Why is Merseyrail so heavily staffed?

[AlastairFraser]

You talk about subsidy being £4.31 per head but how is this calculated? I am am aware that there are gatelines at the main stations but how would they record a passenger from say Seaforth & Litherland going to Fazakerley for the hospital and changing at Sandhills who has a Merseytravel pensioners pass?

I think our fellow forum user has given a comprehensive answer to your query. I'd say mostly ticket sales personally, and the door counting software.

 

[Djgr]

Working at a station with limited footfall such as Emerson Park must be the dullest job ever. You are literally just hanging around doing little work, as there isn't much to be doing, just because the station operator has pledged to staff all their stations.

Does this approach deter anti-social behaviour or crime? Does it make people more inclined to use the service as they feel safer due to the member of staff being present? If the answer is no to all these questions then you might as well leave the lesser used stations unstaffed and use the money on other things on the network.

Well if you read the threads above yours the general consensus from multiple answers appears to be yes rather than no. Consequently I'm not sure why you have raised your point?

 

[urbophile]

Same when I used the station in July 2023. Must be a really dull job as there can't be much work to do at such a tiny station but I digress.

Would be a good little earner for a PhD student.

 

[Skie]

I think our fellow forum user has given a comprehensive answer to your query. I'd say mostly ticket sales personally, and the door counting software.

Ticket sales wouldn’t count the pass holders, and only some of the old stock have passenger counters fitted. The new stock has them on every unit, but they have only last week become ubiquitous on the busiest line.

The only real way is the regular passenger survey but then you’re reliant on people wanting to divulge their destination which introduces its own biases to the dataset.

However in future, pass holders will be expected to tap their pass on the readers at stations and the last of the old fleet will be nothing but tins of beans, so the data collection will improve at least.

 

[urbophile]

Emerson Park also has circa. 250,000 people per year using it. Not many for London, granted, but a lot busier than some Merseyrail locations!

Bank Hall appears to be the only Merseyrail station with fewer than 250k per annum.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Ticket sales wouldn’t count the pass holders, and only some of the old stock have passenger counters fitted. The new stock has them on every unit, but they have only last week become ubiquitous on the busiest line.

The only real way is the regular passenger survey but then you’re reliant on people wanting to divulge their destination which introduces its own biases to the dataset.

However in future, pass holders will be expected to tap their pass on the readers at stations and the last of the old fleet will be nothing but tins of beans, so the data collection will improve at least.

Merseyrail/ DfT has been doing far more than you suggest. Things like cell site analysis, unique WiFi connections and the like.

Mobile networks and data providers sell that information to the TOCs and government in anonoymised forms. Most people don't realise how scarily accurate it can be.

Station retail at larger stations also use this data to get an idea of the viability of a business, peaks and troughs etc.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Ticket sales wouldn’t count the pass holders, and only some of the old stock have passenger counters fitted. The new stock has them on every unit, but they have only last week become ubiquitous on the busiest line.

The only real way is the regular passenger survey but then you’re reliant on people wanting to divulge their destination which introduces its own biases to the dataset.

However in future, pass holders will be expected to tap their pass on the readers at stations and the last of the old fleet will be nothing but tins of beans, so the data collection will improve at least.

Perhaps it's not perfectly accurate, but as you said, data collection is due to significantly improve soon.

 

[mrd269697]

End of the day yes there is plenty of staff and they carry out many duties bar ticket retailing. Unless you’re a disgruntled Merseyside (Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley etc) tax payer then technically your opinion is irrelevant really. Most people I’ve spoke to like staff at their stations and it makes welcome change compared to some stations across the country.

 

[dk1]

End of the day yes there is plenty of staff and they carry out many duties bar ticket retailing. Unless you’re a disgruntled Merseyside (Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley etc) tax payer then technically your opinion is irrelevant really. Most people I’ve spoke to like staff at their stations and it makes welcome change compared to some stations across the country.

I agree entirely. It’s a breath of fresh air to see such staffing whenever using Merseyrail.

 

[mrd269697]

I agree entirely. It’s a breath of fresh air to see such staffing whenever using Merseyrail.

thank you

 

[D1015]

Better for it to be staffed than cut down and so many stations turned into mugger haven shacks like most of the main network, surely?

