What do the numbers mean on an english railway ticket??

Question

got me thinking the other day, on a standard railway ticket, you have destinations (to and from), price, adult etc, the date and times, then a load of other numbers one is under the word number and is 5 digits long, the other next to it and its 12 digits long with sum symbols in...

what do these mean??? jus curious :P

Answer 1

There is a serial number on the ticket the 5 digit one.

This shows the number of the ticket printed by the machine that issued it.

The other number is a collection of data whichs shows...

1st group of #'s..where the ticket is valid for travel from.

2nd ...details of ticket type (day return/single etc)

3rd ... where the ticket is valid for travel to.

This data is one way of checking to see if the ticket has the correct details on in case of fraud.

All stations in the UK and some continental destinations have a code number which are in ticket machines and also in a book called the fares manual.

There are even codes for combined train/theme park entry tickets.

Answer 2

Part of the 12 Digit number shows the station/machine that the ticket was issued from, the rest is just for checking/audit purposes :)

Answer 3

The 5 figure number is the serial number of the ticket and the longer number to the right (I believe) is a computer check  number relating to the machine it was issued from and the staff member issuing the ticket.

There is also a 4 digit number on the bottom right hand corner of the ticket. This refers to the time the ticket was issued, which is printed again in much smaller lettering underneath.

I don't work for the railways so I'm only taking an educated guess about the 12 figure number. Bus tickets often have similar numbers on them so the ticket can be traced if there's a query.

There are displays at some stations which show what the numbers mean.