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Is it just me or are LU ticket barriers very annoying?

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Bungle73

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The bit that says "Oyster/Travelcard" or "Oyster Only" is impossible to read unless you are right in front of it! This is very annoying (seeing as I don't use Oyster) when I get up to the barrier ready to put my ticket in only to find it says "Oyster Only", especially at a busy station. Seems like a design flaw to me.
 
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Lrd

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I've never noticed these. Could it just be a barrier that has a fault and can no longer read paper tickets?
 

Bungle73

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I've never noticed these. Could it just be a barrier that has a fault and can no longer read paper tickets?

No. There's an LCD screen. Sometime they set them up to accept Oyster only (God knows why) and that's what it says.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I think it might just be the new ones that have a screen. In any case they regularly set barriers all of kinds to accept Oyster only.
 
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Deerfold

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No. There's an LCD screen. Sometime they set them up to accept Oyster only (God knows why) and that's what it says.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I think it might just be the new ones that have a screen. In any case they regularly set barriers all of kinds to accept Oyster only.

I think that generally is because they're faulty - better to not accept paper tickets than screw them up or give them back...
They don't do it for fun.

On the other hand I agree that it's frustrating that you can't tell this untill you're at the barrier. It does happen the other way round with oyster not accepted and it can be tricky to get sideways to another barrier.
 

Bungle73

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Could be I guess. But if that is the case there are a lot of faulty barriers around.
 

pemma

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I found it annoying once that at Baker Street station I put my travel card in to a barrier to exit, then noticed there were some toilets the other side of another set of barriers, I tried to enter via these but they refused my ticket.
 

Daniel

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A gate won't be set up to be oyster only purely because someone wants it to be oyster only; it'll be because of a defect.
 

Bungle73

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A gate won't be set up to be oyster only purely because someone wants it to be oyster only; it'll be because of a defect.

They go wrong often do they? Even ones that are relativity new?
 

Daniel

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They go wrong often do they? Even ones that are relativity new?

Fairly often, yes. Something relatively simple such as a build up of dirt on the runners can stop it being able to read a magnetic ticket, and a bent ticket behind put in can become jammed. People also manage to fit oyster cards into that slot. They don't always make it back out alive. The trapped ticket (/oyster cards) are obviously resolved fairly quickly as the customer drags you towards the gate pointing frantically, but when the ticket runner takes itself out of service because of a fault it's quite hard to notice, and the control cabinets make no audible alarm, and don't display very much when there is a fault. I know the NR equivalents are lovely and touch screen and colour coded, but ours are all white font on a black screen with a knob at the bottom for the brightness and contrast...
 

Bungle73

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Fairly often, yes. Something relatively simple such as a build up of dirt on the runners can stop it being able to read a magnetic ticket, and a bent ticket behind put in can become jammed. People also manage to fit oyster cards into that slot. They don't always make it back out alive. The trapped ticket (/oyster cards) are obviously resolved fairly quickly as the customer drags you towards the gate pointing frantically, but when the ticket runner takes itself out of service because of a fault it's quite hard to notice, and the control cabinets make no audible alarm, and don't display very much when there is a fault. I know the NR equivalents are lovely and touch screen and colour coded, but ours are all white font on a black screen with a knob at the bottom for the brightness and contrast...

I see. Thanks for the explanation.
 

yorksrob

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Not as annoying as the ones at Leeds, which seem to take your ticket, wait two minutes and only then open the gate very slowly on some occasions.

I've also known them to take my ticket, wipe all the information on the strip then regurgitate it so it's unusable :lol:
 

tsr

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On the new NR gatelines at LBG, there are overhead gantries (to the average passenger, they appear much like tidal flow controls on roads) to indicate the availability of the barriers, with an option to display either a red cross or a green arrow. What I'm wondering is whether this could be adapted to also show if a barrier is Oyster/ticket only, as well as open or closed, at very busy LU stations (I am thinking of places like termini, or perhaps destinations such as Oxford Circus, etc.)...? It could prevent people having to shuffle backwards into a seething throng of passengers after they realise that their card or Oyster will be - or has been - rejected.

Just a thought!
 

Bungle73

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I had the same problem tonight. I was coming up from the Circle Line platforms at Kings Cross St. Pancras and I went to put my Travelcard in the barrier, only to release it said "Oyster Only", so I had to move to the one next to it. Did they not test these things before they decided to install them? You cannot read the LCD display unless you are standing right in front of it! I have perfect vision; what must it be like for someone with poor eyesight?
 

Mojo

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The barriers were never designed to be operated in 'Oyster only' mode. They are supposed to have both functions available so chances are there was a jam in the slot or the capture bin was full or it was taken out of service for some reason. Where it's faulty, staff should cover up the slot with a sticker.
 

Bungle73

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The barriers were never designed to be operated in 'Oyster only' mode. They are supposed to have both functions available so chances are there was a jam in the slot or the capture bin was full or it was taken out of service for some reason. Where it's faulty, staff should cover up the slot with a sticker.

The new ones have an LCD screen which either says "Oyster" or "Oyster/Ticket".
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
This is the best pic I could find. The LCD is the little green strip:

Ticket-Barrier-230x173.jpg
 

Lrd

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The new ones have an LCD screen which either says "Oyster" or "Oyster/Ticket".
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
This is the best pic I could find. The LCD is the little green strip:

Ticket-Barrier-230x173.jpg
AFAIAA, That screen is primarily used to display error messages, mainly a staff thing.
 

Bungle73

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AFAIAA, That screen is primarily used to display error messages, mainly a staff thing.

It displays info for passengers too, ie whether the barrier is accepting tickets or Oyster only. That's the only thing I've seen it display.
 

Tommy3000

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As long as we're complaining about the ticket barriers:

Has anyone else noticed that if you touch in with an Oyster and the person behind you immediately feeds in a paper ticket (perhaps an invalid one), the gates will snap shut on you? I've had it happen a few times and had to force my way through.
 

Daniel

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On the new NR gatelines at LBG, there are overhead gantries (to the average passenger, they appear much like tidal flow controls on roads) to indicate the availability of the barriers, with an option to display either a red cross or a green arrow. What I'm wondering is whether this could be adapted to also show if a barrier is Oyster/ticket only, as well as open or closed, at very busy LU stations (I am thinking of places like termini, or perhaps destinations such as Oxford Circus, etc.)...? It could prevent people having to shuffle backwards into a seething throng of passengers after they realise that their card or Oyster will be - or has been - rejected.

Just a thought!


Take a look at Liverpool Street LUL gateline - they've been there for as long as I remember!



Where it's faulty, staff should cover up the slot with a sticker.

But with no audio or visual alarm to the staff you don't know it's broken until a customer tells you. And the you don't have any stickers because gateline staff can't order them only supervisors can. And only certain supervisors. And when those certain supervisors do order them they seem to never turn up.
 
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