Probably because of the nature of punters they have to deal with. I always find it heartwarming to see the no prisoner nature of their revenue protection.
No prisoners would be fine if the rules weren't so damn complicated.
Probably because of the nature of punters they have to deal with. I always find it heartwarming to see the no prisoner nature of their revenue protection.
The first response of any member of staff should be to assume innocence on the part of the passenger. The fares system is so complicated that many people must be unaware that their ticket might be invalid on a particular train. Hence they should be treated with courtesy and politely informed of the facts. Assuming everyone is a potential criminal is not helpful, either to the passengers concerned or the reputation of the TOC.I wouldn't allow you Most of these that don't like the long arm of the railway law have unvalid tickets but seem to think there should be tolerance.
Well that’s news to me after several years of driving trains in and out of several london terminals (admittedly not Euston, although I gather it’s the same there). The procedure is: you present yourself at the gate in full regalia, smile at the gateline staff and they let you through.
There’s a good reason for not using your staff travel pass in the machines - they break after five minutes.
Nobody ever asks you to show a pass - it’s simply unnecessary - that has been my experience literally thousands of times over the last few years. Staff get to know your face so security risk is minimal.
The only occasion I have had an issue, I had followed the usual protocol, and was given an absolute verbal tongue lashing for not showing my pass by a member of gateline staff, who clearly had anger issues and a chip on their shoulder, in full view of passengers.
I had no choice but to declare myself unfit to drive, my outbound and return workings were cancelled as a result and my train sat idle, blocking a platform for a couple of hours.
I never saw him again after that.
Does not make it right but that "pompous entitled prat on a first class season ticket" would have been worth far more to VTWC than you on an advance. The same thing happens with Gold and Platinum card holders on airlines. In fact one a colleague of mine in uniform was sat in the queue to get of the M3 on to the M25 one morning and some guy wanting to push in the queue just held up his gold card at the passenger door window, implying she should let him in. Just accept some people think they are entitled.Apart from the time some pompous entitled prat on a first class season ticket charged the RPI line, running over my foot with hit his suitcase in the process, and the RPIs made no attempt to stop him. Complained via Twitter only for the Twiterree to make every excuse in the book before (after serveral back and forths) they accepted my point.
Millions of people go through gatelines all over the country without any problem. All they need is a vaid ticket.
Millions of people park their cars correctly without problem all they do is pay for their parking.
Therin lies the answer.
If things are running normally, trains are usually called about 18 minutes before departure time. I believe Euston was the first station to include "Boarding at hh:mm approximately" on the main PIS board. Obviously if for some reason the turnround time of the train is tight, it can't be called that early.The platform never gets called for any WCML train until a maximum of 10 minutes before departure. That leads to passengers running, crushing on the walkways by the barriers and everyone trying to rush through as their tickets are checked. It's wrong and that's what on occasion leads to frustration and confrontation, it needs sorting
Millions of people go through gatelines all over the country without any problem. All they need is a vaid ticket.
Millions of people park their cars correctly without problem all they do is pay for their parking.
Therin lies the answer.
If things are running normally, trains are usually called about 18 minutes before departure time. I believe Euston was the first station to include "Boarding at hh:mm approximately" on the main PIS board. Obviously if for some reason the turnround time of the train is tight, it can't be called that early.
Does not make it right but that "pompous entitled prat on a first class season ticket" would have been worth far more to VTWC than you on an advance. The same thing happens with Gold and Platinum card holders on airlines. In fact one a colleague of mine in uniform was sat in the queue to get of the M3 on to the M25 one morning and some guy wanting to push in the queue just held up his gold card at the passenger door window, implying she should let him in. Just accept some people think they are entitled.
Does not make it right but that "pompous entitled prat on a first class season ticket" would have been worth far more to VTWC than you on an advance. The same thing happens with Gold and Platinum card holders on airlines. In fact one a colleague of mine in uniform was sat in the queue to get of the M3 on to the M25 one morning and some guy wanting to push in the queue just held up his gold card at the passenger door window, implying she should let him in. Just accept some people think they are entitled.
Perhaps I've been lucky but as a Virgin Trains passenger using Euston, Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly thousand of times, I've never had a bad experience with any of the gateline staff. I do always have my travel documents/tickets to hand which is something a large proportion of the travelling public seemingly fail to do. I've always found the on-board staff generally excellent too - train managers, first class hosts, RPI etc.
I have been forced to get a zero fare excess on a valid ticket at Euston barrier, and missed my train doing so.I never have been because if my pass/ticket wasn't valid I would apologise & humbly retreat.
..so you need to wear a hi-viz jacket over your suit.The staff in question have form for trying to stop people who hold perfectly valid (but unusual) tickets, such as split tickets, priv tickets etc., and indeed staff members in full uniform.
I encountered a flock of Virgin revenue staff recently who were harassing passengers waiting for the TFW service from platform 8 at Liverpool Lime Street. They were blocking the platform off to people who wanted to sit down on the platform benches but did not have a Virgin ticket for their service on the adjacent platform 9. This resulted in the Northern station supervisor coming down and ordering them to stop what they were doing but they still carry on with this today!
I once had "what the hell are you doing?" challenge shouted at me from a small Virgin female employee while on my way to join the Lowlander complete with Burger King thanks to a poorly MK2 dining coach.
If things are running normally, trains are usually called about 18 minutes before departure time. I believe Euston was the first station to include "Boarding at hh:mm approximately" on the main PIS board. Obviously if for some reason the turnround time of the train is tight, it can't be called that early.
Your scenario might not be unusual but it is not like that all the time!Sorry but that hasn't happened in the last 20 years - they may quote boarding times but they don't maintain them. Ultimately it's virtually a scrum to get on the train caused by late boarding calls
You think Euston are bad? Liverpool Street are even worse. Gang up on you if you’ve not got a ticket(especially if you’ve come from somewhere the TO is closed and TVM not working)
Good idea, I'll take note...so you need to wear a hi-viz jacket over your suit.
that is the ultimate symbol of authority!
you need to make sure you get this bit right...underlying dress code is PROFESSIONAL-not a day to day job with steelies and cargo pants.
its the "you don't need to see my identification/PPE" meme from star wars.
brandish a clipboard/tablet or some other highly visible device that looks like it is being used to record or take notes.
it just screams "inspector!!!!!/auditor!!!!". nobody will ever hassle you again!