Absence of paper tickets will deter many rail passengers
I have been following the Department for Transport and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling’s ideas about a Digital Railway and the ‘end of the line for paper tickets’ ( RAIL 841).
Progress is an ongoing thing, but ordinary people seem to be left out of the equation. The idea that digital ticketing is the way forward may not suit the needs of everyone - some people will still want to purchase tickets at a booking office.
My friends and I, as rail enthusiasts, try to go out twice a week on a trip somewhere. We buy our tickets at Preston and sometimes get a split ticket or a West Midlands day ranger ticket (all bookable at the booking office), or if going East we book on the train to Blackburn and buy our tickets there.
Some of us do not have smartphones or computers, and have no need for them, and so feel that with the advent of these ticket purchasing systems by the end of 2018 we won’t be able to travel.
So, is digital right for everyone? I hope the DfT has a serious rethink about this. David John Fairclough, Darwen I read the article regarding rail ■ travel ticketing with some trepidation ( RAIL 841).
I believe that there must be a significant minority of people like me who, for various reasons, are unable to use modern information technology to purchase rail tickets. Instead, we rely solely on being able to purchase the same from a ticket office at their local station, without having to use a computer or mobile telephone device.
If the abolition of paper tickets takes place, I wonder what provision will be made for people like me to purchase tickets, if any? I doubt that the Secretary for State has even considered this question.
Perhaps the travelling public should be surveyed, to establish whether or not they would prefer to retain paper tickets and purchase them without having to resort to the use of computers or mobile devices.
It would be interesting to know if there are substantial numbers of such people. The results could be forwarded to the Secretary of State for his attention. B Haigh, Barnsley
RAIL 841 reports on the ‘End of ■ the line for paper tickets’.
Will this mean that I will not be able to travel by rail, as I refuse to use my phone for any monetary action?
It should be remembered that recently the Government stopped the need for a road tax disc to be displayed on the car, and it was reported that we are losing millions of pounds through people not paying road tax.
Will no paper tickets be another way of fare dodging? Alistair Paxton, Edinburgh