Little Sutton TVM out of commission

[Old Yard Dog]

There are problems with the ticket vending machine at Little Sutton which is out of order and will take some time to fix. This is very disappointing as this particular machine, unusually for ME, sells tickets between any two stations in the country so is very useful for split ticketing. It also means passengers may miss onward connections buying tickets at Hooton or Lime Street. Passengers changing on to Chester trains at Hooton, for example, have just 6 minutes to get to the ticket office, buy a ticket and get back - a process which involves negotiating flights of stairs, or taking the lift, four times.

Merseyrail say ...

The work that took place at the machine this week has identified the issue is not (as first thought) the caballing within the machine but in fact caballing under the platform. A site visit will be required next week to understand what works are required to resolve this issue. It is likely that this will take several weeks to resolve, as of now there is no definitive date for the fix, it will depend on how badly damaged the cabling underground is and the timescales of the contractors needed to do the works.

 

[RyanOPlasty]

I knew Merseyrail were a bit odd, But Cabals inside ticket machines?

 

[Starmill]

Under the Conditions of Travel there's an entitlement to board the next service and pay onboard if there was no way to buy a ticket before boarding and you don't have time to before taking your connecting service. You just have to pay at the earliest opportunity, such as if there's anyone who can issue you a ticket onboard (most trains other than Merseyrail this is possible) or alternatively at your destination station. If you have time obviously you should visit the ticket office or failing that speak to a member of staff at the station you change trains. Six minutes doesn't sound like enough.

 

[Gaelan]

Under the Conditions of Travel there's an entitlement to board the next service and pay onboard if there was no way to buy a ticket before boarding and you don't have time to before taking your connecting service. You just have to pay at the earliest opportunity, such as if there's anyone who can issue you a ticket onboard (most trains other than Merseyrail this is possible) or alternatively at your destination station. If you have time obviously you should visit the ticket office or failing that speak to a member of staff at the station you change trains. Six minutes doesn't sound like enough.

I've never been to Lime Street, but I suspect Merseyrail and mainline are behind separate barriers - I suspect legally passengers would be entitled to get let through both sets of barriers, but I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if anyone was allowed to do this in practice.

 

[185]

Quite sure Merseyrail have ordered additional ticket rolls to print out the explosion in Penalty Fares tickets issued at destination.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I've never been to Lime Street, but I suspect Merseyrail and mainline are behind separate barriers - I suspect legally passengers would be entitled to get let through both sets of barriers, but I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if anyone was allowed to do this in practice.

To complicate matters, Lime St low level (Merseyrail) has two exits, the main one up the escalators has barriers but the lift access (which takes you right up to the main line concourse) does not.
Although it occasionally does have a manual ticket check at the top.

Lime St itself (high level) is also odd with the northern shed (P1-5, mainly Chat Moss line services) having barriers, while the southern shed (P6-10, mainly South Parkway line services, including Avanti) does not.

There's an TfW excess fares window on Chester P3 if you go the other way from Hooton.