On 20/10/2014 00:03, Paul Corfield wrote:

On Sun, 19 Oct 2014 23:13:20 +0100, Neil Williams
wrote:

Surprising it hasn't made it onto here yet, but from 2nd January,
including for existing holders, the Gold Card will also change
substantially.

The new version is:-
- Discounts largely the same as the Network Railcard but with no
minimum fare, and discounts available from 09:30 instead of 10:00.
This includes the loss of the child flat fare to be replaced with the
same 60% discount as the Railcards offer, and the withdrawal of the
First Class upgrade.
- Unlike the Network Railcard, First Class Anytime and Off Peak tickets
*are* now discounted.
- The Partner Card goes, to be replaced with a new "any Railcard for
you or anyone else for £10" deal.

Most significantly, however, is a substantial change in the area covered.
- Validity on Chiltern and LM extends right out to Shrewsbury
(including ATW services on that stretch!), the Birmingham area and
Stafford! Basically it is valid on ALL Chiltern services and ALL LM
services south of and including Stafford.
- Annoyingly for MK, Peterborough and Stevenage residents, VT and East
Coast have withdrawn[1] from the scheme completely, i.e. discounted
tickets will not be valid on either of those operators *at all*, not
even in the Network Area (though it seems if there are any relevant
annual seasons for which they set the fare, that the Gold Card is still
issued - but that might just be bad wording). Banbury remains the
boundary on XC.

More info here including a map:
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_...6573.aspx#2015

The other signficant change in validity area is the expansion to cover
all of East Anglia whereas it previously stopped at Kings Lynn and
Ipswich.


Maningtree, rather than Ipswich - the current (pre-2015) Gold Card
validity is the same as the (current) Network Railcard validity:
http://www.network-railcard.co.uk/download/clientfiles/files/map.pdf

Interesting changes - and interesting question as to whether this is an
indication of a possible expansion of the Network Railcard area (albeit
with the withdrawal of East Coast and Virgin Trains)...