No Travel Subsidy Tomorrow

[HawkTheSeagull]

NO ticket checks at Falmer, probably because of barriers at other stations.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It can stop you getting a US visa ? Christ never knew it could stop you getting one of those - it's almost as if it isn't worth being so right and skip a few quid.

Of course it will not.

 

[Ernest]

Of course it will not.

You will , try checking out the law of the land and railway byelaws

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

You will , try checking out the law of the land and railway byelaws

It will not stop you getting a visa. Serious crime yes. Minor crime no.

 

[Cian]

It will not stop you getting a visa. Serious crime yes. Minor crime no.

It prevents you using the Visa Waiver Programme, meaning you need to go to the embassy if you want to go on a brief holiday. It will also make it extremely difficult to get a multi-entry working visa.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It prevents you using the Visa Waiver Programme, meaning you need to go the embassy if you want to go on a brief holiday. It will also make it extremely difficult to get a multi-entry working visa.

True about the waiver. But the point was it will stop you getting a visa. Which it will not.

 

[Springal]

Usual Southern lickers wrong again. NO checks at Falmer

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Usual Southern lickers wrong again. NO checks at Falmer

Barriers in operation at Brighton and elsewhere stopped the majority of freeloaders.

 

[tomfitz12]

Barriers in operation at Brighton and elsewhere stopped the majority of freeloaders.

I saw no barriers and travelled through 3 stations without fuss where there are normally checks

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Usual Southern lickers wrong again. NO checks at Falmer

Probably because most stations HAVE barriers, the ones at Brighton certainly stopped people, as would have the ones at Lewes - so not actually wrong.

Seaford line could have done with some checks though, Southern neglected that.

 

[Worthingite]

It doesn't. Free train travel in the West starts at Shoreham. Bus travel from Worthing is included, although there can't be many people that use that method.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Probably because most stations HAVE barriers, the ones at Brighton certainly stopped people, as would have the ones at Lewes - so not actually wrong.

Seaford line could have done with some checks though, Southern neglected that.

The queues for the ticket machine at the car park entrance to Lewes station were ridiculously long (mainly down to folk who seem to have no idea how to use a ticket machine). I wasn't prepared to wait 20 minutes to buy a ticket, so just operated the "Push this Button for Assistance" button at the unstaffed barrier, and it let me and about 20 other people into the station.

No ticket checks on the journey - but I was happy to buy a ticket from the staffed ticket office at Falmer for the return journey.

 

[East Preston Gull]

I paid for parking at uni. No queuing in at 2 pm. Left my seat 5 mins after final whistle, walked back to car and back in bognor by 6.05 pm. Well organised from my point of view today.

 

[halbpro]

They're still working on this. Key Cards are issued by B&H Buses, Metrobus Buses and Southern Rail - but they are not interchangeable even among these three companies (even though they are all part of the Go Ahead Group). I believe the first steps towards interavailability will happen later this year.

Why so slow? God knows. I was a member of a regional working group back in the 1990s that was trying to ensure that a single smartcard might be developed to cover all bus, tube and rail services throughout the South East (including London) - but nothing much came of this, largely because of squabbles about detail, that focused on technical issues, rather than customer convenience. Eventually, London Buses and London Underground got fed up with the lack of progress and went their own way with Oyster. That now leaves everyone with the problem of integrating Oyster with The Key.

Getting other smartcard systems (like Albion season tickets, Nectar Cards and Costa Coffee Cards) all working the same way is a dream - but I'm not holding my breath. I guess someone might invent a universal system sooner or later. I've got a great idea for the brand name. It could be called "Cash".

I know you can use the Southern issued cards on Brighton and Hove buses when you have Plus Bus, although you're right in that you can't have a single card and load arbitrary products from any of the travel providers you've listed. I assume that'll be the end game as they're using the ITSO standard. Obviously you know more about this than me, but that's my current understanding.