Northern conductors being move active on later services

[northwichcat]

I've noticed post-9pm ticket inspections on services out of Manchester Piccadilly now seem to be happening on every service I travel on. It wasn't that long ago that ticket inspections post-9pm seemed to be non-existent. Are management now being more strict about ensuring ticket inspections happen on later services?

 

[casualobserver]

There is likely to be a couple of reasons for a higher presence of staff retailing after 9pm. Firstly the removal of Cheap evening returns certainly is perceived by many staff as making revenue duties worthwhile as fares aren't fiddly little sums any longer. Secondly, Piccadilly as a depot sees many new starters who seem to be more revenue focussed than longer serving staff-that's not to say those don't undertake their full roles of responsiblilty-infact it's the longer serving members of staff who are consitistantly generating the highest levels of revenue collection for the business. Thirdly the addition of Revenue Protection Assistants provides an increased feeling of security for both customers and staff which ultimately gives conductors more confidence to undertaking ticketing as they are no longer isolated in the event of an encounter.

 

[cav1975]

I've noticed post-9pm ticket inspections on services out of Manchester Piccadilly now seem to be happening on every service I travel on. It wasn't that long ago that ticket inspections post-9pm seemed to be non-existent. Are management now being more strict about ensuring ticket inspections happen on later services?

Very sensible. Here in Southeastern land it seems to be a free railway outside London after about 8pm.

 

[northwichcat]

Firstly the removal of Cheap evening returns certainly is perceived by many staff as making revenue duties worthwhile as fares aren't fiddly little sums any longer.

I'm not sure that'll make much of a difference. Wasn't the outward part of an Evening Return only valid for departures between 18:30 and 20:30? If so anyone boarding ticket-less post-9pm would have had to buy a full price ticket regardless of whether 'Buy Before You Board' was being properly enforced.

The conductor who worked the 21:17 Manchester-Chester on Saturday did a full ticket inspection after every station while I was on the train (except the ones very close together.) Despite having a train which had more passengers than seats he seemed to sell very few tickets but spent a lot of time marking tickets with his biro.

 

[Starmill]

I've had my ticket checked by a ticket examiner on the 2147 to Wilmslow via Manchester Airport - but in 4 years nobody has yet checked me on the 2246 or 2359 (although this is a TPE service).

 

[casualobserver]

I'm not sure that'll make much of a difference. Wasn't the outward part of an Evening Return only valid for departures between 18:30 and 20:30? If so anyone boarding ticket-less post-9pm would have had to buy a full price ticket regardless of whether 'Buy Before You Board' was being properly enforced.

Cheap evening returns could be used to end of service, they could however only be purchased prior to 9pm, additionally few conductors at Piccadilly; at least enforce the buy before travel rule for discounted tickets for one reason or another. I won't go in to the ins and outs of why but be assured I am correct on this

 

[northwichcat]

Cheap evening returns could be used to end of service, they could however only be purchased prior to 9pm

OK so it was 9pm for purchasing but that still doesn't change whether there is now more revenue available for collection on post-9pm services.

 

[Howardh]

Maybe they are trying to prove that the removal of the CER has created greater income? As a result of the removal I rarely go on the train at night now compared to before (which was at least twice weekly) so Northern are c.£200 down over a year for starters!

 

[crehld]

I have noticed a marked improvement in Northern's efforts at on board revenue collection over the last couple of months, so I think management has been pushing it much more. Additional ticket examiners / sellers are now becoming a more common sight on services too, which is to be welcomed.

 

[northwichcat]

Maybe they are trying to prove that the removal of the CER has created greater income? As a result of the removal I rarely go on the train at night now compared to before (which was at least twice weekly) so Northern are c.£200 down over a year for starters!

My local station was one of the furthest out from Manchester from where you could get an Evening Return. With them not being sold before 18:30 and the service being hourly the first arrival at Piccadilly which you could use one on was the c.19:30 arrival, which meant if you were going to anything in Manchester with a 7pm or 7.30pm start you couldn't take advantage of the discounted ticket. Obviously that wouldn't be the case with stations like Stockport, Heaton Chapel and Levenshulme but for those the saving would have been something like £1 per passenger opposed to £3.50 per passenger.

 

[TUC]

There is likely to be a couple of reasons for a higher presence of staff retailing after 9pm. Firstly the removal of Cheap evening returns certainly is perceived by many staff as making revenue duties worthwhile as fares aren't fiddly little sums any longer.

It shouldn't be about whether staff see revenue collection as worthwhile. It's about it being a basic part of the job. As observed in other threads, why ate Northern so inept at simply making sure staff do their job?