Gateline staff - Leeds station.

[Urban Gateline]

The fact is though, he acknowledged my pass, I went through and then was hit by the closing barrier. This happened to others too, so he wasn't operating it with customer safety in mind.

Maybe you jumped the gun though, surely you could have waited until he gave you the instruction to pass through? Sorry if that sounds rude, I've just experienced too many impatient people in my time!

 

[anti-pacer]

Maybe you jumped the gun though, surely you could have waited until he gave you the instruction to pass through? Sorry if that sounds rude, I've just experienced too many impatient people in my time!

He nodded at me when I showed him the pass, however, a further instruction to wait would have resulted in me doing so. When gateline assistants nod, in my experience it means they've seen your pass and are happy for you to walk through. Most don't even acknowledge you at all though.

When I asked him why he'd let the gate close, he was then letting the gate close on others too.

Maybe this is now time for a policy to be put in place rather than each assistant working how they choose.

 

[34D]

He nodded at me when I showed him the pass, however, a further instruction to wait would have resulted in me doing so. When gateline assistants nod, in my experience it means they've seen your pass and are happy for you to walk through. Most don't even acknowledge you at all though.

When I asked him why he'd let the gate close, he was then letting the gate close on others too.

Maybe this is now time for a policy to be put in place rather than each assistant working how they choose.

Surely the gate was closing from the previous pax, and hadn't yet been opened for you?

 

[PG]

Maybe this is now time for a policy to be put in place rather than each assistant working how they choose.

Rule #3001 : Thou shall not close the gate until the passenger is clear of it... unless they have seriously p***sed you off

 

[anti-pacer]

Rule #3001 : Thou shall not close the gate until the passenger is clear of it... unless they have seriously p***sed you off

Such a relief that passenger safety is highly regarded! There's me thinking they didn't care! :roll:

When I was pass through them gates every weekday evening, and there's a steady stream of commuters passing through, not even being acknowledged, but the gates are kept wide open, you tend to follow that pattern.

I ALWAYS show my pass, and wait for an acknowledgement. When I get a nod in return, I take that as a big acknowledgement (compared to what I'm used to), and proceed to pass through (remember, the gates are almost always open at the Gating Assistance point). I do not expect to have the gates close on me. Others experienced the same, so are we all wrong? Should we second guess the thought process of each Gateline staff?

They should have a set procedure in place. If the gate is going to be opened to let one person through at a time, fine, great, no issue at all, but TELL PEOPLE! This DOESN'T happen though, and people, rightly or wrongly, get used to the gates being left open, and walk through AFTER showing their pass.

Not all passengers can be wrong! Not all of us are just "dim customers".

 

[Wolfie]

Rule #3001 : Thou shall not close the gate until the passenger is clear of it... unless they have seriously p***sed you off

Rule #3002: Don't be surprised if your company/you get served papers for a personal injury claim from a "no win no fee" lawyer if applying Rule #3001.

 

[455driver]

The gates close automatically once the first passenger has cleared them, if the second passenger does not operate the gates correctly (or cant be bothered to wait until the gates have closed and been opened again) is that the fault of the GL operator?

One of the reasons for gatelines is to do passenger counts and a gate held open wont be counting, for it to work properly it has to go through the complete cycle for each passenger and if the passenger wont wait whose fault is that?

 

[Deerfold]

The gates close automatically once the first passenger has cleared them, if the second passenger does not operate the gates correctly (or cant be bothered to wait until the gates have closed and been opened again) is that the fault of the GL operator?

One of the reasons for gatelines is to do passenger counts and a gate held open wont be counting, for it to work properly it has to go through the complete cycle for each passenger and if the passenger wont wait whose fault is that?

There appear to be two modes of the gate being operated - one is as you describe - the other results in the gate just staying open. As a passenger I've been unable to tell what they do differently so have been unsure as to whether to proceed. If you pause and the gate doesn't shut it looks like you're holding everyone up.

 

[455driver]

There appear to be two modes of the gate being operated - one is as you describe - the other results in the gate just staying open. As a passenger I've been unable to tell what they do differently so have been unsure as to whether to proceed. If you pause and the gate doesn't shut it looks like you're holding everyone up.

Some gates will stay open as long as tickets are inserted (or they will partially close before opening again), these still count so all is well, the problems start when people dont put their tickets through the reader so the gate doesnt know there is anyone there, it will then shut normally with the passenger halfway through,(as for suing oh please these gates dont close with that much force :roll.

