Chaos descended on Tuesday morning as the new millennial railcard was released this morning, with only 10,000 available.
The website selling the railcard for 26 to 30-year-olds could not cope with the traffic and crashed following the scramble for commuters hoping for a card.
“We’ve had an unprecedented number of people visiting our site for the 26-30 railcard. Please bear with us, we’ve got the whole team working on it and hope we can have it back up shortly,” said a spokesperson for railcard.co.uk.
The scheme is currently being trialledto assess the impact on revenue and passenger numbers, meaning only 10,000 are currently available.
“Research being gathered as part of the 26-30 Railcard trial is being used to inform discussions with the government about a national rollout, and to develop new products that make leisure travel easier and better value for customers,” said a spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group.
The chancellor, Philip Hammond, first announced the launch of the new railcards in his budget in November, which would save “4.5 million more young people a third off their rail fares”.
The news was taken positively among millennials, a generation who are the first to be poorer than their parents.
“It’s a great idea. One of the problems with the current fare structure is that it does not give enough discounts for younger people around this age. But fare reform needs to go a lot further, especially for people in part-time work,” said chief executive of the group Campaign For Better Transport.
The launch of the card was however described as a shambles as thousands of young people were unable to purchase a card.
Those on the website took to Twitter to express frustration.
“Getting a 26-30 railcard is worse than getting a Glastonbury ticket. Sort out your website to make it fair!” wrote Emily Thomas, from London.