In message , at 10:17:32 on Thu, 18 Sep
2014, Someone Somewhere remarked:

Not handling railcards limits the ability of contactless to
replace Oyster.

Not if you just get rid of the plethora of various railcard discounts
and charge everyone a flat fee for travel.

We've got quite a conservative (actually, it's right-wing too) set of
discounts for public transport in this country. Go to a properly
socialist country and you might find that military veterans' second
cousins[1] will be just one of several dozen classes of people with
cheaper travel.

[1] OK, so I exaggerate slightly.
--
Roland Perry