No ticket check on longish EC journey

[londonbridge]

Deleted.

 

[Sleepy]

Only takes a defective / flat battery on Advantix machine. Of course barrier fatigue is a more general cause these days - why bother when 99% of tickets are ok and 1% will probably be awkward squad and TOC don't usually give prizes to train crew delaying trains waiting for BTP to attend !!!

 

[Journeyman]

I recently travelled from Edinburgh to Euston on a Virgin service and didn't get my ticket checked either. It was on a Sunday and I wanted to pay for Weekend First on board, so I ended up getting a free upgrade.

 

[chris89]

I recently travelled from Edinburgh to Euston on a Virgin service and didn't get my ticket checked either. It was on a Sunday and I wanted to pay for Weekend First on board, so I ended up getting a free upgrade.

Quite a few times when returning from Edinburgh my ticket doesn't get checked once.

Although when that does happen, normally is when it is a double Voyager though.

 

[BestWestern]

Only takes a defective / flat battery on Advantix machine. Of course barrier fatigue is a more general cause these days - why bother when 99% of tickets are ok and 1% will probably be awkward squad and TOC don't usually give prizes to train crew delaying trains waiting for BTP to attend !!!

Dicky Avantix is not excuse not to do a ticket check; perhaps on a local stopper where you will be declining to sell tickets to a sizeable proportion of the pax but certainly not on an inter city run where most will have tickets (and many will be 'opens' with more than a single day's validity). In any case the Guard should be making himself visible.

 

[Class377]

It's happened to me in the past on a first class EC Newcastle-Stevenage run, in fact on a service which had an evening meal advertised as well!

 

[falcon]

East Coast only has 3 revenue protection staff on the whole route.LOL

 

[Class377]

But every East Coast train has a train manager, who can do the job of checking tickets...

 

[PhilipF]

Did some rail trips from Koblenz in Germany a month ago. One day we journeyed south to a town called Pirmasens - lines 917& 918 in the excellent "European Timetable.

We could have done this trip for free Not a sign on anyone to check that our tickets where in order. Returning north on a different route, they where looked at twice - in quick succession.

More amazing though was on our train journey home from Koblenz, no sign of an inspector up to Cologne nor to the German town Aachen - and we'd only paid to there! The booking office lady in Koblenz had a difficulty with her system which stymied her from booking us through to Calais. (on out outward journey the SCNF clerk in Calais managed to book us right through)

In Aachen we picked up a DB inter city which carried us onto Brussels - hoping obviously to pay what we owed on the train - no chance, no sight of the man or woman we needed to see:roll:

We did manage to pay for our onward journey in Brussels. But our tickets where only checked once in Belgium.

I'm getting the impression that the Europeans are perceiving the public to be more honest than we are in the United Kingdom

Philip

 

[johnnychips]

It is extremely unusual not to get your ticket checked on a Belgian train, with the caveat that I haven't travelled on commuter trains much.

 

[oldman]

My sister travelled Peterborough-Edinburgh today and said there were no ticket checks. So presumably nobody to ask for advice/reassurance if she had wanted any, which should be part of the customer service on a route like that.

 

[Matt Taylor]

Only takes a defective / flat battery on Advantix machine. Of course barrier fatigue is a more general cause these days - why bother when 99% of tickets are ok and 1% will probably be awkward squad and TOC don't usually give prizes to train crew delaying trains waiting for BTP to attend !!!

DOO 1 Guards 0


We are there for more than just ticket checks, I won't comment on the OP tale as I don't have all the facts but if my Avantix packs up I still patrol my train in case anyone needs any other assistance and also to provide a visible staff presence.

 

[dk1]

Even when NXEA used 170s on the route from Liv St to Ipswich & beyond a conductor travelling pass from Witham decided to upset everyone at 21.00 down road by doing a ticket check. Train was heaving but only 1 person required a ticket even having the exact fare. Us Brits are so honest.

 

[TDK]

You get guards who are enthusiastic and you get guards who are down right lazy, it's a fact of life. Some want to make something of themselves, make announcements and do a ticket check on a regular basis and some sit in the back cab either reading the paper or on facebook. Before I get slated by the guard community you all know this is true and you all know who the lazy guards are

 

[GatwickDepress]

The last time I was ticket checked on a mainline London Midland service, it was the 0134 service from London Euston to Milton Keynes Central, of all trains!

 

[SeanG]

I managed to do the full four days of a Freedom of Scotland rover last week without having the date portion of the ticket checked.
However, on the more rural lines I found ticket checks were frequent. However, there was no need to show a ticket unless you said that you needed one. ie you could make a move to get it out of your pocket and they would walk on

 

[Tom B]

I have noticed that some guards don't bother checking tickets since the introduction of barriers at King's Cross, which presumably deprives the railways of revenue as the barriers can only check that a ticket is valid, not whether it is valid for that specific train, or to that destination (how much is a single to Finsbury Park vs Aberdeen?! OK extreme example but you get the jist).

Even if the guard's ticket machine is defective, that doesn't stop him checking tickets. I have had tickets marked by the guard scribbling on them with a pen before, which I presume is the tactic when they have misplaced their clippers.

