Swanage Railway to go cashless

[Titfield]

According to a banner advert on the home page of the Swanage Railway website they are going cashless from 25th March 2024.

 

[12C]

According to a banner advert on the home page of the Swanage Railway website they are going cashless from 25th March 2024.

It’s their decision ultimately, but considering there is also a message which pops up on the homepage pleading for donations to raise £450,000 to “save the railway”, to not accept cash seems a bizarre one to me. I can imagine many people who visit heritage railways still prefer to use cash, and it sounds like the railway need all the money they can get at the moment.

 

[Jan Mayen]

The Bluebell Railway has a few model railways operated by 20 or 50p coins. Does the Swanage Railway have anything similar?

 

[Whistler40145]

Presumably the railway is moving towards cards only

 

[Titfield]

I am presuming that this is to eliminate the costs both direct and indirect of cash handling. I know that a number of small businesses in Swanage have raised the issue of the costs of cash collection and obtaining change as there is no bank branch in Swanage (except a branch of Nationwide and a Post Office).

Swanage Railway has made redundant over the past few years a number of staff in the secondary spend activities (in fact I am not sure now if there are any paid staff in the shop or catering functions). Perhaps it is easier and simpler for volunteers to carry out these roles if there is no cash handling or more importantly cashing up to do each day. There is also no preparation of floats for the tills all of which takes time. Perhaps it also means that the previous need for potential volunteers to get a character reference for cash handling roles is now dropped too.

The Bluebell Railway has a few model railways operated by 20 or 50p coins. Does the Swanage Railway have anything similar?

Not as far as I know.

Presumably the railway is moving towards cards only

Yes I dont think they accept bitcoin or barter though a ton or two of coal may be welcome.

 

[DarloRich]

Good for them. Sensible. Cuts costs of holding and handling cash. That is getting more expensive and harder to justify.

They will need to make sure they have good signal for card readers etc.

Won't go well with all obvs!

 

[The exile]

no return visits for me, then.

 

[DarloRich]

no return visits for me, then.

Really? You won't go for a nice day out because you have to use a card?

 

[Titfield]

It will be interesting to see what effects this has. Certainly the work involved in preparing floats and then cash counting at the end of the day is time consuming.

 

[Jan Mayen]

I'd still visit.

Especially if they use the money saved from going cashless to run a service from Wareham.

 

[12C]

Good for them. Sensible. Cuts costs of holding and handling cash. That is getting more expensive and harder to justify.

They will need to make sure they have good signal for card readers etc.

Won't go well with all obvs!

Costs of processing card/contactless payments are also increasing, to the extent that several businesses near me now have signs saying cash is preferred due to these rising costs

It doesn’t bother me personally if places are card only, I rarely use cash. But I do have several older relatives who refuse to use anything but cash, some of those who enjoy visiting heritage railways and spend quite lavishly in their cafes and shops.

Time will tell whether this is the right decision, to me it sounds like the railway isn’t in a position to be turning away any income, whatever the means.

 

[DarloRich]

But I do have several older relatives who refuse to use anything but cash, some of those who enjoy visiting heritage railways and spend quite lavishly in their cafes and shops.

Why stick to cash? It is much less secure especially for the elderly members of society?

I honestly don't get it. Waving a "wad" of cash about is more likely to attract unwanted attention than your card

You can stop your lost or stolen card in seconds. I can't get my wallet and cash back very quickly!

 

[The exile]

I've been a couple of times (and am only talking about going on my own - I wouldn't deprive someone who asked me to take them of a trip on principle) - and see no reason I should support an organisation that chooses to tell its guests how they should give it their money. I fully accept that they are free to do so, as I am not to give them my money. Incidentally, I am perfectly happy to pay by card when it is an option - so it's not the fact that I have to use a card but their high-handed attitude towards customers.

 

[DarloRich]

Costs of processing card/contactless payments are also increasing, to the extent that several businesses near me now have signs saying cash is preferred due to these rising costs

I have a couple of places near me like that. I doubt it is electronic payment costs they are seeking to avoid

I've been a couple of times (and am only talking about going on my own - I wouldn't deprive someone who asked me to take them of a trip on principle) - and see no reason I should support an organisation that chooses to tell its guests how they should give it their money. I fully accept that they are free to do so, as I am not to give them my money. Incidentally, I am perfectly happy to pay by card when it is an option - so it's not the fact that I have to use a card but their high-handed attitude towards customers.

