riverhexes
Member
This isn't a dispute in the sense I was caught without the correct ticket so apologies if it's the wrong section- but I'm worried other people would be facing penalties no fault of their own. So I wanted to share about it and see if other LNWR machines are having similar faults and also put it out there in case people are facing a penalty fare.
This morning I went to buy a day return from Tring station to London Euston. There was a new handwritten sign on the machine saying 'please lift the flap twice for tickets'. I noticed there were no tickets in the bit where tickets are dispensed as normal, and when I purchased my day return two tickets came down- one outbound portion of the day return from Tring to Euston, and one ticket to Hemel Hempstead. I couldn't remember if the day return has two tickets or one, as the London day travelcard is one ticket. I lifted the flap several times, waited a few minutes, gave the machine a few taps, lifted the flap again and no other ticket arrived. So I thought I might be misremembering that the day return consists of two tickets, or they've changed it to make it one ticket, as that's not obvious from the ticket I had in front of me, so I went to the platform but was feeling increasingly uneasy.
I went back to the ticket machine, lifted the flap up and down some more, and eventually the return portion of my ticket fell down.
I really think a lot of people would assume when the first ticket arrived and nothing else appeared that they had the full ticket, as indeed the person in front of me going to Hemel must have done. Lots of travellers, especially at weekends, have sought my help with the ticket machine in the first place and seemed quite confused, so to expect them to know they would need the return portion of the ticket that never appeared, or that they need to coax it out of the machine with a series of extended flaps feels unreasonable. I'm worried they'll have to buy another ticket when the machines at Euston swallow the outbound portion, or worse, present the outbound portion on the way back and be faced with a penalty fare as 'but no other ticket came out of the machine' wouldn't sound convincing.
I did inform the train manager of this when she came round checking tickets, and although she seemed skeptical she did say she'd sort it, so I'm hoping its sorted. I feel like there would be quite a lot involved in really sorting it though- informing all gate line staff and ticket inspectors of the situation and getting someone to put the machine out of order when there's no staff based at that station at weekends. And realistically, some people will assume they made the mistake and buy another ticket themselves. Ticket machine faults happen, but I'm feeling the machines should be more reliable, especially when there are no station staff to help.
This morning I went to buy a day return from Tring station to London Euston. There was a new handwritten sign on the machine saying 'please lift the flap twice for tickets'. I noticed there were no tickets in the bit where tickets are dispensed as normal, and when I purchased my day return two tickets came down- one outbound portion of the day return from Tring to Euston, and one ticket to Hemel Hempstead. I couldn't remember if the day return has two tickets or one, as the London day travelcard is one ticket. I lifted the flap several times, waited a few minutes, gave the machine a few taps, lifted the flap again and no other ticket arrived. So I thought I might be misremembering that the day return consists of two tickets, or they've changed it to make it one ticket, as that's not obvious from the ticket I had in front of me, so I went to the platform but was feeling increasingly uneasy.
I went back to the ticket machine, lifted the flap up and down some more, and eventually the return portion of my ticket fell down.
I really think a lot of people would assume when the first ticket arrived and nothing else appeared that they had the full ticket, as indeed the person in front of me going to Hemel must have done. Lots of travellers, especially at weekends, have sought my help with the ticket machine in the first place and seemed quite confused, so to expect them to know they would need the return portion of the ticket that never appeared, or that they need to coax it out of the machine with a series of extended flaps feels unreasonable. I'm worried they'll have to buy another ticket when the machines at Euston swallow the outbound portion, or worse, present the outbound portion on the way back and be faced with a penalty fare as 'but no other ticket came out of the machine' wouldn't sound convincing.
I did inform the train manager of this when she came round checking tickets, and although she seemed skeptical she did say she'd sort it, so I'm hoping its sorted. I feel like there would be quite a lot involved in really sorting it though- informing all gate line staff and ticket inspectors of the situation and getting someone to put the machine out of order when there's no staff based at that station at weekends. And realistically, some people will assume they made the mistake and buy another ticket themselves. Ticket machine faults happen, but I'm feeling the machines should be more reliable, especially when there are no station staff to help.
