Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 18:00:38 on
Fri, 1 Nov 2013, Paul Corfield remarked:
On Fri, 1 Nov 2013 16:48:12 +0000, Roland Perry

What is interesting with the ITSO card applications on National Rail
is the insistence on the cards always being used to touch in and out.
I confess, apart from gathering passenger usage stats, I do not see
the reason for mandating card validation for season tickets. If there
are ticket gates then fair enough but ungated stations have those
teensy validators on poles. If the TOCs were offering PAYG or
something similar on their smart tickets then I can completely
understand making validation compulsory.

Is it mind-games like those played by TfL, where they insist *everyone*
to touch in and out, just to make sure that the PAYG people they want to
charge are conditioned to touch in and out. Meanwhile the season ticket
holders are doing an irrelevant dance.

But TfL don't insist that everyone touch in and out, only Oyster users.
When gates are open, it's noticeable that lots of people don't touch in and
out, and I don't think they're all fare evaders. They may have paper
travelcards, Freedom passes, etc.