Two Together Railcard

[DaveNewcastle]

As widely anticipated, the Two Together Railcard trial in the West Midlands will not be continued.

Two Together Railcard update

The trial Two Together Railcard will no longer be available to purchase after Saturday 19th May 2012. The Railcards in circulation are valid for 1 year from purchase and therefore existing cardholders will continue to be able to buy discounted tickets nationally for travel throughout Great Britain until their Railcard expires. Railcards sold online have additional days added to allow for the post, but all Two Together Railcards will expire by 30th May 2013 at the latest.

Previos discussions were here: New railcard and here: Two together rail card

 

[SS4]

Not surprised. It was almost as though ATOC designed it to fail

 

[WillPS]

That's a shame.

 

[All Line Rover]

Oh bugger. It would have been so useful for couples, friends, and adult/child-over-17 groups, making rail travel much more attractive. The car it is! (Unless GroupSave is available.)

 

[button_boxer]

Shame, I have one with my wife and we find it very useful when travelling together at weekends.

 

[Lampshade]

There we are then, ATOC can now claim there is no demand for a national railcard.

 

[transportphoto]

People eligible may wish to buy another on Saturday 19th, so you have one until 18th May next year. It be up to decide if this is economical, if you could save the cost of the railcard in the period between your current one expiring and your new one expiring

TP

 

[LexyBoy]

Shame, I have one with my wife and we find it very useful when travelling together at weekends.

You have until 18/5/13 to make yourselves eligible for a Family & Friends Railcard then

 

[bnm]

ATOC have said in 'The Manual' in full:

The trial Two Together Railcard will no longer be available to purchase after Saturday 19th May 2012. The Railcards in circulation are valid for 1 year from purchase and therefore existing cardholders will continue to be able to buy discounted tickets nationally for travel throughout Great Britain until their Railcard expires. Railcards sold online have additional days added to allow for the post, but all Two Together Railcards will expire by 30th May 2013 at the latest.

We are still undertaking research into the trial Railcard and a decision on whether or not to roll the Railcard out nationally will be made towards the end of this year. There are no plans at present to allow Two Together Railcard customers to renew their Railcards when they expire but we will be contacting those customers, whose contact details we have, to keep them updated.

Thanks to all the stations in the trial area for your assistance in running this trial – we will keep you updated on the outcome of the research and any decisions made on the future of the Railcard.

My emphasis in bold. So, not completely dead and buried. Yet.....

 

[WillPS]

ATOC have said in 'The Manual' in full:



My emphasis in bold. So, not completely dead and buried. Yet.....

Sounds rather like a chain of stores plan to close a chunk of stores, but rather than say that they say they're "consulting with their staff"...

 

[island]

Shame, I have one with my wife and we find it very useful when travelling together at weekends.

Ditto. Even though I have a Gold Card, the reduction is useful when travelling further afield.

 

[All Line Rover]

My emphasis in bold. So, not completely dead and buried. Yet.....

I hope they DO roll it out nationally, as there is definitely a market for it. If they are worried about users clogging up the commuter trains, they could always add a morning peak restriction. Railcards are supposed to encourage off-peak leisure travel, after all!

 

[cjohnson]

I've had a couple of emails asking me to fill in a survey about my (our?) use of the railcard, so it's not as if ATOC aren't doing any research. Hope it continues though; if not will be getting a new one in a few days time...

 

[Greenback]

My opinion remains the same as it was last year. ATOC are not interested in a national railcard, but they can now claim that they trialled one and it was a failure.

Whatever research they are doing now will simply be used to justify the decision not to continue.

 

[furryfeet]

I hope they DO roll it out nationally, as there is definitely a market for it. If they are worried about users clogging up the commuter trains, they could always add a morning peak restriction. Railcards are supposed to encourage off-peak leisure travel, after all!

It already has a morning restriction already - no use between 0430 and 0930, except at weekends and bank holidays.

This makes it less attractive as a product - hence Greenbacks comments.

Did Virgin clarify as to whether THIS railcard would be included in the "tickets with railcards are valid on any Virgin train", or has it been excluded ?

If it is included, then I may still go out and buy one, before the deadline on Saturday.

 

[All Line Rover]

Did Virgin clarify as to whether THIS railcard would be included in the "tickets with railcards are valid on any Virgin train", or has it been excluded ?

