RJ
Established Member
I was in York the other day.
When I entered the station to make my onward journey, I was surprised to find that a barrier had appeared, consisting of staff from various TOCs, the BTP and private hire security guards. I was on my phone at the time so was distracted, but not expecting any problems. I presented my ticket for travel to a TPE RPO and was surprised to find that for an extended period of time, he was inspecting my ticket intently. He had removed it from the wallet and started going through it to find out what else was in there.
I explained to this member of staff a number of times which train I was taking and why my ticket was valid, but it didn't seem to amount to anything. I looked more closely at the RPO and upon seeing his name badge, realised it was the same TPE RPO from the incident at Liverpool a few months ago - the one who tried and failed to have me arrested by the BTP, also stating that I would get a criminal record and never work for the railways again. I've long since forgiven his actions on that day but it seems the guy remembered me and decided the best course of action was to delay me getting through to catch the train. I didn't say a word about the previous indiscretion and wanted to get through the situation saying as little as necessary.
Somehow my ticket wallet ended up in his hands. As he went through the wallet, he saw my Priv/Staff Travel Card boxes and stated that if I wanted to travel, I'd have to date a box. I said no and once again reiterated that the ticket I held was valid in its own right. The ticket was in no way obscure - guards up and down the country know all about it and having used such a ticket on several occasions, I had never had any issues whatsoever until this point. He handed the ticket over to a CrossCountry employee on the barrier, who then went into the ticket office to investigate the validity. I took a step back and continued on with my telephone conversation, leaving them to get on with it. He eventually came back and said that none of the ticket office staff he spoke to knew about the validity of the ticket so they would not be letting me through.
Given that I'd not long since finished my shift at work and was in uniform, I found myself wondering why this was even a problem. The CrossCountry employee told me to go to the Travel Centre and seek assistance from them on the validity of the ticket. I said no, because they had already contradicted what I said and I knew I was right. I also said that I'd never had any issue on the trains and suggested that he should come with me and verify it with the guard. He then decided to make a phone call to someone at East Coast. The person on the phone confirmed that I was right and that my ticket was valid. The CrossCountry employee apologised for the inconvenience and let me through. I got my passes back from the TPE RPO. Thankfully I was not in any particular hurry! I arrived with 15 minutes until the departure of the train I was catching.
This does highlight an issue with these makeshift revenue protection blocks. If the staff are not equipped with an appropriate level of product knowledge on each other's services, why are they authorised to perform these checks? I don't think telling passengers to stand aside for an indefinite period of time whilst they play catch up with the knowledge is a particularly efficient way of doing things. I worked at a London Terminal and prior to working in the Customer Information Point, there were collaborative meetings with employees from all appropriate TOCs and Network Rail. Product knowledge was shared that way and understandings reached so we could all assist each other in practice. I've travelled through St Pancras in the past when the low level station was shut, FCC services are segregated from EMT's and the ticket inspections remain separate.
Has anyone else had any issues with ticket checks at stations which multiple TOCs pass through, especially at the behest of staff who are not employed by the TOC you were travelling with?
When I entered the station to make my onward journey, I was surprised to find that a barrier had appeared, consisting of staff from various TOCs, the BTP and private hire security guards. I was on my phone at the time so was distracted, but not expecting any problems. I presented my ticket for travel to a TPE RPO and was surprised to find that for an extended period of time, he was inspecting my ticket intently. He had removed it from the wallet and started going through it to find out what else was in there.
I explained to this member of staff a number of times which train I was taking and why my ticket was valid, but it didn't seem to amount to anything. I looked more closely at the RPO and upon seeing his name badge, realised it was the same TPE RPO from the incident at Liverpool a few months ago - the one who tried and failed to have me arrested by the BTP, also stating that I would get a criminal record and never work for the railways again. I've long since forgiven his actions on that day but it seems the guy remembered me and decided the best course of action was to delay me getting through to catch the train. I didn't say a word about the previous indiscretion and wanted to get through the situation saying as little as necessary.
Somehow my ticket wallet ended up in his hands. As he went through the wallet, he saw my Priv/Staff Travel Card boxes and stated that if I wanted to travel, I'd have to date a box. I said no and once again reiterated that the ticket I held was valid in its own right. The ticket was in no way obscure - guards up and down the country know all about it and having used such a ticket on several occasions, I had never had any issues whatsoever until this point. He handed the ticket over to a CrossCountry employee on the barrier, who then went into the ticket office to investigate the validity. I took a step back and continued on with my telephone conversation, leaving them to get on with it. He eventually came back and said that none of the ticket office staff he spoke to knew about the validity of the ticket so they would not be letting me through.
Given that I'd not long since finished my shift at work and was in uniform, I found myself wondering why this was even a problem. The CrossCountry employee told me to go to the Travel Centre and seek assistance from them on the validity of the ticket. I said no, because they had already contradicted what I said and I knew I was right. I also said that I'd never had any issue on the trains and suggested that he should come with me and verify it with the guard. He then decided to make a phone call to someone at East Coast. The person on the phone confirmed that I was right and that my ticket was valid. The CrossCountry employee apologised for the inconvenience and let me through. I got my passes back from the TPE RPO. Thankfully I was not in any particular hurry! I arrived with 15 minutes until the departure of the train I was catching.
This does highlight an issue with these makeshift revenue protection blocks. If the staff are not equipped with an appropriate level of product knowledge on each other's services, why are they authorised to perform these checks? I don't think telling passengers to stand aside for an indefinite period of time whilst they play catch up with the knowledge is a particularly efficient way of doing things. I worked at a London Terminal and prior to working in the Customer Information Point, there were collaborative meetings with employees from all appropriate TOCs and Network Rail. Product knowledge was shared that way and understandings reached so we could all assist each other in practice. I've travelled through St Pancras in the past when the low level station was shut, FCC services are segregated from EMT's and the ticket inspections remain separate.
Has anyone else had any issues with ticket checks at stations which multiple TOCs pass through, especially at the behest of staff who are not employed by the TOC you were travelling with?