I honestly don't understand people! This is so odd as to be satire surely

 

[12C]

Why stick to cash? It is much less secure especially for the elderly members of society?

I honestly don't get it. Waving a "wad" of cash about is more likely to attract unwanted attention than your card

You can stop your lost or stolen card in seconds. I can't get my wallet and cash back very quickly!

Not necessarily, I guess that you (like me) are savvy with using card/contactless payments. I can stop my card in seconds too if I lose it or suspect anything fraudulent using my banking app. My grandad couldn’t though, he doesn’t have a smartphone or an online banking account. If anyone got hold of his card they could tap it to the tune of £1k before a pin was asked for. He also doesn’t have good enough eyesight to make sure a touchpad is showing the correct amount even if he was to use contactless, or have any means to check he hadn’t been scammed (or a genuine mistake made) until his monthly bank statement arrived. He is however very good at counting change.

As I said I find card much easier myself, but not everyone does and I’m a firm believer in freedom of choice, especially when paying for a service.

 

[nanstallon]

Not necessarily, I guess that you (like me) are savvy with using card/contactless payments. I can stop my card in seconds too if I lose it or suspect anything fraudulent using my banking app. My grandad couldn’t though, he doesn’t have a smartphone or an online banking account. If anyone got hold of his card they could tap it to the tune of £1k before a pin was asked for. He also doesn’t have good enough eyesight to make sure a touchpad is showing the correct amount even if he was to use contactless, or have any means to check he hadn’t been scammed (or a genuine mistake made) until his monthly bank statement arrived. He is however very good at counting change.

As I said I find card much easier myself, but not everyone does and I’m a firm believer in freedom of choice, especially when paying for a service.

Many shops no longer accept cheques. Do people refuse to shop there any more because of that? The world is changing, and businesses have every right to decide how they want customers to pay. They must of course weigh up whether they are likely to lose business.

 

[paul1609]

Many shops no longer accept cheques. Do people refuse to shop there any more because of that? The world is changing, and businesses have every right to decide how they want customers to pay. They must of course weigh up whether they are likely to lose business.

In Rye (East Sussex)now there's coffee shops and cafes that have gone cashless. There's also shops like the fish market that tells you that card is preferred.
I've been to the majority of league 1 football grounds this year all but a couple are cash free.
The airlines have been cash free for a few years.

 

[Titfield]

In Rye (East Sussex)now there's coffee shops and cafes that have gone cashless. There's also shops like the fish market that tells you that card is preferred.
I've been to the majority of league 1 football grounds this year all but a couple are cash free.
The airlines have been cash free for a few years.

Exactly. I think in Swanage Railways case the cost of cash collection and the work involved in preparing floats ( 3 booking offices, 1 shop, 1 -3 small catering kiosks, TTI floats) has been adjudged to outweigh any loss of business from loss of patronage.

There must come a point where the cost of managing relatively small amounts of cash is disproportionately high. My concern would be more focused on the stability of the wi fi signal for the onboard ticket sales as the signal is patchy along some sections of the line.

 

[Spartacus]

I hope they've considered the cost of numerous electronic transactions. Quite a lot of businesses near me are going either cash only or prefer cash as it avoids those fees. It also means that local banks will have their business, helping them stay open. I know of a number of rural towns that have all but gone cash only, barring online bookings, for that very reason.

 

[SeanG]

I 100% support this.
I don't even carry my wallet any more as I only pay on my phone. If you don't take card in this day and age you don't get my business

 

[Brissle Girl]

I 100% support this.
I don't even carry my wallet any more as I only pay on my phone. If you don't take card in this day and age you don't get my business

But the Swanage Railway is not introducing the facility to pay by card - that was already in place - it’s removing the facility to pay by cash. I’m not sure why you would have a view on something that doesn’t affect you one bit.

 

[richa2002]

Very odd choice and a backward step. Especially for something like a heritage railway which is going to attract a disproportionate amount of older people who are more likely to use cash. They aren't a hipster cafe in Shoreditch...!