 

[xotGD]

I think the staff member in question rides up and down the line on the train like a non door opening , non revenue raising guard

Sounds more like a basher than a member of staff!

 

[yorkie]

Better for it to be staffed than cut down and so many stations turned into mugger haven shacks like most of the main network, surely?

How many muggings take place at stations?

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

How many muggings take place at stations?

You can find out what's reported.

Crime maps for Lewisham (Station) | British Transport Police Crime Mapping

Crime information for the rail network in England, Scotland and Wales.

crimemaps.btp.police.uk

 

[D1015]

How many muggings take place at stations?

An open question I would say. Depends how many are reported and how many aren't. Also safety. May I ask what times in general Merseyrail stations are staffed from and to?

 

[WirralLine]

An open question I would say. Depends how many are reported and how many aren't. Also safety. May I ask what times in general Merseyrail stations are staffed from and to?

First til last train usually. Except a couple like Ellesmere Port which is half a day Mon-Fri and no weekends if I remember rightly. Definitely not Sunday anyway.

 

[prod_pep]

Merseyrail stations are officially staffed from start to end of service with exceptions beyond Hooton, but certain stations do go unstaffed with regularity. Wallasey Village is one example, whereas of other regular haunts, Brunswick, St Michaels and Blundellsands are very rarely unstaffed in my experience.

What would be interesting to know is how safe the unstaffed stations beyond Hooton are by comparison. Overpool, in an area as rough as the windblown sand, feels threatening and scallies abound at times, although I've never witnessed anything beyond rowdy behaviour there.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Merseyrail stations are officially staffed from start to end of service with exceptions beyond Hooton, but certain stations do go unstaffed with regularity. Wallasey Village is one example, whereas of other regular haunts, Brunswick, St Michaels and Blundellsands are very rarely unstaffed in my experience.

What would be interesting to know is how safe the unstaffed stations beyond Hooton are by comparison. Overpool, in an area as rough as the windblown sand, feels threatening and scallies abound at times, although I've never witnessed anything beyond rowdy behaviour there.

I think they stick those enforcement officers on trains to deal with any ASB originating from Merseyrail stations outside Merseyside.

 

[Djgr]

Merseyrail stations are officially staffed from start to end of service with exceptions beyond Hooton, but certain stations do go unstaffed with regularity. Wallasey Village is one example, whereas of other regular haunts, Brunswick, St Michaels and Blundellsands are very rarely unstaffed in my experience.

What would be interesting to know is how safe the unstaffed stations beyond Hooton are by comparison. Overpool, in an area as rough as the windblown sand, feels threatening and scallies abound at times, although I've never witnessed anything beyond rowdy behaviour there.

Compared to many places in London, Overpool is not rough, with an excellent Indian nearby.

I'm not sure how much mileage this thread has, as the OP has been given their answer by multiple posters.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

My local Merseyrail station, Little Sutton, lost its ticket office in 1992 before the line was electrified in fact.

So I often have to drive down to Ellesmere Port station, which is partially staffed, to pick up whatever (split and/or rover) tickets & seat reservations I might need for my Saturday football excursions. Merseyrail have yet to embrace tickets on phones and have only recently allowed passengers to pick up tickets bought online at their staffed stations.

The TVM at LTT improved last year & now in principle sells tickets between any two stations in the country up to 3 days in advance. So sometimes I can avoid the drive to ELP (or Hooton) if I don't need an advance ticket or a reservation or a (non ME) rover. But it's all harder work than it needs to be.

The stations beyond Hooton all have CCTV which should deter scallies. Overpool station is not in a particularly rough area but I do know ladies who live nearby and won't use it at night as the platforms & shelter are not very visible from the road. There's a Wetherspoons and lots of shops and takeaways almost next door. Me and the missus are probably the only people ever to get on a special train at Overpool and alight at Dent. Little Sutton station is very safe, Ellesmere Port station is in a quiet part of town at night which deters passengers from using its huge free car park while Capenhurst station is in a very quiet and safe area.

 

[mrd269697]

My local Merseyrail station, Little Sutton, lost its ticket office in 1992 before the line was electrified in fact.

