind as ammunition just in case (I hope this is sensible contingency planning, not paranoia) TOCs should start dropping hints that open-date returns (or, initially, anyway, BOJ-Permitted ones) are losing them money, and that they need to be withdrawn because there is no feasible cost-effective way of preventing misuse.

Fares on return tickets are protected (I think?). But is there any legal protection for BOJ and open-dating? It's already the case that some short routes do not have returns. How easy would it be for TOCs to gradually increase this distance?

 

[yorksrob]

If it comes to it, perhaps Guards could write the three letter code on the ticket of the last station it stopped at ?