Why the objection to using ticket gates?

[island]

One thing I've noticed in my time commuting to various London stations is that many commuters have a pathological dislike for putting their season ticket through a ticket gate, preferring instead to wave it at a member of staff and have it opened for them. What's the matter? It's hardly a huge burden on one's day.

I even saw a poster up at a London Midland station (I think it was Milton Keynes C) entitled "Why do I have to put my ticket through the gates?"

 

[northwichcat]

Possibly because ticket gates programming isn't consistent and people don't want to insert tickets they aren't finished with?

In the case of Milton Keynes the return part of a Bletchley to Milton Keynes day return ticket is kept by the barriers on exiting the station but down at Bletchley the outward part of a Milton Keynes to Bletchley ticket is not retained by the barriers on exiting the station.

 

[island]

Possibly because ticket gates programming isn't consistent and people don't want to insert tickets they aren't finished with?

In the case of Milton Keynes the return part of a Bletchley to Milton Keynes day return ticket is kept by the barriers on exiting the station but down at Bletchley the outward part of a Milton Keynes to Bletchley ticket is not retained by the barriers on exiting the station.

I don't have a major problem with that, which is why I specifically mentioned season tickets

 

[Qwerty133]

The only time I need to use barriers with a season ticket is at intermediate stations to get to Uppercrust, therefore although the ticket goes through the barrier on the way out, the pass back rule prevents it going through the entry barrier. Why waste time putting it through a barrier when I know it's going to decline?

 

[WelshBluebird]

In regards to season tickets specifically, there are two main reasons that I can think of. In both cases, if you know your season ticket will not work in the barrier, then of course you will naturally ask to be let through straight away and not bother trying to barrier.

1 - For monthly or longer season tickets, it can be quite common for the ticket not to work in the barriers at all due to damage to the magnetic strip.
2 - If the station your are exiting is an intermediate station (rather than a station specifically named on the season ticket) then some barriers can reject the ticket.

For other tickets, there are even more reasons. Tickets can be retained by the barrier when the passenger wants to keep hold of the ticket (for delay repay, for further journeys if they have not used the tickets full validity, for expenses claims etc), railcard discounted tickets can often be rejected by a barrier, the passenger may have just passed through the gate to use station facilities (most barriers have a mechanism to stop people passing the same ticket back to be used by another person) etc.

 

[northwichcat]

I don't have a major problem with that, which is why I specifically mentioned season tickets

I think the "Possibly because ticket gates programming isn't consistent and people don't want to insert tickets they aren't finished with?" may still apply.

If the ticket barrier was to wrongly retain your £500 annual season ticket then it would be a pain trying to get it back, if a RPI tries to do it you can point out their mistake and get it back straight away.

It could also be with annual tickets people are scared of them wearing out if they insert them in to barriers too much and they don't want to have to go back to the ticket office to get a replacement.

 

[island]

Getting a season ticket replaced once every few months is hardly a big deal surely? And I'm talking about the vast majority of passengers who use their season ticket from A to B to get on at A and get off at B, not loophole tickets.

 

[user15681]

I'm not adverse to putting my monthly through the ticket barriers, but I can understand some of the reasoning for people avoiding them. It can be inconvenient to get a replacement, especially if commuting from a station that's closed at the times you commute. As my monthly is also a Travelcard, I have to use it in barriers probably 8+ times a day and it starts getting dog eared and flimsy, with folding in the corners highly likely which then stops it working.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Getting a season ticket replaced once every few months is hardly a big deal surely?

It depends. If you ever need to cancel your ticket early, it can cause problems.

The reason why people detest the ticket barriers on Network Rail is simple: the barriers are rubbish. They don't read half the tickets correctly, they seem to chew them up far too regularly, the gate width is too narrow, etc etc. "Ticket not valid at this location" is an extremely common error message and it is infuriating.

People on the tube have less of an issue with the gates because LU's ticket barriers work. 9 times out of 10 you touch your Oyster on the gate and it opens. Simple.

 

[Tibbs]

Getting a season ticket replaced once every few months is hardly a big deal surely? And I'm talking about the vast majority of passengers who use their season ticket from A to B to get on at A and get off at B, not loophole tickets.

