Two Together Railcard

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Two Together Railcard (online issue) Two Together Railcard.jpeg
Two Together Railcard (online issue)

The Two Together Railcard is a scheme which gives discounts on certain types of railway ticket in Britain. Launched nationally in 2014 after a successful trial in 2011–12, [1] it was the first new Railcard scheme since the 1980s. It is available to any two named individuals aged 16 or over and is priced at £30.00 (as of 2018). There is no restriction on the number of times the Railcard can be used to purchase discounted tickets during the period of its validity, and there are no geographical restrictions on its use. [2]

Rail transport in Great Britain

The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest in the world. The first locomotive-hauled public railway opened in 1825, which was followed by an era of rapid expansion. Whilst the network suffered gradual attrition from about 1900 onwards, and more severe rationalisation in the 1950s and 1960s, the network has again been growing since the 1980s. The UK was ranked eighth among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for intensity of use, quality of service and safety performance.

Pound sterling official currency of the United Kingdom and other territories

The pound sterling, commonly known as the pound and less commonly referred to as sterling, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the British Antarctic Territory, and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have currencies called the pound.

Contents

History

A public trial version of the Railcard was launched on 5 September 2011. It cost £28.00 and could only be purchased at stations in the West Midlands region (the Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton postcode areas). The trial lasted until 19 May 2012 and was instigated by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), which gathered feedback and undertook research into its effectiveness. [3] [4]

West Midlands (region) Place in England

The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains Birmingham and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which is the third most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Coventry is also located within the West Midlands county, but is separated from the conurbation to the west by several miles of green belt. The region also contains 6 shire counties which stretch from the Welsh Border to the East Midlands.

B postcode area

The B postcode area, also known as the Birmingham postcode area, provides postcodes for the city of Birmingham, boroughs of Solihull, Sandwell and parts of Warwickshire, Walsall, Worcestershire and Staffordshire in England.

CV postcode area

The CV postcode area, also known as the Coventry postcode area, is a group of postcode districts around Atherstone, Bedworth, Coventry, Kenilworth, Leamington Spa, Nuneaton, Rugby, Shipston-on-Stour, Southam, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick in central England.

The Railcard was launched nationally on 3 March 2014 [5] at a cost of £30.00, although for the first six months a 10% discount was given if it was bought online and a promotional code was quoted. [1] The Two Together Railcard was the first new Railcard scheme to be launched for more than 30 years. [6] The scheme was similar to British Rail's "Voyager" Railcard, which was sold for a few years in the 1980s and which was only available to purchase by post. [4]

British Rail rail transport operator of Great Britain

British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages between 1994 and 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, it became an independent statutory corporation in 1962 designated as the British Railways Board.

Details

The card offers a discount of ​1⁄3 of the price of train tickets but cannot be used on morning peak time journeys, defined as those between 0430 and 0929. The discount applies to First Class and Standard Class fares, including advance purchase tickets. The card is only valid for use on journeys where both named cardholders are present and both purchase a ticket for the same journey. [1] It is primarily aimed at encouraging couples to travel by train instead of by car [7] (when travelling as a pair, because the cost of fuel can be split between the two people the cost of two train tickets would typically be more expensive). Larger groups travelling by train may already be covered by the GroupSave discount.

Railcards can be issued online or at railway station ticket offices. They are mostly purple in colour and have passport-sized photographs of both cardholders on the front (the trial version had a separate Photocard). [1] [4]

Ticket with two together railcard code UK Rail ticket showing Two Together discount code.jpeg
Ticket with two together railcard code

On the APTIS, PORTIS/SPORTIS and other computerised ticket issuing systems, a "status code" field is provided on each ticket issued. This is left blank if an adult is travelling at full (undiscounted) fare; but if any discount or other special condition applies, a code of up to five letters appears. The status code 2GETH is used to identify a ticket bought with a Two Together Railcard. [1]

APTIS Ticket System

APTIS was the Accountancy and Passenger Ticket Issuing System used on the British Rail/National Rail until 2007. It was originally called "Advanced Passenger Ticket Issuing System" as it was being developed at the time of the Advanced Passenger Train.

PORTIS and latterly SPORTIS were portable ticket issuing systems used on Rail transport in Great Britain from 1982 until 2006. The system was also formerly used by Northern Ireland Railways for the issue of all tickets, including at railway station booking offices.

Sales and usage

In the first year since its launch, over 215,000 Two Together Railcards have been sold with the average user saving £127.48 over the card's one-year validity period. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Oyster card electronic ticket used on public transport in Greater London

The Oyster card is a form of electronic ticket used on public transport in Greater London in the United Kingdom. It is promoted by Transport for London and is valid on travel modes across London including London Underground, London Buses, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Overground, Tramlink, some river boat services, and most National Rail services within the London fare zones. Since its introduction in June 2003, more than 86 million cards have been used.

Travelcard

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APTIS ticket features

Tickets issued from British Rail's APTIS system had a considerable amount of detail, presented in a consistent, standard format. The design for all tickets was created by Colin Goodall. This format has formed the basis for all subsequent ticket issuing systems introduced on the railway network – ticket-office based, self-service and conductor-operated machines alike.

