Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments.
Reader says we’re ‘beyond the point where older people can exempt themselves from the digital world’
Jennifer, who is 75 and from Surrey (MetroTalk, Tue), is against the use of GPS-assisted pay-as-you-go train travel because she doesn’t ‘deal in apps’ and says that a move to digital ticketing is ‘discrimination’ against the elderly.
I think in 2025 we have gone beyond the point where older people can just exempt themselves from the digital world. The internet has been around for more than 30 years – it’s old technology at this point!
Should the railway companies keep spending millions of pounds maintaining paper ticketing infrastructure just so some people can keep burying their head in the sand? Callum, Southport
Is the new train scheme ‘a breach of privacy and human rights’?
The fact that the new train scheme would use tracked tickets means it’s surely a breach of privacy and human rights. If the trial is successful, there should be an option to opt out of being tracked or having data shared and used.
Also, this will only be used by those with the money to use smartphones and pay for data. It has the potential to isolate people and prevent lower income families and people from being able to access transport services.
It would also be unsuitable for children, who are too young to consent to being tracked. Nicola, Tulse Hill
More on the train tracked ticket trials…
I can’t see the train scheme working due to inconsistencies in GPS. I have a couple of cameras with GPS in them but it only seems to work about half the time.
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I once got on a train at Sheffield station and took some pictures and the GPS confirmed the location as Sheffield.
Several hours later, I got off in Exeter and the GPS still said I was in Sheffield.
Imagine being in a metal train carriage, going through tunnels – GPS does not stand a chance of being accurate.
Back to traditional tickets, I think! Andrew, Rotherham
I pretty much agree with all those against such a train app but one point not being mentioned is why there’s this push for people to rely on their mobile phones for everything?
If this continues, it will get to a point that if something happens to your device – it breaks or is stolen, for example – then you wont be able to do anything at all. You wouldn’t be able to travel or pay for anything. This could put the entire population in constant peril and all because people insist that relying on a mobile for everything is progress – which it definitely isn’t.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a mobile and I use it for a variety of things but I am never reliant on it for everything. Dave, Haywards Heath
Free travel for over 60’s?
If the problem is technology being a barrier to the elderly, the answer is easy – just give all over-60s free travel. This would also increase their mobility and reduce isolation, making a big cost saving for the NHS. Heidi, Bromley
Is peace and quiet too much to ask for? Reader calls for an announcement free compartment on trains
Further to the recent correspondence in Metro concerning automated announcements on public transport, why not have a special compartment on each train that does not have automated announcements? This would provide a place of retreat for those who simply want to be able to travel in peace and quiet. Would this be too much to ask?
People have been travelling by train for 200 years but it is only in recent times that being able to do so in peace and quiet has been eroded. Andrew, East London
Reader says passengers should ‘not listen to music at all’ on public transport
I concur with Christina’s ‘bemused’ reaction to the notion that wearing headphones on public transport is being kind to others (MetroTalk, Tue), given that sometimes the music is so loud it’s still possible to hear what other people are listening to. The trouble is that people who wear headphones are less likely to be aware of others around them.
I find they’re the least likely sort of commuter to realise a disabled, pregnant or elderly person needs their seat.
Recently a man with headphones was standing on the wrong side of the escalator, ignorant of others trying to get past so everyone on the ‘walking side’ had to stand still!
Headphones just create yet another distraction from observing others and one’s environment.
My advice is to take them off and not to listen to music at all. Be aware of your surroundings and other people. Anything else is not ‘being kind’ at all. William Barklam, Erith
