Why can't ALL tickets be mobile and/or Print at Home?

[Bletchleyite]

Not if the ticket is in you wallet

Or if it's a PDF that has been viewed once in the Adobe Reader it'll also be cached locally.

 

[Haywain]

Or if it's a PDF that has been viewed once in the Adobe Reader it'll also be cached locally.

Or if it's been downloaded to the phone.

 

[johncrossley]

I see nothing wrong with the card tickets that I have been issued at booking offices since the early 1950s. I keep all my uncollected ones in the small Ferraro Rocher plastic boxes with lids. I like looking through them to compare return journey prices from the Manchester regions in those days of yore with todays prices.

From 1980 to 1984, we held membership of the Manchester Rail Travel Club that offered long day-out journeys with early departure times to places like Largs, Folkestone, Southend, , etc, that were not destinations that you could reach normally without changing. These all have the adult and child tickets as souvenirs.

The main problem with paper tickets is that you cannot guarantee immediate travel. You have to queue at either the ticket machine or the ticket office. You have to allow time to get the ticket. It doesn't matter if the queue is long, or if someone at the ticket window is making a complicated transaction. You have to wait as long as it takes and therefore you could miss your train. Someone who misses their train because of this reason may decide not to use the train next time. If you have bought an Advance ticket and failed to collect it in time then your ticket is worthless. So not only have you missed the train you have to buy a new ticket.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The main problem with paper tickets is that you cannot guarantee immediate travel. You have to queue at either the ticket machine or the ticket office. You have to allow time to get the ticket. It doesn't matter if the queue is long, or if someone at the ticket window is making a complicated transaction. You have to wait as long as it takes and therefore you could miss your train. Someone who misses their train because of this reason may decide not to use the train next time. If you have bought an Advance ticket and failed to collect it in time then your ticket is worthless. So not only have you missed the train you have to buy a new ticket.

I do not understand the meaning of paper tickets, as every single rail ticket that I have bought from the booking offices at Wilmslow and at Manchester Airport have been a thin card ticket with an orange stripe at the top and bottom and on the reverse, a black bar across the middle, with rounded edges. I have never used a machine as in the days prior to this Covid-19 pandemic, when leisure travel was not embargoed, if we were wishing to travel on a Saturday, we would go to the booking office no later than the Tuesday prior to the day of travel, booking both rail tickets and seat reservation tickets, as early booking usually meant you could reserve table seats next to a window. One of the drawbacks concerning Northern taking the Windermere and Blackpool services from TPE was the lack of first class seating and seat reservation. Thank goodness that TPE retained the Manchester Airport to York services, as we used to travel twice monthly there.

 

[infobleep]

I do not understand the meaning of paper tickets, as every single rail ticket that I have bought from the booking offices at Wilmslow and at Manchester Airport have been a thin card ticket with an orange stripe at the top and bottom and on the reverse, a black bar across the middle, with rounded edges. I have never used a machine as in the days prior to this Covid-19 pandemic, when leisure travel was not embargoed, if we were wishing to travel on a Saturday, we would go to the booking office no later than the Tuesday prior to the day of travel, booking both rail tickets and seat reservation tickets, as early booking usually meant you could reserve table seats next to a window. One of the drawbacks concerning Northern taking the Windermere and Blackpool services from TPE was the lack of first class seating and seat reservation. Thank goodness that TPE retained the Manchester Airport to York services, as we used to travel twice monthly there.

I rarely buy in advance now unless it is an Advance. Always the risk you don't travel and no advantage in ticket prices, unless it's an Advance.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I rarely buy in advance now unless it is an Advance. Always the risk you don't travel and no advantage in ticket prices, unless it's an Advance.

I usually wouldn't, but with compulsory reservation at the moment it has become necessary in many cases.

 

[Bikeman78]

TfL do not want mobile tickets used on the network because it increases the gateline interaction time . Indeed this was the original reason contactless was rejected as it impleaded passenger flow

I've noticed this. I've never used a mobile ticket on a train but I often use them on buses. It takes a 3-5 seconds for the scanner to read the ticket when I get on. Imagine if it took that long on the Underground! I think contactless is slightly slower than the old school paper tickets but there's not much in it and contactless will require less maintenance.

 

[Hadders]

From my (admittedly anecdotal) observation I’d say Oyster is faster than paper tickets. At rush hour passengers who know exactly what they’re doing can pass through the barriers so fast there isn’t sufficient time for them to close properly.

 

[johncrossley]

I think Oyster is very slightly faster than contactless as there seems to be a slight wait after you place the card on the reader which doesn't seem to be there when using Oyster. But I would say contactless is still faster than a paper ticket.

 

[matt_world2004]

Originally contactless was a lot slower . As a result tfl didn't accept them technology improved and it became quicker android pay wasn't accepted for some time too as a result of processing time

 

[43096]

I usually wouldn't, but with compulsory reservation at the moment it has become necessary in many cases.

Says the man who has been telling us how wonderful compulsory reservations are...

 

[Haywain]

From my (admittedly anecdotal) observation I’d say Oyster is faster than paper tickets. At rush hour passengers who know exactly what they’re doing can pass through the barriers so fast there isn’t sufficient time for them to close properly.

That can be done with paper tickets.

 

[Hadders]

That can be done with paper tickets.

Indeed and I've done it myself countless times. From my (albeit casual) observations you have to be slicker with a paper ticket.