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Railcards in the UK have a complicated history, but essentially there's a sliding scale of discount you can get up to the age of 30, in order to encourage more
by danpalmer 1y ago
Railcards in the UK have a complicated history, but essentially there's a sliding scale of discount you can get up to the age of 30, in order to encourage more young people to use the rail network. You get more discount under 18, some between 18 and 25 for one price, and some between 25 and 30 for another price.
Additionally, the way the discounts work is that you buy a pass that lasts for a period of time. That then needs to work with your current age. i.e. you can't buy 2 years of discount for under 30s at 29, you can only buy 1 year, so they need to share your age and I think possibly in some cases, date of birth.
- incompatible 1y agoBut then you start getting a discount again when you are over 60, or a veteran of the armed forces? The 30-60 age group is hit hard!
- jagger27 1y agoWhich age tranche is the richest?
- incompatible 1y agoI suppose it would almost work for me, I had my highest income in my early 40s, but now I'm in my 50s and my income is quite low.
- incompatible 1y agoIts like "people in your age range are richer than average, so we are going to charge you extra."
- jagger27 1y agoI prefer to frame it more like this: "People in your age range drive less or cannot legally do so and as such have few other options for transit, so we'll give you a discount. Also, the negative externalities of rail travel are far lower than other modes of transit so we should encourage as many people as possible to use it. When a frequent young user of rail transit grows out of the lower price bracket, they will likely continue to use the service to help keep it affordable for all."
- danpalmer 1y agoAlso, <25 and >60 are probably much less likely to be using rail to commute to paying jobs. Additionally most of the Railcards are scoped to only off-peak travel, which again focuses on leisure/family rather than work. It's a blunt tool, but it's not terrible.
- blitzar 1y agoOver 60's