Ticket notations

[benk1342]

Can anyone tell me the meaning of the following notations on tickets:

- The asterisk following the name of some stations, but not others

- The letter following the price---I thought it was always just an X but recently I have noticed that it is sometimes another letter (W or M, maybe?)

Thanks!

 

[district]

The letter shows method of payment;

M is cash.
X is credit/debit card.
W is warrant or voucher.
Q is cheque.

The asterisk is to stop the station name being altered. It doesn't appear on all stations as some are long enough to take up the entire field.

 

[transportphoto]

Hello,

The astrix following the station names is to prevent any alterations being made, the maximum amount of letters in a stations name is 16 so any names under this amount are ended with an astrix, any over 16 are abbreviated and any totalling 16 are just that.

The letter following the amount is to show the method of payment, the most common ones are:

M : Paid by Cash
X : Paid by Card
W : Paid by Warrant

others include​

Y : Part payment by Warrant and Card
Q : Cheque
and a couple of others

TP

 

[First class]

V can appear on tickets for voucher payments, although W is used by most TIS.

Postal Order/Tokens and Exchange Order have different letters depending on TIS/TOC.

The * is to stop this:

You buy:
Zone U123 or PRESTON

You alter
Zone U1234 or PRESTON PARK

Solution
Zone U123* or PRESTON*

 

[benk1342]

Cool thanks!

 

[Flamingo]

It comes in useful if you suspect someone is using a "picked up" ticket, as one fare-dodger in the Bristol area does., and claims he missed his stop as he was asleep and is now traveling back.

"How did you pay for the ticket?"
"Cash"
"Wrong!" Ching ching (or usually "get the **** of my train, you waste of benefits")! (I hope he is not reading this, that is one I have caught him out on more than once!)

 

[Squaddie]

"get the **** of my train, you waste of benefits"!

Such fine customer-facing skills.

 

[First class]

It comes in useful if you suspect someone is using a "picked up" ticket, as one fare-dodger in the Bristol area does., and claims he missed his stop as he was asleep and is now traveling back.

"How did you pay for the ticket?"
"Cash"
"Wrong!" Ching ching (or usually "get the **** of my train, you waste of benefits")! (I hope he is not reading this, that is one I have caught him out on more than once!)

Asking what time approximately it was bought usually does the trick too!

Some have gotten wise to that, and rightly, you have to resort to MOP codes!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Such fine customer-facing skills.

They aren't customers.

Fraudsters
Conmen
Liars
Thieves

are more suitable...

In the short time on this forum, it appears that the majority of non-staff on here really don't understand the challenges and absolute tossers we deal with day in/day out, whether in a cosy office building answering phones or chasing fare evaders off trains.

 

[ainsworth74]

Such fine customer-facing skills.

If they've not bought a ticket and indeed obviously aren't that keen on buying one seeing as they're reusing someone else's how are they a customer?

 

[transmanche]

In the short time on this forum, it appears that the majority of non-staff on here really don't understand the challenges and absolute tossers we deal with day in/day out

I think many of us non-staff do understand the tossers that you have to deal with day-in, day-out. What we don't understand is why some staff seem to automatically assume that all passengers are fraudsters/conmen/liars/thieves.

 

[WelshBluebird]

Of course, you may not always be able to remember what you paid with, and certainly not the time! I sometimes have a couple of train tickets "on the go" so to speak. Especially when you consider normal returns (not day ones) are valid for a month.

 

[First class]

I think many of us non-staff do understand the tossers that you have to deal with day-in, day-out. What we don't understand is why some staff seem to automatically assume that all passengers are fraudsters/conmen/liars/thieves.

Although we know that some passengers are genuine, my opinion is that it is now a significant enough percentage of passengers who are dishonest. I don't think the majority of people deliberately intend to be dishonest, just they talk themselves into/out of a problem.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It comes in useful if you suspect someone is using a "picked up" ticket, as one fare-dodger in the Bristol area does., and claims he missed his stop as he was asleep and is now traveling back.