It is excluded, for obvious reasons.

 

[island]

My opinion remains the same as it was last year. ATOC are not interested in a national railcard, but they can now claim that they trialled one and it was a failure.

Whatever research they are doing now will simply be used to justify the decision not to continue.

I am afraid this may well be the case.

 

[John @ home]

Did Virgin clarify as to whether THIS railcard would be included in the "tickets with railcards are valid on any Virgin train"?

It is not included. Contrast, for example,

16-25 Railcard

Time restrictions
No time restriction is applied to the Railcard although minimum fares are applicable to certain ticket types for both outward and return journeys before 10:00 Mondays to Fridays between September and June (except Public Holidays).

Holders of Off-Peak ticket types SVS/SVR which are discounted using a 16-25 Railcard can travel on Virgin Train services at any time, provided that all travel is on Virgin Trains services only. (This easement is not permitted for travel between Milton Keynes Central and London Euston).

Senior Railcard

Time restrictions
No time restriction is applied to the Railcard although for journeys wholly inside the Network Railcard area, discounts are not available on any ticket type until the corresponding Off-Peak Day (CD) or Off-Peak Day Travelcard (ODT) fare becomes available. For travel wholly within the London Fare Zones Area, discounts become available from 09:30 Mondays-Fridays. There are no restrictions on use of discounted tickets in the Oyster PAYG evening peak (16:00-19:00).

Holders of Off-Peak ticket types SVS/SVR which are discounted using a Senior Railcard can travel on Virgin Train services at any time, provided that all travel is on Virgin Trains services only. (This easement is not permitted for travel between Milton Keynes Central and London Euston).

Two Together Railcard

Time restrictions
Railcard discounted tickets are not valid for travel between 04:30 – 09:30 Monday to Friday (except Public Holidays).

 

[yorksrob]

Nice idea - I do hope it's not quashed by the dead hand of "private enterprise".

But then again, why stop at couples. I'm sure there are many single people who could be encouraged to pay for additional journeys at off-peak times through such a scheme.

 

[island]

The Two Together Railcard website has been updated to remove the option to purchase, but it is still rather unclear as to the fact that the card is no longer sold.

 

[transmanche]

Ditto. Even though I have a Gold Card, the reduction is useful when travelling further afield.

Does anyone else remember the 'Annual Season Ticket Holder's Railcard'? A (sort-of) predecessor to the Gold Card, but not limited to the Network Area.

My opinion remains the same as it was last year. ATOC are not interested in a national railcard, but they can now claim that they trialled one and it was a failure.

And I think they'd like to be rid of the Network Card too.

A UK version of the Bahn Card would be fantastic, but I can't see it ever happening.

 

[thedbdiboy]

Oh dear, lots of cynical comments here....
The 'Two Together' Railcard was a trial product to research the opportunity for this sort of market. The trial period is ending, and the results will be evaluated. This does not mean that the exercise is over, it is much more that the information will help develop the whole range of existing products that cover all, some or none of the territory for couples (i.e. the existing F&F Railcard, Gold Card, Network Railcard, Groupsave, TOC promotions). If it was just an exercise to prove that there was no demand, there would have been much cheaper ways of doing it - this was a big, fully fledged trial that certainly did not come cheap....

 

[bnm]

Ah, but you have to remember, thedbdiboy, that the professional cynics on hear will never see ATOC as doing anything positive for passengers.

Many here see ATOC as merely in business to alienate their customers and push them away from the railway. And despite these views, the railways continue to have record numbers of people travelling. :roll:

 

[Greenback]

Oh dear, lots of cynical comments here....
The 'Two Together' Railcard was a trial product to research the opportunity for this sort of market. The trial period is ending, and the results will be evaluated. This does not mean that the exercise is over, it is much more that the information will help develop the whole range of existing products that cover all, some or none of the territory for couples (i.e. the existing F&F Railcard, Gold Card, Network Railcard, Groupsave, TOC promotions). If it was just an exercise to prove that there was no demand, there would have been much cheaper ways of doing it - this was a big, fully fledged trial that certainly did not come cheap....

I really hope that I am proven wrong, and a railcard emerges which can be used by people who are not students, who are aged in between the Y-P and Senior Railcard ages, and do not live in the South East.