Passenger assistance and violating pick-up/set-down restrictions

[yorkie]

The Horsforth call is still there in the timetable- pick-up only on the way south, set-down only on the way north:

The issue is going from Horsforth to Harrogate (and vice versa), not towards Leeds/London, hence they were made pick-up/set-down only.

I don't know if passengers who board anyway get barked at (Avanti style) or just allowed to continue (as with SWR/GA).

 

[Tetchytyke]

The issue is going from Horsforth to Harrogate (and vice versa), not towards Leeds/London, hence they were made pick-up/set-down only.

That makes more sense, although I'm struggling to picture it. Disabled people can get on and off at Horsforth, including passengers just on the short hop to/from Leeds, so presumably the train will always have at least one wheelchair space on the platform at Horsforth. Unless it isn't the same space alongside the platforms at both Harrogate and Horsforth?

 

[Archvile]

There are two ways to do this, as I mentioned in the above thread: either let those 'in the know' do it, or take a militant approach. The latter means staff can't travel either.

The militant approach wouldn't be sustainable, at least from a staffing perspective. Most of our drivers and guards live in the first commuter town and use trains with pick up/set down limitations in the reverse sense.

Knowing them, half would ignore platform staff and board/disembark anyway, and half would wait for the next train and book on late, making it clear why. That being said, platform staff wouldn't enforce it anyway. The whole thing would converge toward bad feelings, disciplinaries and probably union action.

The problem is that although rail staff are officially bound by the same rules as fare paying passengers, in reality it's a very unliked guard who chucks another TOC's staff off, or a despised platform member who would stop staff from leaving a 'pick up only' service.

I've worked in various roles on the railway, and I can't remember a single time when a flash of my I.D. and a smile hasn't got me on a train for free. I've always been ready to pay, but never had to. Although unrecognised, it's a hark back to the railway family of the BR days, and I think it's quite nice honestly.