to think this railcard advert's treatment of disability is not right?

[RealHuman]

Prepared to be told I'm overreacting, but bear in mind I'm not saying this is Nazi eugenics levels of unacceptability, just that it made me go

I can't find the advert online, but the latest railcard ad has a voiceover saying something along the lines of, "Whether you're 18-25, over 60, travel as a family, or in a pair, there's a railcard for you" - followed by a picture of their five railcards - young person's railcard, older person's railcard, family railcard, two together railcard, and also the disabled people's railcard.

Huh? Are we still invisible in 2015? Is it damaging to the company somehow to mention disabled people out loud?

[sashh]

BeyondTheWall

Might be worth getting one anyway, you and another person can travel with you for 1/3 off but you don't have any restrictions like only using it after 9.30am or not on certain services.

[Metacentric]

I do wish we had a 'national railways' system where stations beyond Worcester (yes people do live there) going West are covered by a discount of some kind

This is hardly something to lay at the door of privatisation: the Network Card and its predecessors are BR inventions from its 1980s heyday.

[mollie123]

how confusing - notice to my chagrin that Worcester is the last outpost for either network south east or gold card
I do wish we had a 'national railways' system where stations beyond Worcester (yes people do live there) going West are covered by a discount of some kind.

[Metacentric]

I didn't know the Network Railcard wasn't available nationally. I wonder why that is, is it a south east thing?

Yes.

www.network-railcard.co.uk

As to why it's only a South East thing, that's lost in the mists of timel; I presume its name derives from Network South East, the pre-franchise name for the area during BR sectorisation. I'm not in the south east, so don't know the details, nor its precise relationship with Gold cards.

www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/46573.aspx

[MalmseyWhine]

I didn't know the Network Railcard wasn't available nationally. I wonder why that is, is it a south east thing?

I have to pay £30 a year for mine but my friend, whose husband has an annual season ticket, gets hers for £1!

[Metacentric]

If you're between 25 and 60, travel on your own and are able-bodied there is not a Railcard for you.

Well, unless you're a mature student, in which case you're entitled to the (mis-named) 16-25.

I wouldnt have thought you could stack railcards

You can't, but for frequent travellers it's sometimes worth holding multiple cards for different occasions.

I have a Network Railcard

It isn't available nationally.

[RealHuman]

Also, "derail"?

Gods, I really hope I didn't just mishear the advert. That would be very embarrassing for me.

[MalmseyWhine]

boris I have a Network Railcard that allows me to do that. Doesn't sound like that's mentioned on the ad either.

[RealHuman]

I wouldnt have thought you could stack railcards, but I also agree it's confusing - that might be part of why I avoid trains altogether

[BeyondTheWall]

Yyy to "its all very confusing"!!

[BeyondTheWall]

Hang on, slight derail

I have a f&f railcard, never got a disabled one as i didnt think you could use the two together. Is someone here saying you can??

And on top if that, as a wheelchair user, i wouldnt even need a disabled railcard to use disabled fare if i bought in th station?!

[RealHuman]

I may be misquoting the phrasing boris.

[borisgudanov]

It's also bollocks. If you're between 25 and 60, travel on your own and are able-bodied there is not a Railcard for you.

[x2boys]

Hurr1cane i think i know what town you are talking about as i,m very near also and it was in my local paper!!

[TattieHowkerz]

As a former disabled railcard user I agree.
There might be explanations (the whole sending off for it thing is a good point).
Would be good for them to have the disabled railcard pic showing a non clichéd view if a disabled traveller. I used mine for commuting. No need for a "carer"

[sashh]

*The disabled card could be covered by the travelling in a pair as its for disabled and a carer to use^

I don't take my carer everywhere with me.

[RealHuman]

But people who fit the age criteria (either older or younger) could also travel on the couple or group railcards, and they didn't separate out the age-criteria cards from the number-of-travellers-criteria cards. As far as I see it the disabled people's railcard has more in common with the young people's or older people's railcards than with the family or two together railcard, as it's to do with a personal characteristic of the traveller rather than their party size.

[Lurkedforever1]

I didn't get that at first from your op ( had to read it twice to see what you meant) so maybe the advertisers viewed it the same. I see it as having four groups, all of which you can get railcards for, and all of which can include able bodied or disabled. And in addition to their group railcards there's also a card for people with disabilities regardless of whether they travel in one of the aforementioned categories or as single 25-60yr olds

[Pipbin]

"Whether you're 18-25, over 60, travel as a family, or in a pair, there's a railcard for you"

I do see your point OP. I think it is a little off too. However I guess that as a disabled person you could easily fall into some of the other categories too.
And I would assume that a person entitled to a disabled persons rail card is likely to be aware of it and it doesn't need advertising, unlike a family rail card for example.

[Pipbin]

they've spelt the town name wrong

The next village to mine has my village name spelt wrong on the road sign. It's been there for about 100 years though so I don't think anyone is going to change it now.

[Cabawill]

The Disabled Railcard is different because it can't be bought online or at a station like the others. You have to apply by sending off the form so that the credentials can be checked.

I'm guessing that's why they left it off the advert because it was telling you have to purchase etc

[WickedCrip]

disabled people who travel in their chairs aren't required to have a railcard I mean. We need a ticket, obvs.
I should proof read better before posting.

[WickedCrip]

I think this is one of those things that would make me roll my eyes but I'd leave it. We should be visible and it annoys me we aren't but at the same time on the grand scheme of things it's small (to me)
Disabled person's rail fares are problematic anyway - wheelchair users who travel in their chairs aren't required to have one but the discount for those who qualify can't be applied online and is a complete different system (amount discounted is higher but it can only be applied to different types of tickets) which means no one even the station staff know how much journeys should cost and having a rail card might be cheaper but it's not possible to determine that. I'd much rather the train companies sorted that mess.