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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/jul/29/digital-railcard-smartphone-rather-than-paper-ticket
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Digital railcards could be just the ticket to avoid penalty fares | Digital railcards could be just the ticket to avoid penalty fares |
| (25 days later) | |
| Penalty train fares imposed because a passenger left their railcard behind should soon become less frequent after rail companies announced the introduction of a digital version that can be stored on a smartphone via an app. | Penalty train fares imposed because a passenger left their railcard behind should soon become less frequent after rail companies announced the introduction of a digital version that can be stored on a smartphone via an app. |
| Within the next few weeks, young people buying the popular 16-25 Railcard will be offered the digital one for the first time. Next will be the Network Railcard, which provides discounts on trains across routes into London and south-east England. It will go digital later this summer. The remaining railcards – Disabled, Senior, Two Together and Friends and Family – will also be available via the app at some point in the autumn. | Within the next few weeks, young people buying the popular 16-25 Railcard will be offered the digital one for the first time. Next will be the Network Railcard, which provides discounts on trains across routes into London and south-east England. It will go digital later this summer. The remaining railcards – Disabled, Senior, Two Together and Friends and Family – will also be available via the app at some point in the autumn. |
| The Rail Delivery Group, which administers the Railcard system on behalf of the train companies, says it hopes the app will help make the problem of forgotten railcards “a thing of the past”. | The Rail Delivery Group, which administers the Railcard system on behalf of the train companies, says it hopes the app will help make the problem of forgotten railcards “a thing of the past”. |
| Customers will be able to add the cards to their smartphones instantly instead of having to wait for one to arrive in the post. But ticket inspectors on trains will still have to be shown the app as they would the current paper card. Customers who lose their phones or run out of battery can put the card on another mobile device (assuming they have one), it says. | Customers will be able to add the cards to their smartphones instantly instead of having to wait for one to arrive in the post. But ticket inspectors on trains will still have to be shown the app as they would the current paper card. Customers who lose their phones or run out of battery can put the card on another mobile device (assuming they have one), it says. |
| Jacqueline Starr, head of customer experience at the Rail Delivery Group, says: “Railcards have joined the digital age just like the new generation of young people using the iconic card which started it all, helping to connect the country. | Jacqueline Starr, head of customer experience at the Rail Delivery Group, says: “Railcards have joined the digital age just like the new generation of young people using the iconic card which started it all, helping to connect the country. |
| “Railcards save customers cash so they can take more train trips and have more to spend where they go, supporting local communities – and we’re making them easier to buy.” | “Railcards save customers cash so they can take more train trips and have more to spend where they go, supporting local communities – and we’re making them easier to buy.” |
| The cards, which cost £30 a year (with the exception of the disabled card at £20), give passengers a third off most rail fares, subject to certain restrictions. | The cards, which cost £30 a year (with the exception of the disabled card at £20), give passengers a third off most rail fares, subject to certain restrictions. |
| Passengers always have to travel with their card after purchasing a discounted ticket. A failure to produce it, along with a ticket, has led to some shocking stories. Ticket inspectors can – and often do – make passengers buy a new full-price ticket for accidentally leaving their card at home. In some cases, these have cost hundreds of pounds, often a multiple of the original fare. | Passengers always have to travel with their card after purchasing a discounted ticket. A failure to produce it, along with a ticket, has led to some shocking stories. Ticket inspectors can – and often do – make passengers buy a new full-price ticket for accidentally leaving their card at home. In some cases, these have cost hundreds of pounds, often a multiple of the original fare. |
| In November last year Guardian Money featured the case of one reader who was told by Virgin staff that they must pay more than £200 because they couldn’t produce their railcard on a trip from Manchester to London. They then found the card as they pulled into Euston but staff refused to return the fine. Virgin also refused to refund their money, although passenger group Transport Focus later intervened after reading about the case and the traveller was finally reimbursed. | In November last year Guardian Money featured the case of one reader who was told by Virgin staff that they must pay more than £200 because they couldn’t produce their railcard on a trip from Manchester to London. They then found the card as they pulled into Euston but staff refused to return the fine. Virgin also refused to refund their money, although passenger group Transport Focus later intervened after reading about the case and the traveller was finally reimbursed. |
| Following a sustained campaign by Money the rail firms have agreed to allow passengers a refund on the excess fares imposed – for at least one trip a year. So it will now be interesting to see how ticket inspectors treat passengers whose phone has died, or been stolen, and can’t show the inspector the railcard app. | Following a sustained campaign by Money the rail firms have agreed to allow passengers a refund on the excess fares imposed – for at least one trip a year. So it will now be interesting to see how ticket inspectors treat passengers whose phone has died, or been stolen, and can’t show the inspector the railcard app. |
| A spokesman for the rail firms explains that railcard users can only switch to the digital card when they buy a new one. Those currently holding paper ones cannot upgrade until it expires. If you want nothing to do with the digital versions, all railcards will still be available in the paper form, he says. | A spokesman for the rail firms explains that railcard users can only switch to the digital card when they buy a new one. Those currently holding paper ones cannot upgrade until it expires. If you want nothing to do with the digital versions, all railcards will still be available in the paper form, he says. |
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