It depends on the staff. Obstreperous staff can make even the simplest task an ordeal. I had to have my ticket replaced twice, and once was easy and done in a few minutes, the second time was an absolute nightmare.

I didn't like putting mine through the barrier - rather sadly for me my season ticket is the most valuable thing I own (even though I don't really own it :roll the idea of basically shoving £3000 through an automatic machine that may or may not give it back to me every day made me rather uneasy.

Now I have my ticket on Oyster, properly registered and protected etc etc., I feel much more secure.

 

[Smethwickian]

I'm travelling regularly to and from Cheltenham Spa at the moment, but for reasons of maximising other uses of my season ticket it's to the furthest station in the cluster, namely Cam & Dursley. It doesn't work the barriers at Cheltenham (or Gloucester, for that matter), pure and simple, but staff have never queried letting me through.

 

[Johnny_w]

I'm not a commuter.

Just a leisure traveller and I'm terrified my ticket will get eaten one day, I'd rather show it to a human being any day of the week and thrice on Sunday, and i'm no Luddite either.

JW

 

[Wolfie]

One thing I've noticed in my time commuting to various London stations is that many commuters have a pathological dislike for putting their season ticket through a ticket gate, preferring instead to wave it at a member of staff and have it opened for them. What's the matter? It's hardly a huge burden on one's day.

I even saw a poster up at a London Midland station (I think it was Milton Keynes C) entitled "Why do I have to put my ticket through the gates?"

Having your rather expensive annual season ticket swallowed by the gates (it had jammed) was chastening the first time, scary (the thought that while I went to get the staff member it might be dislidged by another ticket and someone walk off with it) the second time and just damn irritating the third time onwards.....

...and as for putting it in to a machine at an unmanned gate line, no way Jose!!!

 

[stut]

I suspect the simple answer is (whether you agree with it or not): ticket barriers are mildly annoying, and it's easier to flash a ticket to someone that to fish it out of the wallet (while carrying a coffee, a newspaper and a laptop bag). The manned queue often goes much more quickly than the automatic barrier queues.

I'd say "roll on smartcards", but unfortunately, everything seems to have moved to interfering smartcard technlogies now, meaning that you end up having to take the individual smartcard out of the wallet for it to work, as it interferes with your Oyster, office access card, and 3 NFC credit/debit cards.

 

[Hyphen]

I'm not a season ticket holder but I understand the concern - this is something which happens to me a fair bit on journeys via Cardiff, where I will usually pop outside the barriers for an M&S sarnie.

As I usually return through the gateline within a few minutes of leaving it, I know the barriers will not accept it and tell me to Seek Assistance. So I tend to seek assistance prior to being told. However, 9 times out of 10, the gateline staff refuse to let me through without proving the barriers will not accept it. So I'm forced to hold up a queue whilst I prove the ticket won't work, at which point they actually look at it, then let me through.

 

[ATW Alex 101]

I like to collect my train tickets and don't wish to feed it to the ticket machine. Also if I'm travelling on a business trip, I need to save the ticket for expenses.

 

[CalderRail]

Because they don't read Metrocards, and become dangerous with 95% of the train passengers trying to get through the single manned barrier access.

I also don't like the fact that they penalise legal passengers with inconvenience due to the misdeeds of a few illegal ones.

 

[Taunton]

I think that those from the rail industry management who swan round with their free/privilege tickets do not have any understanding of what a complete PAIN it is to have to get costly tickets extracted from gates when wrongly retained, replaced at the ticket office (after queuing for 10 minutes or more) when they become defective, etc, etc.

 

[philjo]

The ticket barriers at one station along my route has never accepted my season ticket since the day the barriers were installed a few years ago. - I get an error 116 every time & despite reporting it at least 3 times & FCC promising to invesitgate nothing changes so I have given up even attempting to put my ticket in those barriers. the ticket works fine at all other barriered stations along the route.

 

[Eagle]

9 times out of 10 you touch your Oyster on the gate and it opens. Simple.

If the success rate for Oyster cards was as low as 90% then there would be some serious congestion problems during the peak at many stations.

I'd say it's closer to 98 times out of 100.

