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The 16–25 Railcard is an annual card giving discounts on certain types of railway ticket in Britain. It is available to anybody aged between 16 and 25 (inclusive), and certain mature students aged 26 and above, and is currently priced at £30.00 (as of 19 May 2013). There is no restriction on the number of times the Railcard can be used to purchase discounted tickets during the period of its validity, and there are no geographical restrictions on its use. Introduced in 1974 on an experimental basis, under the name Student Card, and expanded into the Student Railcard later that year, it was the first of the many Railcards which formed part of British Rail's array of concessionary fare schemes, and which still exist on the post-privatisation railway network. Later, it was rebranded as the Young Persons Railcard and, from 18 May 2008, the 16–25 Railcard. ==History== In the 1960s and 1970s, many new universities were opened in Britain, while car ownership was relatively low, especially among young people. Furthermore, internal flights were not as cheap or prevalent as they are now. Most students either hitched or took a long distance coach. The National Union of Students had a very large travel company at the time with charter flights all over the world. They wanted to expand their operations domestically and so went to various regional sales managers of British Railways to develop special fares for holders of NUS cards. These were usually an allocated number of seats on specified weekend trains but they were very successful and Paul Connellan, who was the Travel Company General Manager, went to the British Railways Board with a proposal to allow a general discount based on the NUS card. The railways management, led by Alan Chamberlain, were reluctant to offer a discount based just on such cards particularly as some colleges and universities were not members of the NUS. A compromise was agreed where a special card would be sold but only through student travel offices. The first Student Card, as it was known, was launched. It exhibited some features which have remained consistent throughout the Railcard scheme's history, but also several which were later changed. It could only be purchased from National Union of Students (NUS) offices. Costing £1.65, which included a VAT charge of 8%, it was valid until a specific date—30 June 1974—rather than for a specific length of time. Only second class tickets could be bought, and all types of ticket were subject to a minimum fare below which no further discount would be given. The maximum discount was 50%. A booklet containing ten "Student Travel Request Forms" was supplied with the card; one had to be filled in and presented at the ticket office when booking a ticket. This original scheme, which was intended as a trial, was changed and relaunched in October 1974 under the new name Student Railcard. Two of the inconvenient conditions of the trial version removed: Railcards could be bought at railway station ticket offices, and Travel Request Forms were no longer required: the passenger just had to show the Railcard when buying their ticket. During the 1970s, the range of people who could buy the Railcard was expanded in stages; having at first been restricted to students in full-time education, it was made available to nurses, part-time students and, ultimately (in 1980) anybody between 14 and 24 years old inclusive.〔 Since then, the age range boundaries have been altered twice. In September 1987, the lower boundary became 16 years old, as British Rail changed their age limit for child tickets from 14 to 16, while the upper age limit became 23. However, registered mature students older than this could now buy a Railcard. Then, on 29 May 1994, the upper age limit was increased to 25. The use of the same expiry date for all cards issued in a given year persisted until 1982, although the fixed date was changed from 30 June to 30 September when the first version of the Student Railcard was launched in October 1974 (the original "Student Card" was the only version ever to use a 30 June expiry date). After 30 September 1982, Railcards were issued for a fixed period of 12 months from the date of issue. At the same time, the name Young Persons Railcard was adopted.〔 The next major changes came in 1987, with the discount structure, types of discounted tickets available and appearance of the Railcard all changing. With the introduction of the APTIS ticket issuing system happening at this time, a new set of ticket stock (with the British Rail form number BR 4599/20) was introduced. These were smaller than the erstwhile handwritten square-cornered card tickets, and had no room for a photograph to be attached; a separate Photocard, with a unique serial number was introduced instead. This was issued together with the Railcard, and had to be shown when buying subsequent Railcards and when travelling on discounted tickets.〔 Changes after this mostly involved the design of the APTIS ticket stock, the price of the Railcard and the minimum fare boundaries. However, two changes were also made to the method of buying the Railcard. From 9 January 2000, Telesales offices operated by the train operating companies were able to sell Railcards, although if a Photocard was not already held, one had to be issued at a station or travel agency within one month (a temporary pass, entitled Temporary Facility - Permit to Travel without Photocard was issued in lieu by the Telesales office). In August 2006, (online booking ) of Railcards was made available, although the card can still be bought through train stations and over the phone. Booking online includes the option of a three-year railcard for £70. From 18 May 2008 the card was rebranded as the 16–25 Railcard in order to make it easier to understand who is eligible for the card.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「16–25 Railcard」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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