Highbury & Islington RPIs

[Envy123]

Lately, I've consistently seen RPIs in the passage leading to the London Overground platforms at Highbury & Islington.

Now, for some reason, they insist on seeing tickets/cards when passengers change from the GN/Victoria lines to London Overground, but surprisingly not for the passengers going the other way.

Any reasons for doing revenue protection on only one flow and not both? Surely the East London and North London Lines have ungated sections as well?

 

[RJ]

Lately, I've consistently seen RPIs in the passage leading to the London Overground platforms at Highbury & Islington.

Now, for some reason, they insist on seeing tickets/cards when passengers change from the GN/Victoria lines to London Overground, but surprisingly not for the passengers going the other way.

Any reasons for doing revenue protection on only one flow and not both? Surely the East London and North London Lines have ungated sections as well?

Presumably H&S - there's ample room for people to queue on the concourse - but the stairwell and platform area are prone to heavy congestion.

 

[Envy123]

Presumably H&S - there's ample room for people to queue on the concourse - but the stairwell and platform area are prone to heavy congestion.

Makes sense, thank you.

 

[jon0844]

It doesn't seem hard to just ignore them and walk by (as I did going to Stratford once, thinking they were only randomly stopping people). Nobody called me back.

Another time I needed to switch from a paper ticket to Oyster and they let me through to tap in down the steps, rather than leave the station and come back in.

Maybe I've got an honest face as that's twice I got by without showing a ticket!

 

[RJ]

I work with those guys on board the buses when I do rail replacement. They're customer service staff whose role is to get ticketless travellers to pay up by touching in and advising them of the necessity to pay.

 

[island]

At least they're accomplishing something. I regularly encounter RPIs who board trains that are shortly to depart from New Cross checking everyone on board, and RPIs standing right in front of the ticket gates at Hoxton, despite that all the passengers they encounter will have just passed through or be just about to pass through the same ticket gates.

(My Oyster has a Railcard discount set but they never ask for my Railcard, so even that aspect of things isn't being looked at.)

 

[MikeWh]

At least they're accomplishing something. I regularly encounter RPIs who board trains that are shortly to depart from New Cross checking everyone on board ... despite that all the passengers they encounter will have just passed through ... the same ticket gates.

Surely at New Cross there is a high chance that passengers may have come from one of the many ungated Southeastern stations?

 

[Paul Kelly]

Surely at New Cross there is a high chance that passengers may have come from one of the many ungated Southeastern stations?

I thought the point maybe was that any ticketless passengers could simply get off again, as the train was still in the platform with the doors open? In Berlin, Germany where they have a lot of plain clothes revenue inspectors, they never make their presence known until the doors have closed and the train started moving.

 

[PermitToTravel]

Manchester Metrolink routinely conduct on board inspections in platforms with the doors open, positioning some revenue staff along the platform to catch runners. It's a very smooth operation.

 

[PeterC]

You could always tell when there was a full dress inspection at Walthamstow by the group of burly men at the bottom of the esclator waiting for people who "got off at the wrong station" to try and double back.

and RPIs standing right in front of the ticket gates at Hoxton, despite that all the passengers they encounter will have just passed through or be just about to pass through the same ticket gates.

Hotspot for tailgating, misuse of child tickets or just vaulting the gates?

 

[jon0844]

You could always tell when there was a full dress inspection at Walthamstow by the group of burly men at the bottom of the esclator waiting for people who "got off at the wrong station" to try and double back. <snip> Hotspot for tailgating, misuse of child tickets or just vaulting the gates?

With there still being ways into the underground network without passing a gate, it makes good sense to have people checking for tailgating/vaulting, and I also expect there's plenty of opportunity to catch people with Oyster cards that they aren't entitled to use.

Frankly, I'm surprised there aren't more roving revenue teams in uniform, station blocks and plain clothed staff. Perhaps TfL thinks it has the right balance, and many blocks don't actually catch that many people (suggesting it's working) but TfL also needs to bear in mind that if they do a sting, I'm sure people use IM to warn their mates, and if you're not checking for those who will get back on a train, you are perhaps missing a lot of offenders.