Digital Railcard - Trainline

[Bletchleyite]

but you need a railcard number for this, so if that exists, then you should be able to call their customer services and ask for a physical replacement using that number, no?

No, they won't do that.

 

[ATS3]

No, these numbers are generated by the Railcard retailer. Retailers are under no obligation to offer physical railcards and National Rail will not fulfil a physical railcard for a customer of a third-party retailer, because the customer is not theirs.

Interesting, thanks for the insight. I was initially under the impression that railcard themselves had all the codes generated and then distributed to other retailers.

 

[TUC]

It seems very sneaky that they imply that can buy tickets with your railcard with them in the app but nowhere does it say you are free to use other ticket purchasers and

I honestly wouldn't have thought it needs spelling out. A railcard is a railcard.

 

[Adam Williams]

Interesting, thanks for the insight. I was initially under the impression that railcard themselves had all the codes generated and then distributed to other retailers.

It's not an unreasonable assumption to make! But no, every retailer is responsible for their own server infrastructure, app design/engineering, barcode generation (according to a common specification) and ongoing support.

Some TOCs (last I looked, LNER was one of these) without the technical prowess to do the work themselves "piggyback" off the work that National Rail have done with the "official" central railcard retailer rather than running their own system, but this is very much not the norm.

 

[ATS3]

It's not an unreasonable assumption to make! But no, every retailer is responsible for their own server infrastructure, app design/engineering, barcode generation (according to a common specification) and ongoing support.

Some TOCs (last I looked, LNER was one of these) without the technical prowess to do the work themselves "piggyback" off the work that National Rail have done with the "official" central railcard retailer rather than running their own system, but this is very much not the norm.

Thats very stupid, especially as the railcard brand to the general public (and those unaware!) is perceived as one unified system. Another broken system in railwaymania

 

[Adam Williams]

Thats very stupid, especially as the railcard brand to the general public (and those unaware!) is perceived as one unified system. Another broken system in railwaymania

I'd (personally!*) respectfully disagree, and would argue that third parties can compete, deliver new innovative features and higher quality services than the central/"official" Railcard offering. If you eliminate that and centralise / unify it all, you lose that differentiation and get a lowest common denominator solution with a worse end-user experience, an app that stops working and displays a purple square and off-shored customer support.

Consumer choice is a good thing.

* I am not unbiased, having been heavily involved in the design and implementation of one of these third party services.

 

[Hadders]

I'd (personally!*) respectfully disagree, and would argue that third parties can compete, deliver new innovative features and higher quality services than the central/"official" Railcard offering. If you eliminate that and centralise / unify it all, you lose that differentiation and get a lowest common denominator solution with a worse end-user experience, an app that stops working and displays a purple square and off-shored customer support.

Consumer choice is a good thing.

* I am not unbiased, having been heavily involved in the design and implementation of one of these third party services.

Absolutely! All the innovation in ticketing has come from third parties whether it is mobile phone app functionality, split ticketing, seat selection etc.

Having one monopoly provider in theory should be cheaper but history often tells us that a monopoly provider then becomes bloated, inefficient and lacks customer focus.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I honestly wouldn't have thought it needs spelling out. A railcard is a railcard.

I'd say that's because you understand and are familiar with the system - many aren't!