So I often have to drive down to Ellesmere Port station, which is partially staffed, to pick up whatever (split and/or rover) tickets & seat reservations I might need for my Saturday football excursions. Merseyrail have yet to embrace tickets on phones and have only recently allowed passengers to pick up tickets bought online at their staffed stations.

The TVM at LTT improved last year & now in principle sells tickets between any two stations in the country up to 3 days in advance. So sometimes I can avoid the drive to ELP (or Hooton) if I don't need an advance ticket or a reservation or a (non ME) rover. But it's all harder work than it needs to be.

The stations beyond Hooton all have CCTV which should deter scallies. Overpool station is not in a particularly rough area but I do know ladies who live nearby and won't use it at night as the platforms & shelter are not very visible from the road. There's a Wetherspoons and lots of shops and takeaways almost next door. Me and the missus are probably the only people ever to get on a special train at Overpool and alight at Dent. Little Sutton station is very safe, Ellesmere Port station is in a quiet part of town at night which deters passengers from using its huge free car park while Capenhurst station is in a very quiet and safe area.

They’re not the worst areas, I like little Sutton and Capenhurst is in the middle on nowhere (though it’s less than a mile to the A41).

Issue is we have been having problems with youths on the ELP branch for the past couple of years. It’s died down somewhat of late but still incidents crop up from time to time.

 

[Djgr]

They’re not the worst areas, I like little Sutton and Capenhurst is in the middle on nowhere (though it’s less than a mile to the A41).

Issue is we have been having problems with youths on the ELP branch for the past couple of years. It’s died down somewhat of late but still incidents crop up from time to time.

Perhaps they should staff the stations then!

 

[renegademaster]

Never really had any ASB issues on the largely unstaffed Southern/Southeastern metro services nor on Tramlink. I see the staffing of Overground more a accessibility thing that a safety thing

The only issue most of the time is that the toilets are a state.

 

[mrd269697]

Perhaps they should staff the stations then!

Cheshire West and Chester Council won’t pay for that.

 

[mossleyhill]

What the point of staffing nearly every station on Merseyrail network, when the vast majority of ticket office are running at a loss. Why do small stations like Aughton Park get special treatment when it has less than 150k passengers for 2022-2023 aren‘t even in Liverpool City Region, but it gets staffed full time, It must be ridiculously expensive to staff the vast majority of stations.

Not necessarily true of all of the peripheral stations. As I think I've mentioned in another thread, my local station (Eastham Rake) now seems to be almost always closed on a Sunday morning. So almost certainly there's some kind of drawdown of staff coverage going on. This for a station that got c370k passengers at the last count. So clearly some inconsistency.

 

[Djgr]

Not necessarily true of all of the peripheral stations. As I think I've mentioned in another thread, my local station (Eastham Rake) now seems to be almost always closed on a Sunday morning. So almost certainly there's some kind of drawdown of staff coverage going on. This for a station that got c370k passengers at the last count. So clearly some inconsistency.

Policy and reality often differ on the railway. I am sure that Eastham Rake SHOULD be staffed during all operating hours.

 

[childwallblues]

Bank Hall appears to be the only Merseyrail station with fewer than 250k per annum.

Bank Hall is in an industrial area. However there is some housing along Stanley Road towards Bootle. Quite a bit of the area is nearer Kirkdale Station were there are twice as many trains.

 

[Djgr]

Bank Hall is in an industrial area. However there is some housing along Stanley Road towards Bootle. Quite a bit of the area is nearer Kirkdale Station were there are twice as many trains.

10 minutes walk between them. Eventually it will get sucked into the North of City redevelopment.

 

[vjm1975]

Noted a couple of weeks ago that tickets ordered on line can now be collected from Merseyrail tickets machines at Ellesmere Port, Overpool and Little Sutton (assume Bache & Capenhurst are same too. Not sure when this was implemented.

I guess quite handy pushing us in to the early 21st century given that Ellesmere Port ticket office is usually closed even when advertised as open though the ticket machines aren’t the most reliable.

 

[WarrenT]

don’t see the point of digital tickets myself especially on the Merseyrail network. And going to collect your online ticket from a ticket machine just seems counter intuitive. Why not just buy a ticket there??