Station staff

[Mojo]

Why can FGW have three members of staff propping up the ticket barriers on a Saturday evening, but can't even manage to put one person in the ticket office to sell you tickets after 6pm?

Given Bristol Parkway is a major station, why does the ticket office close at 6pm, when a station such as Small Heath, which has over 1 million less passengers per annum, close gone 11.30 on a Saturday? Could it possibly be Centro fund opening of ticket offices whilst trains are running?

 

[Bonemaster]

Simply Centro. I believe there are only a very small number of stations in the West Midlands country that do not have ticket offices open throughout the opening period of the station.

And to be fair every resident of the West Midlands has to pay for this privelage through a council tax supplement that people outside of PTE areas don't see

 

[djw1981]

I think they use it to enhance the levels of modal interaction - ie the PTE's pay the person to be there to provide connection information with buses etc, and also general travel advice and a staff contact to encourage people to use the stations.

 

[jd]

I can assure you nobody in a Central Trains ticket office has bus information. And the notion of trains connecting with buses is also rather comical.

 

[Mojo]

People outside of the PTE areas pay it differently though - PTE money goes straight to the councils for transport spending.

 

[Max]

6PM! That's amazingly early. I think Hull is about 2200 (it opens at 0530!).

 

[Mojo]

Even on weekdays it's only open 'til 8pm

 

[Daniel]

Enfield Lock closes at 1:30PM

 

[Mojo]

Enfield Lock closes at 1:30PM

Pah! My local station doesn't even have a ticket office. When I move later in the month, my new local station supposedly has a ticket office open between something like 1600 and 1815, but I've never seen it open. I think the ticket booths there, and at Oldfield Park, Worle, Nailsea/Backwell and (possibly?) Keynsham were closed down when FGW installed ticket machines - only an improvement if you're German or French probably!

 

[Daniel]

...and it's not even a nice ticket office!!

Only shame is the lack of RPI's out of the peaks - you can just wander on and off the trains as you wish providing you don't go to Stratford, Liverpool Street, or too far Northwards, to be honest - (not to say that I have).

 

[VTDan]

Why can FGW have three members of staff propping up the ticket barriers on a Saturday evening, but can't even manage to put one person in the ticket office to sell you tickets after 6pm?

Given Bristol Parkway is a major station, why does the ticket office close at 6pm, when a station such as Small Heath, which has over 1 million less passengers per annum, close gone 11.30 on a Saturday? Could it possibly be Centro fund opening of ticket offices whilst trains are running?

I'm not surprised that station closes at that time! It's F*cking lethal at night! Most dangerous station i've ever stood on after 8pm. Anyone else noticed that about Bristol Pkway?

 

[Mojo]

No? What's wrong with it? Never noticed any crime there, at any time (aside from one man I saw smoking the other day ) and the staff there are generally friendly, especially around Christmas.

 

[Jim]

I am pretty sure the ticket booths at those piddlers you mention, Mojo, are still open

 

[Mojo]

Filton certaintly isn't, and people I've talked to, and from what I've read in the paper, when TVMs appeared at NLS, the ticket man vanished.

 

[AlexS]

Wolverhampton ticket office and indeed station is open 24/7 - that said last arrival is 0240 and first departure at 0445 so it's probably warranted with just a 2 hour 5 mins gap in service!

 

[jd]

I'm not surprised that station closes at that time! It's F*cking lethal at night! Most dangerous station i've ever stood on after 8pm. Anyone else noticed that about Bristol Pkway?

News to me... what's so dangerous about it? I mean, apart from the risk of the prefab walls falling down on you? :-P

 

[class 313]

Wait for it, St Albans City doesn't close =]

 

[Mojo]

I know of lots of stations open 24Hr, probably because there's no way of locking them

 

[class 313]

I know of lots of stations open 24Hr, probably because there's no way of locking them

St Albans City is a 4 platform station with gates and a shutter when needed....

 

[W14Fishbourne]

Why can FGW have three members of staff propping up the ticket barriers on a Saturday evening, but can't even manage to put one person in the ticket office to sell you tickets after 6pm?

Given Bristol Parkway is a major station, why does the ticket office close at 6pm, when a station such as Small Heath, which has over 1 million less passengers per annum, close gone 11.30 on a Saturday? Could it possibly be Centro fund opening of ticket offices whilst trains are running?

You're clearly a professional moaner - this is identical to a posting on another forum. Bristol Parkway has self-service ticket machines - are you incapable of using them? If so, what do you do if you run out of money at 6pm on a Saturday evening? Starve until the banks reopen on Monday mornings?

 

[Mojo]

1. I dont know of this on any other forums. I posted it on uk.railway though.
2. I can't use ticket machines as I have a Priv. Even if I didn't they're card only. Even given that, they wouldn't have been able to sell me the tickets I required at the time.
3. If I run out of money on a Saturday evening, I go to a cashpoint, though its never happenned

 

[W14Fishbourne]

1. I dont know of this on any other forums. I posted it on uk.railway though.

And the difference between uk.railway and a forum is...?

2. I can't use ticket machines as I have a Priv. Even if I didn't they're card only. Even given that, they wouldn't have been able to sell me the tickets I required at the time.

