WAGs

[Mojo]

I've noticed that FGW around my area and a few other TOCs (including LU) recently have taken to digging up traditional auxiliary gates (the manually operated one with the magnetic lock) and replacing them with WAGs (click the link for a picture from TfL).

Not only does this look rather ugly where placed alongside the old style gates but also seems strange given these gates seem much more open to abuse as multiple people pass through at once. In addition, those who had problems using the gates (which I imagine is 90% of the people using the auxiliary gate) now suffer from disruption as the staff have to insert a gate pass or key each time someone wants to pass through.

I assume the TOCs see some commercial sense in this (presumably to allow them to reduce the number of gateline staff) but it seems a backwards step to me both in terms of revenue protection and customer service.

 

[jopsuk]

the wide gates have been in at Cambridge since they installed barriers, and are heavily used due to the volume of passengers with bikes that use the station plus the large numbers of tourists with large luggage. Usually no problems for the vast majority of users (other than duff tickets, which is a problem regardless of barrier width), and I've never seen any "multiple" use of them yet. Certainly a lot quicker having one either end of the gateline (one in, one out) than having a single, manual, staff controlled wide gate would be.

 

[wibble]

Nearly every SWT gateline has a WAG. At small stations, the WAGs are bi-drectional and switch between entry and exit mode every few seconds. At larger stations, there will be an entry WAG and exit WAG which may have replaced a single manual gate.

There are a few reasons why WAGs have been installed:

- WAGs and manual gates are designed for people who can't easily use the gate line because they have a bike, lots of luggage etc.
- Once one passenger starts using the manual gate, they all want to. Some people (especially commuters) are very lazy!
- Gate line staff don't have time to check if a ticket is actually valid, especially at busy times - a WAG can.
- Gate line staff aren't employed to just look at tickets flashed in their direction - how many invalid tickets do they miss?
- People using the manual gate line aren't recorded through the gates, so from an information perspective, you have no idea how many people are actually using the station at different times of day.

 

[swt_passenger]

Nearly every SWT gateline has a WAG. At small stations, the WAGs are bi-drectional and switch between entry and exit mode every few seconds.

I think they actually show green in both directions continuously in a standby state, then operate on a first come, first served basis. Putting a ticket in on one side sets the other side to red, then after a time out if no one is using it it'll go back to both sides green.

But they are an easy option for tailgaters, as the cycle time appears much longer than the ordinary gates. In my experience though, it takes a fair sized queue at the normal gates before people ralise the wide gates are available to them as well...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

... In addition, those who had problems using the gates (which I imagine is 90% of the people using the auxiliary gate) now suffer from disruption as the staff have to insert a gate pass or key each time someone wants to pass through.

About half of those 90% are only suffering from 'Can't be ar$$d to get my ticket out of my wallet' syndrome. A lot of London commuters seem to have this...

 

[Daniel]

WAG gates suck. Fare evasion is through the roof, you don't have to be any where near the person in front to double-through, and I've seen a group of 10 go through on 1 ticket - it just stays open.

TOC's are installing these an an option of getting rid of staff presumably, but in most places on LU, they're only installing 1, and using it to replace the manual gate. Therefore they need to make it serve both sides, which they do by putting it in "first come first serve" mode.
As previous users have commented, it shows a green arrow on both sides, and a paper ticket inserted opens it immediately.
However, as I'm sure you're aware, most people on LU now use Oyster.

The oyster reader has two standby colours: red for not in use, orange for press card to read.
WAG's in FCFS do this:

2 seconds - red both sides
1 second - orange left side
2 seconds - red both sides
1 second - orange right side
and repeat

So if you don't touch your card on in that 1 second, you have to wait 5 seconds for it to have the change to read again. On a crowded gateline, that's completely pointless - I'm sure you know how impatient customers are. They just slap their card on a few times, shout at me "it's not working" and go through a normal gate. And if they're travelling with luggage, they do the same, get their bag caught in a normal gate, and continue to have a go at me whilst I retrieve their squashed property.

So yeah, I love the WAG's. Bring back the freakin' manual gate.

 

[Aictos]

We've got two regular sized gates and one wide gate plus a manual gate at Hertford North but the main problem with the manual gate is the positioning of it when it opens as it opens towards one of the ticket office windows.

It's only supposed to be used in times of disruption and is supposed to be shut at all times but does get abused by people and not just passengers.

Still, my main gripe about them is the fact that my FCC passes don't work on any gateline so have no choice but to ask staff to let me though which is against FCC staff guidelines as I should be using my passes, you couldn't make it up!!!

 

[wibble]

So yeah, I love the WAG's. Bring back the freakin' manual gate.

That's a great idea - pay to have a member of staff stading around all day doing sweet Fanny Adams!

 

[Daniel]

That's a great idea - pay to have a member of staff stading around all day doing sweet Fanny Adams!

Considering the gateline has to be staffed now anyway.

Which means there is still a member off staff there, doing less than before.

Go figure.

 

[Fred26]

Considering the gateline has to be staffed now anyway.

Which means there is still a member off staff there, doing less than before.

Go figure.

At my station it's exactly as it would be with a manual gate. During busy times some barrier staff leave the gate open and don't bother looking at the tickets. It's simply laziness and is very frustrating. Even at off-peak times some staff open the gate for any passengers, even if they don't need it.

 

[Mojo]

That's a great idea - pay to have a member of staff stading around all day doing sweet Fanny Adams!

Barriers have to be monitored anyway (although this can be done remotely or by ticket office staff). In terms of customer service and revenue protection it makes no sense to leave barriers unstafed.

 

[wibble]

Considering the gateline has to be staffed now anyway.

Which means there is still a member off staff there, doing less than before.

Go figure.

My comment was in reponse to Daniel's suggestion of bring back manual gates.

I'm not disputing the fact that the gates should be staffed, but why pay someone to hold a manual gate open and let people pass through without their tickets being properly checked when you can have a WAG and use the gate line staff actually do one of their job roles and assist customers who need it.:roll:

 

[Daniel]

Just because there was a manual gate doesn't mean staff couldnt walk three feet to help a customer away from a gate. And a WAG doesn't properly check tickets, that's my point. Better a visual check of 10 tickets at a manual gate than 1 ticket going through a WAG and 10 people walking through.

 

[Aictos]

At my station it's exactly as it would be with a manual gate. During busy times some barrier staff leave the gate open and don't bother looking at the tickets. It's simply laziness and is very frustrating. Even at off-peak times some staff open the gate for any passengers, even if they don't need it.

Same at my station too, Peterborough is quite good though.

 

[Matt Taylor]

The old gates were not fully DDA compliant whereas the WAGs are which is why they are being installed everywhere. Staffing levels are currently unaffected by this.