Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 20:35 29 Apr 2024
- Met to pay damages to French publisher over arrest
- Power cut causes disruption at Stansted Airport
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]
 22/05/24 - WWRUG / TransWilts update
02/06/24 - Summer Timetable starts
17/08/24 - Bus to Imber
27/09/25 - 200 years of passenger trains

On this day
29th Apr (1963)
Bristol Bus Boycott announced (*)

Train RunningNo cancellations or delays
PollsThere are no open or recent polls
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple MeadsBath SpaChippenhamSwindonDidcot ParkwayReadingLondon PaddingtonMelksham
Exeter St DavidsTauntonWestburyTrowbridgeBristol ParkwayCardiff CentralOxfordCheltenham SpaBirmingham New Street
April 29, 2024, 20:40:54 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[127] South Western Railways Waterloo - Bristol services axed
[125] Saturdays: Rochdale / Manchester onto the Settle and Carlisle
[88] Clan Line - by Clan Line !
[78] Visiting the pub on the way home.
[53] Where was I today, 29.04.24?
[46] Disabled access at Cholsey: time for a campaign!
 
News: A forum for passengers ... with input from rail professionals welcomed too
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Pages: 1 ... 4 5 [6] 7
  Print  
Author Topic: Tickets & Railcards: problems with fading ink/magnetic strips (merged topic, ongoing discussion)  (Read 35155 times)
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 18924



View Profile
« Reply #75 on: July 10, 2011, 03:57:00 »

Small pedantic point. The RSP Common Stock isn't printed using ink. It uses thermal printing.

http://www.newburydata.com/nd4020.html
Logged

"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."

- Sir Terry Pratchett.
6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 2754



View Profile Email
« Reply #76 on: July 10, 2011, 23:00:52 »

i cant remember the last time i touched a printer that used ink to be honest! ... well since throwing my personal one across the garage in disgust
Logged
devon_metro
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 5175



View Profile
« Reply #77 on: July 10, 2011, 23:08:12 »

Ink printers in a retail environment are completely impractical, take an age to change, smudge, and of course they don't last very long.

The only thing that needs changing with a thermal printer is the till/print roll and that generally takes a matter of seconds.
Logged
6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 2754



View Profile Email
« Reply #78 on: July 11, 2011, 02:16:09 »

the only bad thing about thermal is that the print isnt that durable, after  time it gets rubbed away and heat of course kills it
Logged
Andrew1939 from West Oxon
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 535


View Profile Email
« Reply #79 on: July 11, 2011, 14:03:03 »

The word "ink" is a generic word applied to any material that adds written information to a hard (or soft) surafce material whether it is old fashioned liquid ink aplied with a quill pen, liquid ink applied with heat with an ink jet printer, powder that is applied with heat through a laser printer or the chemical that has been pre applied to paper and changed with a thermal process to show written information.. What ever form it takes if what it is applied to and the result is intended to be read or understood for a period of time, such as an annual season ticket, it should be capable of lasting that pre-determined life and what ever is used on the season tickets that are commonly in use with now FGW (First Great Western) is just not up to the job at present. So let us not get het up about types of ink - it is the end result that matters.
Logged
Alan Pettitt
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 229


View Profile Email
« Reply #80 on: December 04, 2013, 17:07:51 »

Just got informed by ticket inspector that my Senior Railcard is rather faded. Well I had noticed, my signature is still fine but the date, number and issuing station have nearly vanashed, and it's only 7 weeks old! Inks obviously not up to much at Frome that day.  I don't want to send it away for a replacement, any ideas?
Logged
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 18924



View Profile
« Reply #81 on: December 04, 2013, 17:39:16 »

Senior Railcards are available at stations if I'm not mistaken.

From your OP (Original Poster / topic starter) I assume you bought it at Frome station. Should be a simple case of going to a staffed station and asking for a replacement. Maybe best if you go to the station that originally issued it. Shouldn't be a replacement charge as it's not your fault it's faded. If you are asked to pay ^10 then I suggest you decline the replacement and take the matter up with FGW (First Great Western) Customer Services.
Logged

"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."

