Merseytravel Metrocard issues.

[Bletchleyite]

Agreed, some ticket offices will be fine with it, others will go "sorry can't be done here" as it will be too much like hard work.

A solution will be to have the all area Saveaway ticket available to purchase from TVMs. No hassles with having to buy the more restricted Merseyrail only product and hope the ticket office can change it.

mods note - split from here.

The issue is the stupid smartcard system they have for them. They'd need to allow them to be issued on CCST again for that. They should allow that, though.

Ideally this would be solved by a comprehensive tap-in tap-out contactless system which would cap at the price of a Saveaway.

That said, I doubt all that many people need Saveaways from Capenhurst, Bache, Overpool or Little Sutton - almost all business is going to be going to Liverpool or Chester, for which the slightly cheaper Daysaver will be fine, and from that end of things connecting onto the mainline is as likely to be via Chester/Crewe as via the City Lines from Lime St where a Saveaway would be useful.

 

[Starmill]

They should allow that, though.

I agree.

What's likely is that anyone who follows Merseyrail's advice will be charged for two tickets, and need to make a complaint requesting a refund for the one they didn't want.

That said, I doubt all that many people need Saveaways from Capenhurst, Bache, Overpool or Little Sutton - almost all business is going to be going to Liverpool or Chester, for which the slightly cheaper Daysaver will be fine, and from that end of things connecting onto the mainline is as likely to be via Chester/Crewe as via the City Lines from Lime St where a Saveaway would be useful.

They may of course also need to use a bus or ferry, which is more likely than wanting to use the City Line really.

 

[Bletchleyite]

They may of course also need to use a bus or ferry, which is more likely than wanting to use the City Line really.

True. However most of them will just want to go to Liverpool city centre, for which neither of those things is necessary.

I do agree this is a stupid situation caused by the insistence of not issuing Saveaways on CCST (despite both Northern and TfW being able to do this). However, the number of people affected is going to be very small.

 

[Starmill]

True. However most of them will just want to go to Liverpool city centre, for which neither of those things is necessary.

You could say that of all multi-mode products in the country, and yet we still have them.

Of course, Pay as you Go would eliminate all of this nonsense, and the technology to implement it has existed for more than two decades. But it seems as far away as ever for Merseyside and Merseyrail.

 

[geoffk]

True. However most of them will just want to go to Liverpool city centre, for which neither of those things is necessary.

I do agree this is a stupid situation caused by the insistence of not issuing Saveaways on CCST (despite both Northern and TfW being able to do this). However, the number of people affected is going to be very small.

I remember buying a Saveaway at Wigan Wallgate. (I also had to buy a single from Bryn to Garswood, which brings us to those annoying gaps in ticketing where two PTEs have a shared boundary, something which only South and West Yorkshire have addressed, but that's for another thread).

 

[Bletchleyite]

You could say that of all multi-mode products in the country, and yet we still have them.

Of course, Pay as you Go would eliminate all of this nonsense, and the technology to implement it has existed for more than two decades. But it seems as far away as ever for Merseyside and Merseyrail.

If there's one thing that's more Luddite than those discussing e-tickets on this forum (see that thread) it's the management of Merseyrail Electrics (2002) Ltd. I can't even blame the Dutch heritage - they are "smartcards for everything" now!

 

[L401CJF]

If there's one thing that's more Luddite than those discussing e-tickets on this forum (see that thread) it's the management of Merseyrail Electrics (2002) Ltd. I can't even blame the Dutch heritage - they are "smartcards for everything" now!

This is mostly down to Merseytravel and their obsession with Walrus (now Metro) yet have been completely incompetent at rolling it out over the last decade.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This is mostly down to Merseytravel and their obsession with Walrus (now Metro) yet have been completely incompetent at rolling it out over the last decade.

No, I'd rest much of the blame with Merseyrail Electrics management - it's apparent in other areas too, such as the lack of barcoded ticket acceptance and ToD.

 

[JBuchananGB]

It is of course possible to purchase a Merseytravel Saveaway (on your Walrus/Metro card) at a PayPoint shop. In fact if your journey commences with a bus, that's what you have to do, as bus drivers don't sell them. At least Merseyrail can now dispense TOD tickets at their ticket offices. Next thing to do is allow the use of Railcards with Daysavers, one can but dream.