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The future of m-tickets: should they be abolished in favour of e-tickets

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radamfi

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That is exactly what I was thinking of. E-tickets don't (essily) let you buy a bunch of tickets and keep them for a rainy day. You can keep them in your online account, but you can pretty much guarantee that the day you need to use one is the day you don't have a data connection.

At the very least you can keep 10 pdfs in the Downloads folder of an Android phone (presumably there is an iPhone equivalent) and delete them after use. Someone could probably write an app to mimic m-ticket behaviour using pdfs so you don't accidentally use one twice.
 
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Bletchleyite

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That is exactly what I was thinking of. E-tickets don't (essily) let you buy a bunch of tickets and keep them for a rainy day. You can keep them in your online account, but you can pretty much guarantee that the day you need to use one is the day you don't have a data connection.

In how many places do you have a data connection one day but not the next?
 

whhistle

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You've then got weird hybrids like GWR's app which sells e-tickets (not m-tickets) but you don't get emailed the PDF, it only appears in the app.
In which case, they should be m-tickets.

I always thought m-tickets were any sort of ticket that you could only access from a mobile device.

e-tickets were ones emailled to you (IE, the long PDF).

What confuses people is the two emails - one to confirm, then one with the ticket.
 

Bletchleyite

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In which case, they should be m-tickets.

I always thought m-tickets were any sort of ticket that you could only access from a mobile device.

e-tickets were ones emailled to you (IE, the long PDF).

What confuses people is the two emails - one to confirm, then one with the ticket.

No, they shouldn't, they should just send you the PDF as well.

LNR have their own level of confusion - on their app you can turn an e-ticket into an m-ticket.
 

takno

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unfortunately, there are a lot of things smartcards should be able to cope with, but don't do. I don't know if this is due to the abilities of smartcards themselves, or the structure of the railway, but it seems quite persistent.
That's largely a coding issue. Do you think the same people coding mobile phone apps for a less controlled environment with the ever-present threat of dead batteries is going to do better?
 

radamfi

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Smart cards are indeed awful in that respect. There have been times when I had a Guildford to London Zone 2 to 6 travel card and wished to go to Waterloo in the morning peak. Did I really want to board a stopping service to Capham Junction or Vauxhall, just so I can tape out and in to reach zone 1?

No I bought a paper ticket and if avilable at the time might have even brought an e-ticket.

Smartcards should be able to cope with that. If the current system doesn't permit that, then that's a problem with the way smartcards are implemented, not with the concept of smartcards per se. It should be able to charge you the appropriate extension. Theoretically, you could even have a system which will charge you a reduced rate if you use the same route 10 times or more per month or per quarter, meaning you get carnet style savings without having to commit in advance.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of things smartcards should be able to cope with, but don't do. I don't know if this is due to the abilities of smartcards themselves, or the structure of the railway, but it seems quite persistent.

That's largely a coding issue. Do you think the same people coding mobile phone apps for a less controlled environment with the ever-present threat of dead batteries is going to do better?

Just remembered that the GTR smartcard allows you to extend your journey in this way, as long as you subscribe to KeyGo and stay within the area where the Key card is valid.
 

Roy Badami

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It's a bit easier to do that with compulsory reservations with global fares, as the only potential fraud is of two people with the same reference on the same train which would be really easy to catch out, particularly as one will also be in the wrong seat.

Compulsory reservations/global fares[1] are of course a different debate, but one positive effect of them is of making revenue protection of all kinds hugely easier, because it is really easy to spot someone out of place, and the ticket is either for a seat on that train or it isn't.

Which country is it where revenue enforcement on high speed trains basically involves the guard walking down the train, checking that the seats that should be unoccupied are, indeed, unoccupied? I want to say Japan, but I could be wrong...
 

sheff1

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Which country is it where revenue enforcement on high speed trains basically involves the guard walking down the train, checking that the seats that should be unoccupied are, indeed, unoccupied? I want to say Japan, but I could be wrong...

It happens in Sweden. I have seen inspectors walk past people who have boarded at an intermediate station but are presumably, like me, in the correct seat and then challenge another newcomer. I have seen persons challenged in this way move seats (presumably to the correct one) or be charged (whether for a ticket change or a new ticket I obvioulsy do not know).

I was also asked for my ticket in Spain when, after departure from Barcelona, I had moved to a more favourable seat which was empty. The inspector was fine when I explained, and no one else in the carriage was asked for their ticket.
 

infobleep

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Smartcards should be able to cope with that. If the current system doesn't permit that, then that's a problem with the way smartcards are implemented, not with the concept of smartcards per se. It should be able to charge you the appropriate extension. Theoretically, you could even have a system which will charge you a reduced rate if you use the same route 10 times or more per month or per quarter, meaning you get carnet style savings without having to commit in advance.
I guess the issue is that London uses Oyster.
 

infobleep

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Just remembered that the GTR smartcard allows you to extend your journey in this way, as long as you subscribe to KeyGo and stay within the area where the Key card is valid.
If your extending your journey from Clapham Junction to Harrow and Wealdstone, which fare would it use? Oyster or paper ticket fare?
 
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