Student fares and ticketless travel

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I understand there's a student season ticket available on "The Beach" which provides a low cost season ticket for children using the train to get to school - and also makes fare collection and ticket checking practical on the busiest of trains.  A GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) innovation?   This now from  Northern

Northern has appealed to parents across the region not to send their children off to catch the train to school on the promise of sending them a ticket for their journey via text message.

Passengers are required to buy a ticket before they board the train – and some schoolchildren are risking a £100 penalty fare while waiting for their parents to honour their pledge.

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director at Northern, said: “It’s perfectly legal for parents to buy their child’s ticket and send them via text – however, why risk it?

“It’s so easy to get distracted in the morning rush and the moment their child boards a train without a ticket they might as well have packed a £100 penalty fare in their lunchbox themselves.”.

Discussion recently with GWR - looking at the potential for a similar scheme in West Wilts where there are a number of ungated stations with short rides by many students at peak times.  Ticket office are - err - not open as often as they should be, and some stations such as Avoncliff and Dilton Marsh (which has seen signifiant school traffic growth) don't even have ticket machines.      Ticketless travel / not enough time to collect fares is a significant issue here about, and the idea of the train waiting at Dilton Marsh or Warminster while fare collection is completed isn't being considered.   Free rail travel for under 18s isn't on the cards either ...

[ChrisB]

I understand there's a student season ticket available on "The Beach" which provides a low cost season ticket for children using the train to get to school - and also makes fare collection and ticket checking practical on the busiest of trains.  A GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) innovation? 

Nope. I had one back in the days of BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)). On the old Southern region, in Kent. Before that, on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway too. In existence since the 70s.= (and 60s on the RH&DR)

[JayMac]

Yep.

A Severn Beach Train Pass is available to pupils in several schools and colleges near the line, offering discounted travel to and from those education establishments. Administered these days, I believe, by the schools and colleges themselves.

The Severnside Community Rail Partnership were instrumental in setting up season tickets for students to use for school travel. Originally they administered these scholar tickets.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=13417.msg145890#msg145890

[ChrisB]

A GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) innovation? 

Nope. I had one back in the days of BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)). On the old Southern region, in Kent. Before that, on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway too. In existence since the 70s.= (and 60s on the RH&DR)

My 'nope' answered Graham's question, not disagreed with his statement.