Cycling UK Forum

Those that are against discrimination and privilege will also be against railcards for the NHS ... i hope .... 61% discount on advance bookings on Trainline.com ... Worth having the NHS railcard...
Reality check .... i have absolutely nothing against any organisation that can do a deal to reduce travel costs for their members ... it's all good.
Why Forces Veterans where singled by some out for less than positive comment / critique is interesting.

Why not have one Railcard for all? No issues with fairness. Those who want or need one get one. Those who do not don't get one. Specific cards for specific groups only divide.

Perks or not they're offering a marketed discount card that may or may not offer you real discounts on a trip by trip basis. Marketing to seniors, young people, families, veterans, etc. Is there anyone not covered?

As to services, they serve as per their choice. So do paramedics, police, nurses, fire service officers, farmers, oil workers, etc.

Tangled Metal wrote: So do paramedics, police, nurses, fire service officers,

They do have their own railcards available ....
Totally agree ... Railcard for all, £15 / year use it and abuse it

landsurfer wrote:Why Forces Veterans where singled out for comment / critique by the OP ... is the bigger question

Yes, perhaps.

I still maintain that anyone who pays full price on the railways is a mug.
All sorts of discounts are available, and all sorts of discount cards and ticketing systems too.

Also, use a split system to buy your tickets.
Don't necessarily book all the way. Do some research and you can save many many many quids.

Given how our rail system seems to be being run on a "for profit" basis then it would become relevant as to how the subsidy for those receiving such cards is "paid for". It might be that increased off-peak travel by a group "pays-for" the scheme or it might be that those without railcards are paying more than they would otherwise because rail operators are (generally) doing it for profits and shareholders. For me, how the discount is "covered" financially becomes very relevant to the justification.

e.g. Pensioners deciding between eating or heating would get no benefit from a discounted railcard yet the scheme might well be used to justify that the group is already getting loads of extra help (e.g. politicians justifying cutting support).

Ian

I'm not against any group just against the putting of one group against the others. If veterans need extra help then they should get it from the government out of tax funds. If they don't need extra help then they shouldn't get it? Extras should be on need not gratitude because armed forces get their rewards from the job or other ways of there wouldn't be a professional armed forces.

Tangled Metal wrote:Why not have one Railcard for all?

Or just reduce the prices?
It's marketing, people like to feel both special and that they're getting a better deal than someone else. I paid up for a three year railcard, it will probably mean I use the train more, and spend more on trains that are running well below capacity, I'm no less immune from the marketing than anyone else.

Under the current OLR agreements, basically all the operators are nationalised.
They are permitted 1.5% profit on turnover as a fee for operating the railway on the governments behalf.

If you want to complain about fares .... Give Boris and his mates a ring .....

He's on the phone right now, saving all our bacon, the line is engaged

Plenty of people pay for a discount card, then do not use it enough, so travel costs them more in the end. The providers know this

Cyril Haearn wrote:He's on the phone right now, saving all our bacon, the line is engaged

Bringing only the finest incompetence, lies and blame shifting that we have come to expect from Buffoon and Handsoncock.
Monday evening there will be a broadcast to the nation where Witless and his creepy friends will explain, with out of date graphs, why 4000 people a week will die because of BREXIT .... and how it's all the fault of children and students .... but never them ...

Mick F wrote:

landsurfer wrote:Why Forces Veterans where singled out for comment / critique by the OP ... is the bigger question

Yes, perhaps.

I still maintain that anyone who pays full price on the railways is a mug.
All sorts of discounts are available, and all sorts of discount cards and ticketing systems too.

Also, use a split system to buy your tickets.
Don't necessarily book all the way. Do some research and you can save many many many quids.

A person absolutely should not have to engage in research in order to travel cheaply on the railway.

Rail travel is something the government should be making a no brainer, something people want to do. It's the complete opposite as far as I am concerned.

Exactly-people are buying a ticket not applying for Cornish citizenship which would presumably be highly rigorous and intellectually demanding.

A bit off-topic but booking a train ticket through "the cheapest mans" can be restricting. Departing my 2018 tour I needed a train Norwich to Portsmouth and "the cheapest" ticket seller insisted the bike spaces Waterloo to Portsmouth were fully booked. Double, treble checked with them and fully booked. That was madness to called the train operator and no problem and I was the only bike on the train!

Ian

Not everyone is in a position to travel off peak, by not the usual routes, taking time to find the cheapest way from a to b. Some are not retired but work a lot if hours then have family duties after work. Who's only opportunity to travel might me peak times or the most direct and fastest route because they're time poor. This makes them cash poorer because the ticketing system favours those who are not mugs but still working and still with family duties or other commitments.

Imho it really should be no more expensive taking the most direct routes.

One dodgy thing is minor and major route operators. Same route but buy tickets from one operator you can travel on any train, the major operator. Buy from the other, minor operator, you can only travel on their trains on that route usually only one or two a day. You book centrally online with no indication when you're buying the tickets. Open tickets that you believe to few valid at any time. Once on re wrong train you get the information and have to shell out a steep ticket price. It happened to us and we could find nothing in any small print. We got something which allowed us to claim these original ticket price back but they still took admin charge off our refund. A con!

Mick F wrote:Unless you're a student?
Dunno TBH, but it could be true.
Perhaps someone could elucidate?

What about Two Together, or Family and Friends?
Are there age limitations?

What about regional railcards like wot I have. No age limitations ...... all you need is proof of address.

From what I know about rail travel, if you pay the full price, you're a mug.

I said no individual.