- Sir Terry Pratchett.
The Tall Controller
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 354


View Profile
« Reply #82 on: December 04, 2013, 18:08:42 »

You are indeed correct. Take it to any ticket office and a replacement can be issued. It is a common problem with the railcards these days. The problem is the type of card the ink is printed on. However, for it to go off in 7 weeks is pretty good going!!

Our trick in my ticket office is to put a cigarette lighter under the railcard for a couple of seconds. The card goes black but the areas where the ink was shines clearly though. The railcard is still valid despite being half burnt!

We did this trick to a chaps railcard and found it to be 3 years out of date! Needless to say he did not get his discount! 
Logged
Nibat
Full Member
***
Posts: 38


View Profile Email
« Reply #83 on: December 04, 2013, 19:26:09 »

If the expiry date is not clearly visible, take it to the ticket office with the receipt you should have been issued with, the part of the application form the office should have stamped and given to you when you bought the railcard.  You can do it in any ticket office, as somebody said is to do with some older stock that fades as it was defective.
Logged
Alan Pettitt
Sr. Member
****
Posts: 229


View Profile Email
« Reply #84 on: December 04, 2013, 21:38:57 »

Thank you everyone for your comments and advice.
Logged
Chris from Nailsea
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 17895


I am not railway staff


View Profile Email
« Reply #85 on: December 04, 2013, 21:39:35 »

With many thanks to all Coffee Shop forum members who have contributed to this particular subject over the years, I've now taken the opportunity to merge several previous topics here - purely in the interests of clarity, continuity and ease of future reference. Smiley

Or, just because I can. CfN Wink Cheesy Grin
Logged

William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
ChrisB
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 12367


View Profile Email
« Reply #86 on: December 05, 2013, 11:06:17 »

For the fullness of providing info on this topic, anyone know the solution to railcard fade when bought online? Can you still get a replacement wityh your receipt at any ticket office?
Logged
rogerw
Global Moderator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 1345



View Profile
« Reply #87 on: December 05, 2013, 12:38:25 »

Railcards bought on line are plastic cards and do not, in my experience, fade.  My last one looked as good at the end of its three year life as at the start.  My current one is two years old and looks as good as new.
Logged

I like to travel.  It lets me feel I'm getting somewhere.
Nibat
Full Member
***
Posts: 38


View Profile Email
« Reply #88 on: December 05, 2013, 15:31:49 »

If the railcard bought online is in paper stock, the answer is yes.

Same as before, if the expiry date can be read take it to any ticket office (or to one that issues that type of railcard, i.e. if it's a Network Railcard don't take it to St Austell) and it will be replaced there and then.

If it's so faded that it cannot be seen, then take the receipt that shows the expiry date and the issue date and it will also be done there and then.

If you are not sure or you want to avoid a potential second trip, take the receipt with you anyway.  In both cases you'll have to fill in a replacement railcard form and surrender the old railcard.  The ticket office should NOT keep the receipt or charge you any fee in any case, they should endorse the form as "Railcard Faded" and attach the old one.

Please note that in the case of (at least) the Devon & Cornwall Railcard there isn't any receipt, so you MUST take to any ticket office in Devon or Cornwall before the date fades completely.

The fading is to do with the manufacturer of the stock, at the time when the previous supplier (Bemrose Booth) went into administration and the new supplier (Magnadata) took over.  Apparently they didn't use the correct call it paper to make the railcard stock, I think it was the same as the common stock, so it's not designed to last.  All the new stock should last longer, I'm not going to sure it won't fade, but as the railcards came in boxes of 10,000 I'm sure there are loads of them still around!
Logged
SDS
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 772


Badgerline


View Profile
« Reply #89 on: December 06, 2013, 16:04:03 »

Just to make it even better, there is a batch of magnadata common stock tickets which have been recalled because the mag strip is b******ks broken and will not store any data on it, and of course won't go thru any barriers and come up error code 07 (as opposed to 09).
Logged

I do not work for FGW (First Great Western) and posts should not be assumed and do not imply they are statements, unless explicitly stated that they are, from any TOC (Train Operating Company) including First Great Western.
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: 1 ... 4 5 [6] 7
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules (email link to report). Forum hosted by Well House Consultants

Jump to top of pageJump to Forum Home Page