My heart bleeds for you. You're lucky enough to be able to buy tickets much cheaper than other people and still you moan. And, as a member of railway staff (or a dependant of one) you should know what to do - buy a ticket to a destination on your route which has a value of just below your priv fare and then find an on-train member of staff who can upgrade it. Alternatively, in exchange for the privilege of being able to buy cheap tickets, you put yourself out a little bit and make sure you get one in advance.

Do you expect all ticket offices to be open until the last train just so that you can buy your priv ticket?

3. If I run out of money on a Saturday evening, I go to a cashpoint, though its never happened

So what's your problem with using a card machine? And in any case, AFAIA, Bristol Parkway has three ticket machines of which one takes cash.

 

[Mintona]

Do you expect all ticket offices to be open until the last train just so that you can buy your priv ticket?

Yeah, I think that would make sense at a large station like Bristol Parkway...or at least a bit later than it currently does.

 

[W14Fishbourne]

Yeah, I think that would make sense at a large station like Bristol Parkway...or at least a bit later than it currently does.

You're living in cloud cuckoo-land. The future is smartcards, more on-line bookings, more self-service machines, reduced ticket office hours and windows, and more ticket office closures. Get used to it. I'm aware of at least half a dozen large ticket office rebuilding schemes in the next 12 months which will see ticket office windows reduced by half.

 

[Bonemaster]

You're living in cloud cuckoo-land. The future is smartcards, more on-line bookings, more self-service machines, reduced ticket office hours and windows, and more ticket office closures. Get used to it. I'm aware of at least half a dozen large ticket office rebuilding schemes in the next 12 months which will see ticket office windows reduced by half.

Smartcard ticketing usage starts its roll out in the West Midlands next April and is planned that all Centro bus, metro and rail fares will be converted by mid 2009

 

[Mojo]

Given small stations can stay open gone 11pm, for a major station like Bristol Parkway, where people tend to buy seasons, reservations and other products, to close early isn't very good. My main issue though, why can they have three people to check tickets, but not even one to sell them?

And I cant buy a ticket to a destination en-route, as there is no ticket office, hence why I have to buy tickets in Advance.

 

[W14Fishbourne]

And I cant buy a ticket to a destination en-route, as there is no ticket office, hence why I have to buy tickets in Advance.

Do I really have to spell it out for you?

You don't need a ticket office. You want to travel from A to C for which the Standard Open fare is £40. Your priv fare is therefore £10. The ticket office at A is closed so you go to the machine and buy a ticket from A to B (where B is on the route from A to C) for which the Standard Open full fare is £9.90. You buy a ticket from A to B. You then get on the train and ask the conductor/train manager to upgrade it for a priv ticket to C and you hand over the extra 10p due.

 

[jd]

And what if you want to make a short journey, where there is no alternative ticket you could buy that is less than 1/4 of the priv fare? And what if you are one of many people in this country who doesn't have a debit/credit card, and therefore can't use a ticket machine?

Mojo's point isn't that he is unhappy about the ticket office being closed, his point is that, if FGW are happy to pay 3 people to work the ticket barrier, why can they not staff the ticket office? 1 person is sufficient on the ticket barriers, so they could put 2 in the ticket office. Or even just one, and then save on a person's wage.

Jeez, and you claim Mojo is a professional moaner...

 

[Mojo]

Do I really have to spell it out for you?

You don't need a ticket office. You want to travel from A to C for which the Standard Open fare is £40. Your priv fare is therefore £10. The ticket office at A is closed so you go to the machine and buy a ticket from A to B (where B is on the route from A to C) for which the Standard Open full fare is £9.90. You buy a ticket from A to B. You then get on the train and ask the conductor/train manager to upgrade it for a priv ticket to C and you hand over the extra 10p due.

I dont think you understand. My local station does not have a ticket office. It does not have any type of ticket machine. There is no way of buying tickets apart from on the train. The train is always very busy and in order to get to the train staff selling tickets you have to make sure you are near them, which isn't always easy given the train is normally very busy. Hence why I buy my tickets in advance. However, there was nobody at the ticket office last Saturday when I wanted to buy them after returning from a long distance journey, but three staff checking tickets. Hardly good customer service.

Even if there was a ticket machine there, I doubt there are any standard fares where the fare is 50p or less!

 

[Tom C]

You're living in cloud cuckoo-land. The future is smartcards, more on-line bookings, more self-service machines, reduced ticket office hours and windows, and more ticket office closures. Get used to it. I'm aware of at least half a dozen large ticket office rebuilding schemes in the next 12 months which will see ticket office windows reduced by half.

I am also aware of plans by several TOC's to reduce booking offices by either closing them or reducing them to morning peaks only and one that is looking to reduce clerks by natural wastage.

As a railwayman who still covers ticket office windows and as someone who was a booking office clerk and a booking office manager at major terminals and smaller stations I think it is a very stupid idea to reduce ticket office opening hours until such time as a smartcard scheme is actually introduced and not just a flight of fantasy.

Currently even in London train companies often leave booking offices closed despite having an obligation under section 17 to man them at all times. Its not so bad in the sticks where you have guards on trains selling tickets but down here where just about every railway is DOO its just losing the TOC's money.

The current breed of TOC's in this area have very bizarre revenue policies. They increase fares as regular as clockwork yet they continue to reduce booking office hours and they don't have any real revenue protection. Those S&B ticket machines that you refer to are riddled with faults and from experience can be left for weeks without being fixed which means either you have PERTIS or nothing at all.

Call me old fashioned but if you want to make money then surely you have to give people the opportunity to actually give it to you.