 

[Techniquest]

Someone said checks in Belgium are unusual. Not in my experience, 80% of my journeys in Belgium (outside of the Brussels area at least) have had frequent ticket checks during the whole journey.

As for the EC journey the OP mentions, that sort of thing happens across the country at various times. I've done Swansea to London before without a check (this being on the 0330 - or was it 0400 by then? - as it was at the time, the day being the Class 47 farewell on FGW). Well actually I think the guard from Bristol came through sometime after Temple Meads - the first Swansea to Paddington being via Parkway and Temple Meads before carrying on via Chippenham on Saturdays at that time, might still be like that - but after his bellowing for tickets as he went through, which woke me up and didn't give me a chance to even realise what was going on, I didn't see anyone again. Which was a little irritating as, due to a lack of TVMs at the time - it was 2004 I believe after all - I didn't have a ticket yet. I got one when I got to Paddington at least but that wasn't the point.

I wouldn't like to even consider the amount of 100+ mile journeys where I've had no grip...

 

[dannypye9999]

annoys me when travelling to Manchester Piccadilly on an Evening Northern service from Buxton that arrives into Platform 12. On arrival there is a massive queue stretching down the platform. This in turn makes it inconvenient for everyone as sometimes they have to wait for around 10 mins before proceeding. What gets me is why doesn't the guard do a ticket check on the train rather than hold everyone up? The train is only two carriages.

 

[bb21]

What gets me is why doesn't the guard do a ticket check on the train rather than hold everyone up? The train is only two carriages.

You do realise that guards do not do that on purpose, don't you?

 

[M60lad]

While we're on about Conductors I've been on a number of trains where instead of doing ticket checks the conductor has come down and just asked "Is there anyone needing any tickets?" to which I haven't bothered showing them a ticket even though I've had one ready to show

 

[Hardcastle]

I find First Trans Pennine Express the most efficient for ticket checks & fare collection in my opinion certainly in the North West.

 

[yorkie]

My sister travelled Peterborough-Edinburgh today and said there were no ticket checks. So presumably nobody to ask for advice/reassurance if she had wanted any, which should be part of the customer service on a route like that.

No ticket checks on the entire 9-coach train, or no ticket checks in her coach?

 

[Moonshot]

While we're on about Conductors I've been on a number of trains where instead of doing ticket checks the conductor has come down and just asked "Is there anyone needing any tickets?" to which I haven't bothered showing them a ticket even though I've had one ready to show

This is actually more efficient overall. The high volume of stops on Northern routes means less time for revenue duties. Far better to zero in on someone who has yet to pay and save them queuing at a ticket desk at destination.

 

[Max]

I find First Trans Pennine Express the most efficient for ticket checks & fare collection in my opinion certainly in the North West.

Though I managed Preston-Leeds (with a change at Manchester Oxford Rd) yesterday with no check - swings and roundabouts!

 

[Urban Gateline]

This is actually more efficient overall. The high volume of stops on Northern routes means less time for revenue duties. Far better to zero in on someone who has yet to pay and save them queuing at a ticket desk at destination.

The problem is that determined fare evaders will just keep quiet, if the Guard actually checks all tickets then its less easy to get away with not having a ticket!

 

[Moonshot]

The problem is that determined fare evaders will just keep quiet, if the Guard actually checks all tickets then its less easy to get away with not having a ticket!

Well that really depends on how many of those fare evaders are due to pass through a barrier at the destination. But in any event , North, South , East or West, there will always be people who dont cough up for a ticket, intentional or not. And like I said, Northern have a far higher volume of stops per service than TPE etc....

 

[Urban Gateline]

Well that really depends on how many of those fare evaders are due to pass through a barrier at the destination. But in any event , North, South , East or West, there will always be people who dont cough up for a ticket, intentional or not. And like I said, Northern have a far higher volume of stops per service than TPE etc....

That's the trouble, hardly any Northern stations are barriered so I wouldn't have thought it's an effective tactic! Yes there are stops every few minutes, similar to ATW yet they are quite efficient at revenue collection as most of their units allow the Guards to operate them from nearly anywhere!

 

[Moonshot]

That's the trouble, hardly any Northern stations are barriered so I wouldn't have thought it's an effective tactic! Yes there are stops every few minutes, similar to ATW yet they are quite efficient at revenue collection as most of their units allow the Guards to operate them from nearly anywhere!

An alternative way of looking at it is what percentage of passengers on a daily basis will pass through a station ticket check bearing in mind the vast majority of journeys are either to or from the likes of Leeds, Man Pic, Newcastle, Bolton, Man Vic , Liverpool etc.

The other thing to bear in mind is that on a service that is rammed, just how does a guard get through a train in the first place!

 

[ModernRailways]

While we're on about Conductors I've been on a number of trains where instead of doing ticket checks the conductor has come down and just asked "Is there anyone needing any tickets?" to which I haven't bothered showing them a ticket even though I've had one ready to show

I've noticed a lot of Southern Conductors do this. Saves time and is works out easier for them.

Every so often, they will then come back 5 minutes later to check everyones and so any fare evader is properly done for.