Station volunteer has rant at Northern

[MidnightFlyer]

Chester-le-Street, Ledbury, Newtown (Powys) and Woodbridge (I think) are all staffed by independent comapnies. The bloke who did CLS up was looking at doing similar with Eaglescliffe, but I don't think anything ever came of it...

 

[Lampshade]

AFAIK, the only one close to that is Chester-Le-Street, which is run by Chester-Le-Track, for Northern.

I believe Ledbury has one.

 

[DarloRich]

I forgot about Chester le Track - Doh!

 

[northwichcat]

Good luck. Steeton & Silsden has 648,000 journeys a year and Northern are showing no signs of putting in a ticket office there (though we did get a card-only ticket machine recently).

You're right. Northern don't want to open new ticket offices or extend the hours or staffing levels at existing ticket offices. However, the station in question has a closed ticket office and someone who was willing to volunteer to operate it.

However, I can see Northern's argument for Steeton and Silsden.

1. It's the first/last station in the Metro area (at least it was for the most recent stats.) This means a lot of people with Metro tickets will buy additional tickets to and from this station without boarding or alighting there.
2. More passengers would likely want a Metro ticket, available from a range of outlets, over a NR ticket.
3. There seem to be no station buildings to renovate and reopen as a ticket office meaning the cost is much higher than at most stations.

 

[brompton rail]

Ludlow seems to be run by a travel agent when I was there last month

 

[First class]

If you don't buy a ticket before boarding at one of these "rail agent" booking offices, are the full range of tickets supposed to be available on board the train?

 

[northwichcat]

If you don't buy a ticket before boarding at one of these "rail agent" booking offices, are the full range of tickets supposed to be available on board the train?

If they sell the full range of tickets you would have to buy before you board, the same way that you would have to buy from a ticket machine, if available and not out-of-order, when the ticket office is closed/non-existent.

 

[scotsman]

Saxmundham used to have a Travel Agency where the Ticket Office used to be which issued tickets. They jacked in the rail ticket issuing part a few years back, NXEA said they were "seriously considering" staffing the station part time after that

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Good luck. Steeton & Silsden has 648,000 journeys a year and Northern are showing no signs of putting in a ticket office there (though we did get a card-only ticket machine recently).

Card-only and only visible from a weirdly restrictive angle (I presume it must be some sort of toughened screen).

As is my understanding from speaking to a few people, there is no chance of the station ever getting any facilities, largely due to the cost of providing plumbing to the site. The reason they never put guards on the station more than a couple of times a year was the lack of a toilet and apparently the cost of building a full ticket office with toilet facilities for the staff would be far in excess of the extra revenue it would provide.

 

[stueybish]

Ticket office - the conductors cannot get through all the passengers in time between stations - indeed, it is seen as free transport by some and on a line such as ours collecting as much revenue as possible is vital. Plus there is nowhere in Bishop to go and book rail tickets in person. Before you start jumping up and down screaming "internet booking" there is still a sizeable element of people that would rather do this face to face and one aim is to encourage more through travel from Bishop onto other parts of the national network by changing at Darlington. A recent survey found that many people made their own way to Darlington for main line journeys, rather than use the service from Bishop to change.

Charter train - I have discovered today that Northern are now unable to offer a unit for charter to us or anybody else. I am quite aware that they only have DMUs and that is sufficient as anybody familiar with Bishop station will know that the platform is short and will only hold at maximum 2x156's.

The Trust is there to improve the station facilities by anyway we can. As far as I'm concerned the sky is the limit for my town's little station. I only joined this forum to defend some of the critical remarks made here which I found after a random Google search. There are certain elements of transport enthusiasts who seem to revel in scoffing at other peoples genuine attempts in trying to make things better and I seem to have found a concentration here sadly. Don't like it or agree with it? Move on, or join us and help us

 

[Bish Boy]

stueybish just so u know i support you bish station looks better now than it has for a long time. The vandalism is terrible there no chance of getting the police involved or maybe some shutters to lock up the platform or dare i say it more cctv?

 

[Greenback]

I support the reopening of a ticket office, but I can also understand why Northern would be reluctant to provide any sort of assistance. There would have to be a sound business plan, with the ability to buy or rent the equipment that would be needed,cover the running costs of the office and so on.

Other businesses have been successful in selling rail tickets, but they normally are businesses that have other income streams. What was the plan for Bishop Auckland? Was it more along the lines of Northern paying for the work that needed doing?

 

[reb0118]

Good luck to the volunteers. I would prefer booking offices to be run direct by the railway however if that is not possible then what is wrong with the voluntary sector having a go. We should support them not knock them down.
What's the script re connections with the Weardale from Bishop Auckland?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
As an aside - who runs the booking office at Clitheroe?

 

[bnm]

Chester-le-Street, Ledbury, Newtown (Powys) and Woodbridge (I think) are all staffed by independent comapnies. The bloke who did CLS up was looking at doing similar with Eaglescliffe, but I don't think anything ever came of it...

I believe Llandrindod Wells is also privately run.

 

[NightatLaira]

There are certain elements of transport enthusiasts who seem to revel in scoffing at other peoples genuine attempts in trying to make things better and I seem to have found a concentration here sadly. Don't like it or agree with it? Move on, or join us and help us

I also support you also stuey... it's a shame there aren't more people like you - you're part of what they're calling "the big society" - and that, sadly, is probably why certain forum members on here are scoffing at your efforts and poking fun at you.

Ignore them - and carry on the good work. I can remember the days when there was no 'business case' for the Ffestiniog Railway - and look at it now! All through the work of volunteers...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Ignore them - and carry on the good work. I can remember the days when there was no 'business case' for the Ffestiniog Railway - and look at it now! All through the work of volunteers...

I concur with this. If it had not been for the strenous efforts of Tom Rolt, against all the odds in 1951, we would never have seen The Talylln Railway.

Sixty years have elapsed...and this railway is still functioning.