In the ticketing system of the British rail network, tickets are normally issued to and from individual stations. In some instances, when there is more than one station in a town or other locality—especially where these are on different routes—it may be desirable for passengers to be able to travel to one station and back from another, or more generally to be able to choose which of the stations they wish to travel to. To accommodate this requirement, British Rail introduced a series of station groups: notional "common locations" to which tickets from stations outside that group would be issued.

Network Railcard

The Network Railcard is a discount card introduced in 1986 by British Rail, upon the creation of their Network SouthEast sector in parts of Southern England.

There is no single 'discount railcard' available on the UK railway network. In addition to the large number and variety of short-term or localised promotional fares that have been available to passengers on the British railway network in recent decades, there are many permanent concessionary fare schemes available to passengers. Some of these take the form of Railcards, which can be purchased by people who qualify according to the conditions, and which give discounts for all journeys over a period; other concessions are available for individual journeys. In all cases, details of the type of concession will be printed on the passenger's travel ticket, to distinguish reduced-rate tickets from those sold at the standard full fare.

The Scheidt & Bachmann Ticket XPress system is a passenger-operated self-service railway ticket issuing system developed and manufactured by the German systems development and production group Scheidt & Bachmann GmbH, based in the city of Mönchengladbach. Since the first trial installations in 2003, seven train operating companies (TOCs) in Great Britain have adopted the system as their main passenger-operated ticket vending method, while four others have installed machines at certain stations on their networks. More than 1,500 machines are in place across the country, and more than 850 stations have one or more. Machines can accept cash and/or payment cards and can sell most National Rail tickets.

16–25 Railcard

The 16–25 Railcard is an annual card giving discounts on certain types of railway ticket in Britain. It is available to anybody aged between 16 and 25 (inclusive), and certain mature students aged 26 and above, and is currently priced at £30.00. There is no restriction on the number of times the Railcard can be used to purchase discounted tickets during the period of its validity, and there are no geographical restrictions on its use.

Senior Railcard

The Senior Railcard is an annual card available to people aged 60 and over, which gives discounts on certain types of railway ticket in Britain. The Railcard has existed in various forms since 1975; the current version is priced at £30.00 and is valid for one year, with a 3-year card available for £70. It is one of a wide variety of discounted and concessionary fare schemes available on Britain's railway network.

The Family and Friends Railcard is an annual rail travel discount card for use in Great Britain by adults travelling with at least one child. Cards valid for either one or three years can be purchased at a cost of £30 for one year or £70 for three. It is one of the discounted and concessionary fare schemes available on Britain's railway network to people who either belong to particular groups or who are willing to buy tickets ahead of the date of travel. Before 18 May 2008 it was known as the Family Railcard, but the name was changed to reflect the fact that discounted travel is not restricted to adults and children who are related.

The Disabled Persons Railcard enables passengers with reduced mobility to travel at one-third off many fares on Great Britain’s National Rail network.

A transit pass or travel card, often referred to as a bus pass or train pass etc., is a ticket that allows a passenger of the service to take either a certain number of pre-purchased trips or unlimited trips within a fixed period of time.

BahnCard loyalty program

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The go card is an electronic smartcard ticketing system developed by Cubic Corporation and currently used on the TransLink public transport network in South East Queensland. To use the go card users hold the card less than 10 cm away from the reader to "touch on" before starting a journey, and must do the same to "touch off" the service at the end of the journey. The cost of each journey is deducted from the go card balance.

Opal card transport ticketing system in New South Wales, Australia

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Leap card

The TFI Leap Card is a contactless smart card for automated fare collection overseen by Transport for Ireland (TFI). It was introduced in the Greater Dublin area in 2011 for Luas, DART, Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Bus. Bus Éireann added support on suburban routes in Cork, Limerick, and Galway; the first private operator supporting the card is Wexford Bus, a Wexford–Dublin coach. Initially Leap Cards offered only a pre-paid electronic wallet system for single-trip fares; since May 2014, it has also been possible to load it with weekly, monthly and annual subscriptions. In September 2017 there were over 2.5 million Leap Card users according to the National Transport Authority. The Leap Card is the result of many years' work by the Railway Procurement Agency and the National Transport Authority to get an integrated ticketing scheme for public transport in Dublin city. Fares are discounted compared to cash prices, and limited integrated ticketing is offered via multi-trip discounts and daily fare caps. Minimum top up for the card is currently €5.

Plusbus Add-on ticket which can provide unlimited travel on participating bus operators services

Plusbus is an add-on ticket, which can be purchased with National Rail train tickets in the United Kingdom. It allows unlimited travel on participating bus and tram operators' services in the whole urban area of rail-served towns and cities.

Network NorthWest

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "National Rail News: Two Together Railcard". Journal of the Transport Ticket Society. Transport Ticket Society (605): 105. April 2014. ISSN   0144-347X.
  2. ↑ "Two Together Railcard Terms & Conditions". Two Together Website. ATOC . Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Trial - Two Together Railcard". ATOC Ltd. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2014-09-23.
  4. 1 2 3 "National Rail News: Two Together Railcard". Journal of the Transport Ticket Society. Transport Ticket Society (573): 377–378. October 2011. ISSN   0144-347X.
  5. ↑ Calder, Simon (27 February 2014). "New National Railcard launched". The Independent. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  6. ↑ "'Two Together Railcard' goes on sale". BBC News. BBC News. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Two Together Railcard 'helps passengers save £20 million'". Rail Magazine. Bauer Consumer Media. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
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