It is proposed to move HOPS ID Cards from the umbrella of HOPS to the umbrella of the Heritage Railway Safety Service. Although HRSS is currently run by HOPS it is proposed to become a higher-level organisation of which HOPS will be a sub-part.
There is not proposed to be any change to the mechanism by which cards are administered and HOPS will continue to be the instrument for this.
It is proposed that the blue HRSS logo will be added to 2023 cards in the strip on the left hand side.
Opportunity will also be taken (responding to feedback from railways) to change the colour of the strip from time to time, so the strip will be changed from the current green to HRSS blue.
(Regarding reciprocal travel etc: Booking clerks etc should be aware, however, that different railways expire their cards in different months (Dec/Jan/Feb/Mar) so from 1 Jan to 31 March there will be two different colours in current use.)
The words ‘HOPS ID Card’ will remain for 2023 to provide continuity and be replaced with ‘Heritage Railway ID Card’ in 2024.
The text and images on the rest of the ID card are unchanged.
The example image below can be used in Fares Manuals / Commercial Manuals issued to staff to ease recognition.
