Ticket inspector took Photocard

[ElliotS]

Hi, Was looking for some advise.

Me and my partner are travelling from London to Great Yarmouth, we are going on a weeks holiday and will obviously be using our 2 together railcard during this time. I brought the original railcard online, when we renewed it last year at Great Missenden station the lady gave me a paper railcard without a photo and told us to keep the photo one incase they need it.

Have used the new railcard and showed the photo one now for 9 months no problem but the guard has just moaned at us about the photo card number not matching up to the ticket and confiscated the photo card

We still have the paper one, but this is not valid without a photo? She has told us to get off at Norwich and speak to the office and they will give us a new one, are we expected to pay for this? And was she within her rights to confiscate the card?

Could someone who has any knowledge of this please clear it up for me and let me know what we are supposed to do when we change at Norwich?

 

[Wallsendmag]

I think there's a £10 fee but Great Missenden should have given you a Photocard upon renewal

 

[ainsworth74]

You will need to get a new photocard in order for the railcard to be valid so you will need to go to the ticket office at Norwich and explain what's happened. I believe that you should have been issued with one at the time so it's strange that the ticket office at Great Missenden didn't do that. I don't think there will be a charge for a new photocard but I cannot be certain.

Railcards remain the property of the railway (in the same way that tickets are) so if an authorised person, such as a guard, wishes to withdraw one they are entitled to do so.

 

[Hadders]

You should’ve been issued with a photo card when you renewed the Railcard.

Did you take photos with you when you renewed it?

 

[Starmill]

I don't think there will be a charge for a new photocard but I cannot be certain.

I'm struggling to understand this query here, I admit. Please do anyone correct me if I'm wrong.

However, if the problem is that the photocard number does not match the one on the railcard, then what is required is a new railcard. This is £10 with receipt or £30 otherwise.

If the railcard has a number on it that represents a photocard which the OP does not have any more then it can't be used again and should not have been used in the first place. How did this situation come about? The OP says they renewed an online railcard at a ticket office - so they should have been given a new photocard (online railcards don't have them) and a railcard with matching number at the same time.

 

[Hadders]

As I understand it:

The OP purchased a Railcard online. This had the necessary photos on the Railcard itself.

The OP renewed the Railcard at a station. The station should’ve provided a photo card (assuming the OP had photos to allow this to be done).

The station issued the Railcard without a photo card telling the OP to use the expired Railcard in lieu of a photo card.

The expired Railcard has now been retained by a guard so the OP is seeking a photocard to allow continued use of the Railcard.

The station is wrong here for issuing the Railcard without a photocard although I suspect the OP didn’t have any photos to allow this to happen.

The OP will need a photocard and a replacement Railcard bearing the number of the photocard. This should be possible but I suspect they will struggle.

 

[Merseysider]

I would suggest that if the OP finds a ticket office willing to issue the required photocard/railcard, but at a cost, then to pay nevertheless, keep receipts, and claim this back afterwards rather than expending additional time and effort seeking a ticket office who’ll resolve it for free.

 

[Starmill]

The station issued the Railcard without a photo card telling the OP to use the expired Railcard in lieu of a photo card.

If that is what happened, that's rather alarming!

If that's true then I think the only course open to the OP is to purchase a whole new railcard and try to claim all or part of the cost of doing so back later.

 

[janb]

The station is wrong here for issuing the Railcard without a photocard although I suspect the OP didn’t have any photos to allow this to happen.

Yep. I have in my time cut the photos out of the online railcard in order to create a new photocard in this situation although the ideal is obviously to have fresh photos.

 

[Gareth Marston]

You can't physically issue a Two Togethar Card without inputting something in the Photocatd number field.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You can't physically issue a Two Togethar Card without inputting something in the Photocatd number field.

What was entered? The number of the old Railcard?

 

[Gareth Marston]

What was entered? The number of the old Railcard?

Apparently not.

 

[SideshowBob]

Railcards remain the property of the railway (in the same way that tickets are) so if an authorised person, such as a guard, wishes to withdraw one they are entitled to do so.

Hi, long-time lurker, first time poster.

Regarding this, what happens if you have an M-ticket on your phone, and possibly also your Railcard? I mean, they could hardly take your phone from you, could they?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Hi, long-time lurker, first time poster.

Regarding this, what happens if you have an M-ticket on your phone, and possibly also your Railcard? I mean, they could hardly take your phone from you, could they?

No, however there are probably mechanisms for them to invalidate or withdraw an M-ticket/E-ticket so they could probably do this if misuse is suspected.

 

[SideshowBob]

No, however there are probably mechanisms for them to invalidate or withdraw an M-ticket/E-ticket so they could probably do this if misuse is suspected.

One would have thought so; however it may depend on the TOC whose service one happens to be using at the time. E.g. Northern's staff appear not to be equipped to scan the QR code of an E-ticket, but instead just ask to see the "actual" ticket itself (in my admittedly limited experience of using E-tickets).

I'm aware this is off-topic, so I won't labour the point. Nonetheless, it is something I've occasionally wondered about.

 

[SideshowBob]

One would have thought so; however it may depend on the TOC whose service one happens to be using at the time. E.g. Northern's staff appear not to be equipped to scan the QR code of an E-ticket, but instead just ask to see the "actual" ticket itself (in my admittedly limited experience of using E-tickets).

I'm aware this is off-topic, so I won't labour the point. Nonetheless, it is something I've occasionally wondered about.

Correction: M-ticket, not E-ticket