Given that compatible barriers have now been installed at Lime Street, could the standalone validators which were previously there not now be moved to the accessible gate at the Chester gateline?
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Merseyrail Tap & Go
- Thread starter Fawkes Cat
- Start date
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R
RailUK Forums
Presumably it involves Merseyrail and TfW talking to each other? If it had been up to me I wouldn't have balkanised the railway.
Is this the poster you referred to earlier?
This one I spotted at Bidston, and there was another at James Street. I've no idea where else it is but after 5-6 months they really should have it at every station.
In case you're still wondering they need Listed Building Consent to make any modifications to Chester station. An application for new Vix gates there (ref 26/01795/LBC) is going through the planning process.
Technically they already did install a standalone validator. It's right there on platform 7.
Like the existing gates it's not compatible with contactless Tap & Go (unless anyone can prove otherwise). There are no references in Merseyrail's printed or online literature to a standalone validator at Chester where contactless journeys can be opened or closed.
MetroCard Tap & Go is unaffected and presumably can be used at said validator but it's not what I was referring to.
I didn't say it was, just that it's a software / policy driven restriction, as clearly the hardware is already there in two different places. To put it another way, technically it's a very easy fix, it's just that they don't want to do it.
RichardAsh1981
Member
- Joined
- 28 Oct 2017
- Messages
- 251
I believe the issue is that even if you close the contactless journey on platform 7, you have no way to get out of the station ticket barriers.
Technically it may work to travel to Chester on a bank card, tap out, and then make an onward train journey on another ticket, but it is a rather niche use case I am not about to test!
It would be easy to test by arriving on a train at Chester with a ticket to Chester, and then attempting to tap in. If it didn't work you'd just exit and buy another one. I'm not sure there'd be any point in doing so though.
Is it the same new model installed by TfW / Merseyrail elsewhere recently, or an older one?
I know some older Cubic validators have been replaced by new models as part of Project Oval; extrapolating from that example, if fixing Chester's validator(s) requires more than a software update or ISAM change then Listed Building Consent may be a factor (it certainly is for the gates).
The same Vix ones as all the other stations, so just a configuration change.
Northerngirl
Member
It really sums up how helplessly disconnected our railway is, imagine shop not being able to take loyalty cards because it's a different franchise owners location. Would it really be that difficult to have a validatior next to the gates and a member of staff to open the barrier if someone needs it
Well that does happen. Store loyalty cards are sometimes not accepted at motorway locations.
It's been two weeks since I used my Android to make Tap & Go journeys and there's no record of the transaction value in my Google Wallet listings (same goes for TfW's North Wales PAYG).
Just to be clear this isn't a complaint. All the transaction details are listed correctly in my Merseyrail & TfW accounts / bank account and the taps (e.g. MEL LVL LIME ST) also appear in my listings. I'm just curious about whether the lack of a transaction value listing in Google Wallet is normal for Littlepay-associated rail PAYG systems given the transaction values for bus journeys (most of them also linked to Littlepay) do appear in my listings.
Just to be clear this isn't a complaint. All the transaction details are listed correctly in my Merseyrail & TfW accounts / bank account and the taps (e.g. MEL LVL LIME ST) also appear in my listings. I'm just curious about whether the lack of a transaction value listing in Google Wallet is normal for Littlepay-associated rail PAYG systems given the transaction values for bus journeys (most of them also linked to Littlepay) do appear in my listings.
JBuchananGB
Established Member
This does happen. Blue Light Card often refused at Costa Coffee because "it's a franchise".