"How did you pay for the ticket?"
"Cash"
"Wrong!" Ching ching (or usually "get the **** of my train, you waste of benefits")! (I hope he is not reading this, that is one I have caught him out on more than once!)

I wonder... next time he tries it and quotes a wrong method, proving he picked it up to use it, would there be enough time to have the train met by the BTP on arrival if you pretended to accept the ticket as valid?

Might finally teach him the lesson he is obviously not learning!

 

[WelshBluebird]

I wonder... next time he tries it and quotes a wrong method, proving he picked it up to use it, would there be enough time to have the train met by the BTP on arrival if you pretended to accept the ticket as valid?

Might finally teach him the lesson he is obviously not learning!

Of course - not knowing how you paid for the ticket is not evidence that you picked it up off the ground.
For day singles / returns, I would agree that it would be odd if you cannot remember (but not proof of anything), but for other tickets that can be valid for a month, I disagree that it would say anything at all about if you picked up the ticket off the floor or not.

 

[Flamingo]

Of course - not knowing how you paid for the ticket is not evidence that you picked it up off the ground.
For day singles / returns, I would agree that it would be odd if you cannot remember (but not proof of anything), but for other tickets that can be valid for a month, I disagree that it would say anything at all about if you picked up the ticket off the floor or not.

When it is already stamped - with my stamp - from the day before - :roll:

 

[WelshBluebird]

When it is already stamped - with my stamp - from the day before - :roll:

Which is fair enough lol.
But not being sure of the payment method or time, on its own, does not mean the person has just picked up the ticket (as suggested in this thread).
Of course, it can give a useful hint towards it. But it certainly does not mean it.

 

[ChrisTheRef]

I like to ask where they purchased the ticket - usually when trying to get a refundon a ticket they've used, but hasn't been stamped.

Popping the NLC code on the ticket into my machine usually tells me they're lying - not sure if hand held machines do the same though

 

[Nym]

Such fine customer-facing skills.

If you aint paid a fare, you aint a customer...

Would you be polite to someone stealing from your shop?

 

[WelshBluebird]

If you aint paid a fare, you aint a customer...

But the point is how do you know they haven't paid??

 

[Nym]

The're showing you an SDS for yesterday, the're travelling overdistance (like someone last night), they use a card they know will decline, etc etc.

I've seen all of these at least once per week, another favorate is Littlewoods office staff coming in through the car park, they really should do more ticket runs between Bolton and Salford to catch the little _____...

By the same odds, how do you know someone who is running out of a bank with £74,275 in used notes in their grubby paws with a balaclava on is a bank robber?

 

[maniacmartin]

I always suspected it was to prevent alterations to the station names, however that wasn't the answer I was given when I asked gateline staff in a central Manchester station 2-3 years ago. They claimed the asterisk permits transit between Manchester stations on the tram (presumably in a similar way to the maltese cross does in London on the tube). I'm not convinced by their explanation personally.

 

[yorkie]

They claimed the asterisk permits transit between Manchester stations on the tram.

That is wrong! Tickets that include travel on the trams are either issued to Manchester Ctlz or routed Metrolink (GM).

For examples of this use Avantix or brfares.com to look up: SPT - MCZ (for an example of the former, as a destination) or SPT - SYB (for an example of the latter, as a route).

 

[wintonian]

I always suspected it was to prevent alterations to the station names, however that wasn't the answer I was given when I asked gateline staff in a central Manchester station 2-3 years ago. They claimed the asterisk permits transit between Manchester stations on the tram (presumably in a similar way to the maltese cross does in London on the tube). I'm not convinced by their explanation personally.

Sounds like someone heard about the Maltese cross for cross London transfers followed by an extended game of Chinese whispers.

 

[Wolf_359]

But the point is how do you know they haven't paid??

Experience plays a big part, after a while you can spot the dodgy ones by their body language & mannerisms.

Local knowledge also helps. So does recognising the regulars who always try it on.