I have noticed at some stations staff have been issued with cards and when a passenger shows their ticket the GL assistant will insert his card activating the gate for each passenger and so the count will be correct, if somebody doesnt wait then they will get a gate in the leg*.


* other parts of the anatomy are availabe depending how unfortunate you are!

Surely

 

[anti-pacer]

Perhaps I didn't make it clear that said gateline assistant had a swipe card to open the gates, and was using that to open them. We weren't using our tickets. I couldn't anyway, my Metrocard doesn't work.

When I passed through this morning, the gate was opened full stop.

I "met the managers" at Leeds station, discussed this with them, and they told me he was out of order for what he did.

Like I've said, they ALL work differently on Leeds gateline. Some staff just lock the gate so it stays open, don't acknowledge you, etc. This guy on Friday seemed to be doing the same, and when he nodded, I presumed he had acknowledged my pass, allowing me to pass through.

I'm a lot of things, but a mind reader isn't one of them!

 

[Muzer]

There appear to be two modes of the gate being operated - one is as you describe - the other results in the gate just staying open. As a passenger I've been unable to tell what they do differently so have been unsure as to whether to proceed. If you pause and the gate doesn't shut it looks like you're holding everyone up.

Staff covering the sensor to keep it open? Seems quite common on the gatelines I've seen.

 

[Deerfold]

Some gates will stay open as long as tickets are inserted (or they will partially close before opening again), these still count so all is well, the problems start when people dont put their tickets through the reader so the gate doesnt know there is anyone there, it will then shut normally with the passenger halfway through,(as for suing oh please these gates dont close with that much force :roll.

I have noticed at some stations staff have been issued with cards and when a passenger shows their ticket the GL assistant will insert his card activating the gate for each passenger and so the count will be correct, if somebody doesnt wait then they will get a gate in the leg*.


* other parts of the anatomy are availabe depending how unfortunate you are!

Surely

I was talking about gates operated by staff. The gates are often just opened by the staff, not on a per-passenger basis - this is often done when there is not the full complement of three assistants.

How well tickets are examined in these circumstances varies enormously.

 

[anti-pacer]

I was talking about gates operated by staff. The gates are often just opened by the staff, not on a per-passenger basis - this is often done when there is not the full complement of three assistants.

How well tickets are examined in these circumstances varies enormously.

Correct!

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Clearly there is a need for some education / training - on both sides.

Further, there needs to be consistency in operation, then people know where they stand and what to expect.

These Leeds staff - are they proper rail staff or the external / agency people used at Manchester Piccadilly who don't know their Stockports from their Stocktons?:roll:

 

[Moonshot]

I just read this thread ( and for good reason as well ) - this appears to be a very emotive subject.

Question for Anti Pacer - are you the same Anti Pacer who appeared on the " Northern Railways " forum which closed down earlier this year?

 

[NorthernSpirit]

I just read this thread ( and for good reason as well ) - this appears to be a very emotive subject.

Question for Anti Pacer - are you the same Anti Pacer who appeared on the " Northern Railways " forum which closed down earlier this year?

Well I'm the same Northern Spirit that use to be on "Northern Railways" forum.

 

[anti-pacer]

I just read this thread ( and for good reason as well ) - this appears to be a very emotive subject.

Question for Anti Pacer - are you the same Anti Pacer who appeared on the " Northern Railways " forum which closed down earlier this year?

Indeed I am, and why do you ask?

 

[34D]

Clearly there is a need for some education / training - on both sides.

Further, there needs to be consistency in operation, then people know where they stand and what to expect.

These Leeds staff - are they proper rail staff or the external / agency people used at Manchester Piccadilly who don't know their Stockports from their Stocktons?:roll:

I believe they are 'proper' rail staff, employed by Northern.

 

[185]

I'm aware there are still a lot of (reasonable quality) fake Metrocards doing the rounds, hence why they are trying to put as many through the barriers as possible.

If the manual gates have queues that are too long, then Northern should be financially penalised for not hiring enough staff to cope. Understaffing saves Northern money, so they should be made to hand their savings back.

 

[Deerfold]

Had cause to pass through a very busy Leeds on Saturday on a Family Dayrover.

Large queue at the assistant to get out. Gate was being held open. From those around me at least half the people passing through had normal tickets that they weren't trying through the gates.

