Family and Friends Railcard - History

History

Following the introduction of the Young Persons Railcard and Senior Railcard earlier in the 1970s, and the implementation throughout that decade of a wide range of short-term promotional fares and other offers for children travelling with adults, British Rail announced at the beginning of 1979 that they intended to introduce a new Railcard to give permanent discounts for adult-and-child groups. The original plan was for a £4.00 "one-adult" card—this would give no discount for the Railcard holder, but up to four accompanying children would be able to travel for £0.50 each on various off-peak tickets—and a £9.00 "two-adult" card, on which a second adult could be named; they would also pay £0.50 when travelling with the first named adult. In both cases, the Railcard holder would need a British Rail "Photocard" (numbered photographic identity card). The intended launch date was 1 May 1979.

When the scheme was introduced on an experimental basis on 17 June 1979, there was only one change from the proposals: the prices of the single-holder and joint-holder Railcards were set at £5.00 and £10.00 respectively. As from 1 March 1980, the Railcard became a permanent scheme. Also at this point, the prices rose to £8.00 and £16.00 respectively, and on the joint-holder card, the minimum age for the second named holder was lowered from 18 to 14 (before being raised to 16, British Rail's standard transition age from child to adult status, on 29 November 1981). At this stage, Railcards were issued with an expiry date, rather than being valid from their date of issue for a specific length of time. In connection with this, for a period during late 1980, both cards were reduced in price to £5.00, as they were only valid until 28 February 1981.

A series of major changes were made on 1 February 1981. The new version of the Railcard became valid for either one or two adults, with no distinction in price—so the separate "joint-holder Railcard" ceased to exist. The price was changed to £10.00; the Railcard holder now gained a discount of 50% on off-peak fares; the child flat fare became £1.00; and two other adults (in addition to the holder/s) could travel in the group for half fare. Other than a price rise in 1983, and some discounts on Motorail services, Sealink ferry services to the Channel Islands and rail-based holidays, the conditions remained the same until 1985.

The discount structure was changed on 12 May 1985, with Standard Day and Cheap Day Returns still receiving 50% off, but Standard Singles, Standard Returns (the equivalent of present-day Open tickets) and Saver tickets of all descriptions receiving a reduced discount of 34%. Child tickets of all types were still available at the £1.00 flat fare, however. Sealink discounts had been formalised and improved by this stage, with 50% discounts on Day Returns (34% discounts on other fares) to both the Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight; however, by the end of 1985, these had been altered again, with less substantial discounts being offered.

Discounts were further reduced in the next revision from 15 May 1990, with the Railcard being redesigned at the same time: the colour scheme was generally blue, with a pictorial background. Saver tickets, and the recently introduced Supersaver fares (lower-rate Savers), were now discounted by 25%; all other tickets received 34% off, including One Day Travelcards (with a minimum fare restriction). This was soon restricted to "All Zone" (1-6) Travelcards only. The Saver and Supersaver discount was cut again, to 20%, from 29 May 1994, at which point the child flat fare—which had been fixed at £1.00 since 1981—was raised to £2.00. Another redesign of the ticket stock happened at this point, with the predominant colour being brown. Meanwhile, as from 29 May 1995, the Railcard could be bought by anybody aged 16 and above. The previous lower age limit was 18, which was anomalous on two counts: for all other ticket-issuing purposes, people were considered adults from their 16th birthday onwards; and the lower limit for the second named holder (where applicable) had been 16 since 1981.