 

[Titfield]

One would like to think they have done their homework to arrive at the right decision but based on some previous decisions e.g. Project Wareham, The 3 Moguls on long term lease I do have concerns.

The businesses I have encountered which are cash only do seem to be owner operated and I think that may make a difference in the decision.

 

[gswindale]

In general, I'm in favour of places going cashless. The only exception as far as I'm concerned should be those where there is a market for children to spend in the gift shop etc.

So, in the case of Swanage, I'm in favour of the ticket office and cafe being cashless, but the shop should still accept cash so that little Jonny can spend his holiday money on a model "Thomas" or whatever.

 

[bleeder4]

At my local heritage railway the station shops and ticket offices will happily accept either cash or cards, but the buffet coaches on the trains are cash only as there are several places along the line where the mobile signal is patchy. Also, technology does fail sometimes. On my High Street recently there were loads of shops that were displaying notices in the window saying due to a technical fault they could only accept cash. This included the likes of M&S, Greggs, Primark as well as smaller local shops. Dozens of them. There must have been an outage with one of the main card processing providers. It does happen.

 

[Brush 4]

Puzzling that card only addicts don't like the idea of places accepting cash, when it doesn't affect them in any way. What's wrong with consumer choice? As posted just above, electronic transactions are far more insecure than cash ever was. We hear all the time about systems going down, hacking and fraud, an increasing problem, especially as AI becomes more prevalent.

If you lose a fiver, that is all you've lost. If hacked, your whole account is in danger. A case of mass delusion amongst the card addicts, blind to the risks. I use cards and cash but do not bank online, far too insecure. Choice is the key here. I can check the balance at an ATM. ATM card skimming seems to have reduced, no doubt do to increasing use of online so, thanks for the help you suckers.....

 

[Brissle Girl]

Puzzling that card only addicts don't like the idea of places accepting cash, when it doesn't affect them in any way. What's wrong with consumer choice?

Agree. How someone can be strongly in favour of something that doesn’t affect their ability to use their preferred means of payment but reduces choice for others puzzles me. (Unless there is a clear benefit to all, such as removing cash on buses, which significantly reduces dwell times.)

 

[AlterEgo]

It’s their decision ultimately, but considering there is also a message which pops up on the homepage pleading for donations to raise £450,000 to “save the railway”, to not accept cash seems a bizarre one to me.

Handling cash is very expensive and a very significant security risk, especially when cash is being handled by volunteers.

Costs of processing card/contactless payments are also increasing, to the extent that several businesses near me now have signs saying cash is preferred due to these rising costs

Being cash only also means you can scoop a load out of the till and not declare it to the taxman, saving the cost of...tax!

 

[paul1609]

Puzzling that card only addicts don't like the idea of places accepting cash, when it doesn't affect them in any way. What's wrong with consumer choice? As posted just above, electronic transactions are far more insecure than cash ever was. We hear all the time about systems going down, hacking and fraud, an increasing problem, especially as AI becomes more prevalent.

If you lose a fiver, that is all you've lost. If hacked, your whole account is in danger. A case of mass delusion amongst the card addicts, blind to the risks. I use cards and cash but do not bank online, far too insecure. Choice is the key here. I can check the balance at an ATM. ATM card skimming seems to have reduced, no doubt do to increasing use of online so, thanks for the help you suckers.....

In most rural areas ATMs are rapidly becoming things of the past. Rye a big tourist attraction 5 years ago used to have 8, now it's down to Nationwide in the high street and 2 outside a supermarket opposite the railway. My nearest one is 4 miles drive away with no public transport.

 

[AlterEgo]

The businesses I have encountered which are cash only do seem to be owner operated and I think that may make a difference in the decision.

A very diplomatic way of putting it

Agree. How someone can be strongly in favour of something that doesn’t affect their ability to use their preferred means of payment but reduces choice for others puzzles me. (Unless there is a clear benefit to all, such as removing cash on buses, which significantly reduces dwell times.)

It may be in this case that it is a sound financial decision by a struggling and cash-strapped (no pun intended!) enterprise which people love and wouldn't like to see vanish. Time will tell I suppose!