Coming back in, I and two children followed the gate assistance sign on the right to discover no-one there and then had to get through all the queues for the other gates to get to the other side where there actually was someone.

 

[johntea]

I'm aware there are still a lot of (reasonable quality) fake Metrocards doing the rounds, hence why they are trying to put as many through the barriers as possible.

If the manual gates have queues that are too long, then Northern should be financially penalised for not hiring enough staff to cope. Understaffing saves Northern money, so they should be made to hand their savings back.

With the new chip Metrocards, could it be possible to 'clone' the chip inside somehow?

It would be reasonably easy to copy the actual printed design, for example I work in a college and we have several ID badge printers for student/staff ID cards!

 

[34D]

With the new chip Metrocards, could it be possible to 'clone' the chip inside somehow?

It would be reasonably easy to copy the actual printed design, for example I work in a college and we have several ID badge printers for student/staff ID cards!

It's encrypted, so I would hope not

 

[sheff1]

However, given the level of interest on this forum in such matters, I would like to make a genuine open offer, if you have a ticket that you think should work, but it does not and you think its a programming error for example, perhaps you can wither PM me on this forum, or add it to this thread and we will look into it, if possible offer an explanation or a fix.

Entering Leeds station this evening the woman in front of me had her ticket rejected as 'not valid at this station'. Unfortunately, I could not see where she was travelling to/from but the luggage she had suggested a long distance traveller rather than a Xmas shopper.

Moving to the adjacent barrier, my ticket (return portion of a Sheffield - Horsforth OP Day Return) resulted in a string of random numbers and letters appearing on the display. I tried reinserting it and the 'Reject Passback' message appeared. I asked the attendant what the problem might be but he rudely ignored me :-x.

I think I will go back to my former policy of using the open barrier - even with the queuing it is less hassle.

 

[AndyHudds]

Must say it was a bit chaotic in Leeds station yesterday afternoon, trains delayed,masses of passengers on the platforms, chaos!!!

 

[strowger]

Anyone else commuting through Leeds station and annoyed at how much time is wasted by bad management & design of the station proper?

The combination of the walk from a far platform to the ticket gates, and the queue for the gates at 0830, can be a significant fraction of the rail journey time.

The gates seem to be in extremely poor order - progress through them is very slow most mornings due to large numbers of passengers suffering rejected tickets. These people are then trapped by sheer volume of people in the queues and have to fight their way out past the crowd to seek assistance.

Even when a passenger holds a valid ticket which the gates are programmed to accept, there often seems to be an inordinate delay between inserting the ticket, and the gate opening.

There *does*, to be fair, seem to be some progress with programming of the gates. My "unconventional" - but very much valid - choice of season ticket does now open the gates after several weeks of rejection, suggesting that someone is reviewing logs from the gates of ticket rejections. I don't think the rejected tickets problem is down to bad programming - I think the equipment just doesn't read properly.

The tube had this problem sorted decades ago!

It would, also, save me more time on my daily commute than any likely amount of track & rolling stock improvements, if the gate half way down platform 8 were opened.

There was a trial a few years ago of opening this during the morning peak, but it doesn't seem to happen anymore - presumably because doing so allows passengers to bypass all the retailers in the station entrance.

 

[PHILIPE]

You might like to refer to:-

www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=91804

It was recently discussed in great detail and some good stuff there.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

You might like to refer to:-

www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=91804

It was recently discussed in great detail and some good stuff there.

I did, I came straight back here!

 

[PHILIPE]

Strowgers post has been moved to the original thread due to duplication.

 

[HowardGWR]

Judging by the extensive correspondence on this site about Leeds, since i joined it, and knowing now that it is read by staff (see above) one assumes that big improvements must be on the way soon or an application made for an emergency budget......

Not just ticket barriers, but ambience, access, safety, police presence, cleanliness, have all been severely criticised here.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Judging by the extensive correspondence on this site about Leeds, since i joined it, and knowing now that it is read by staff (see above) one assumes that big improvements must be on the way soon or an application made for an emergency budget......

Not just ticket barriers, but ambience, access, safety, police presence, cleanliness, have all been severely criticised here.

Off topic but...

The previous Leeds (1960's edition) was grim. For the amount spent in the rebuild I would have expected something better than the industrial grey design that is the new Leeds.

Then again, the new Birmingham New Street, a snip at £350m (was it), with its 60's style shiny metal exterior only recently applied and its lining paper finish inside is no better.