 

[Goatboy]

Surely its because most people keep a season in a protective wallet and having to remove it, put it through a barrier and put it away again is both faffy and leads to a destroyed ticket much quicker?

 

[user15681]

Surely its because most people keep a season in a protective wallet and having to remove it, put it through a barrier and put it away again is both faffy and leads to a destroyed ticket much quicker?

Yeah that's another reason. Walking along in a huge crowd after getting off at Victoria, I get my season ticket wallet out and then realise I can't actually take the ticket out of the wallet because I have a heavy laptop bag in the other hand. Even when I can get my hand to it, sometimes it's very difficult to remove. Try stopping in the huge mob of commuters to take the ticket out, you get a fair bit of abuse.

 

[westv]

I have commuted on a regular basis for numerous years. I must admit that I never seen that many people not put their ticket through the gate.

 

[fowler9]

If you got your ticket off the DWP and need to provide it as proof that you spent your money on a ticket it is quite handy if it doesn't get swallowed by a machine.

 

[Chrisgr31]

Getting a season ticket replaced once every few months is hardly a big deal surely? And I'm talking about the vast majority of passengers who use their season ticket from A to B to get on at A and get off at B, not loophole tickets.

Oh getting a replacement ticket is easy as long as you are prepared to go to the station when it is actually manned and then of course stand in a queue for ages whilst the station staff deal with numerous daft queries from leisure travellers and other sorts, therefore missing your train.

You then of course find your replacement ticket says it costs £0 which makes a delay repay claim interesting!

Having said that I usually leave the platform via the quickest method which is usually the manned barrier.

 

[Class83]

Various reasons, as mentioned for season tickets because it's a hassle to get it out the little wallet and they get worn faster if you do that twice a day. With single use tickets I use the auto-barrier unless I'm travelling for work and need the ticket to reclaim expenses.

 

[island]

I like to collect my train tickets and don't wish to feed it to the ticket machine. Also if I'm travelling on a business trip, I need to save the ticket for expenses.

If you got your ticket off the DWP and need to provide it as proof that you spent your money on a ticket it is quite handy if it doesn't get swallowed by a machine.

Again, season tickets. They do not get swallowed other than when the machine jams.

 

[tractakid]

I am very happy to use barriers on entering, but never exiting, due to enjoying keeping my tickets. This isn't the case when using a travelcard in the London Zones, as it is always returned.

I have had tickets swallowed before that would have made a nice addition to my collection, notably on a rare occasion I used an advance ticket to Euston. I am so used to my travelcards returning to me at Euston I didn't consider that my ticket on this occasion was expired.

 

[Drsatan]

I'm no longer a season ticket holder, but when I did use a season ticket I did find it annoying that the barriers at intermediate stations would refuse to accept the ticket. I soon discovered that (at least at Southampton Central) the easiest way of exiting and entering the station was simply to flash the ticket at the gateline assistant and state you were breaking your journey.

I also dislike passing through barriers before boarding long-distance services (and I suspect many passengers do), because tickets should always be checked on the train if possible. A barrier is a nuisance if you're carrying luggage or other items: if you're carrying a coffee cup in one hand and a holdall in the other fumbling in your pockets for your ticket is annoying, and holds up other passengers.

Ideally, I'd see barriers removed from stations where Intercity services depart from the same platforms, such as Paddington, but I highly doubt the DfT will accept that. There are also stations where, IMO, barriers are highly inappropriate, a good example being Salisbury. At that station, the barriers on a small concourse have made it very clustered during peak hours.

 

[ECML180]

At Loughborough the barriers are just a nuisance, accepting maybe 1/5 tickets! They only have 5 barriers and with many people arriving by bus(therefore all together) it become awfully congested, especially when people try to feed the barriers seat reservations(why?!).

I don't really use barriers elsewhere as they aren't installed but I'm quite happy to try, the main problem at Loughborough to be honest is the uncaring gateline attendant stood there insisting you try the ticket after he's looked at it, despite having tried it already in front of his face. Depending on his mood he then either makes you step about 1 foot behind the barrier(meaning when it opens you have to shift) or he just opens the barrier on to you!