Until recently, it has been possible to purchase an in-boundary one
day travelcard (one with a London station as the origin) on a
trainline-derivative booking site and then collect it from a
fastticket machine. This now appears to have changed.

On the website, I was told:

"Unfortunately collection from a Self-service Ticket machine is not
permitted for this ticket."

so I queried this. The response I got from the customer services
department was:

"I am sorry to inform you that a Self Service Ticket Machine option is
not available for London Day Travelcard.

Since the London Day Travelcard does not get dispensed from the Self
Service Ticket Machine, our website does not give this option. In this
case, you can purchase the London Day Travelcard from the station."

This is clearly nonsense as I can buy a one-day travelcard from a self-
service machine at any station within the boundary with that station
as the origin. So I went back and made this point. The response I
got was:

"I would like to inform you that according to the industry policy
rules, London Day Travelcards cannot be dispensed from a Self Service
Ticket Machine. Furthermore, I have passed the details to our
Development Team for review. We appreciate you taking the time out to
share your thoughts with us."

I can appreciate that "industry policy rules" may be trying to tackle
some sort of fraud (i.e. people buying an in-boundary travelcard from
an out-boundary station without a ticket to the boundary) but is this
really the case? Where are these rules?

I think I can still buy one online to be posted to me provided I give
enough notice.


Jonathan