Printing Tickets at Rock Ferry - Mersey Rail

[ginacros]

Hi, wondering if anyone can confirm if there is a ticket printing machine at Rock Ferry or if the ticket office is always manned on a Sunday please? My child has been issued with a penalty as they were unable to print the ticket after purchasing on The Trainline (I now know Mersey Rail don't like this method of purchase!!). They said the there was no machine and the ticket office was closed. A friend of theirs has said that it is regularly shut.
Thanks!

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Hi, wondering if anyone can confirm if there is a ticket printing machine at Rock Ferry or if the ticket office is always manned on a Sunday please? My child has been issued with a penalty as they were unable to print the ticket after purchasing on The Trainline (I now know Mersey Rail don't like this method of purchase!!). They said the there was no machine and the ticket office was closed. A friend of theirs has said that it is regularly shut.
Thanks!

There won't be a ticket machine to print - most Merseyrail stations don't have them and those that do won't allow ticket collection so you need to collect from the ticket office.

As to whether the station was staffed, the National Rail and Merseyrail websites say that the station is staffed full time. There may be someone with personal knowledge who can confirm whether that's normally the case on Sundays, or specifically (presumably) today.

 

[185]

Definitely no TVM to collect tickets at Rock Ferry, so just the ticket office window. Rock Ferry, indeed all Merseyrail Ticket offices are mandatory opening during all hours trains are running and a failure to do so is a breach of the operator's (Serco/Transport UK) contract. Further, their inspectors, most of them subcontracted from Carlisle Services Plc must check if a ticket office was closed prior to issuing a penalty fare if a passenger claims so.

Devils advocate though, it might be useful though to check their time of online purchase (via email confirmation) with the time the penalty fare was issued - the penalty should be substantially later than the email time... ie to make sure their story adds up before appealing.

 

[WirralLine]

Very common on Merseyrail lately for stations to be unstaffed, speaking to one of the staff at Spital recently they said they are short staffed and keep getting put in higher priority locations (Spital office is often closed id say 70% of the time I've tried to use it recently). Usually shuttered up and nobody around rather than just popped to the loo/other duties.

Further, their inspectors, most of them subcontracted from Carlisle Services Plc must check if a ticket office was closed prior to issuing a penalty fare if a passenger claims so.

Only they don't- Merseyrail has this bizzare made up (unlawful?) policy of "putting a sign in the window" and "you must take a picture of this sign" if stopped by revenue inspectors to prove the office was infact closed at that time. They also ask for a photo of the closed office as proof if there is no sign and its closed closed. The less said about Carlisle the better too.

Photo attached of said sign.

 

[185]

Only they don't

But they have to. Penalty fare regulations become unenforceable if they aren't bothered about something as fundamental as this.

Nonsense about the burden of proof lying with the customer (ie taking a photo) are, as you suggest utter rubbish.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

It would help if OP could show us what paperwork has been issued (redact it to hide personal details), so that we can confirm that this is a properly issued penalty fare. A screen shot of what was bought from the Trainline would be useful too, so that we know about what was bought and when. Merseyrail have form for being a bit cavalier about what they issue and so what the appeal rights are, so to give detailed advice we really need to see exactly what's involved.

Also, please advise of the age of the passenger. Again, we need to know that Merseyrail have got things right.

 

[WirralLine]

But they have to. Penalty fare regulations become unenforceable if they aren't bothered about something as fundamental as this.

Nonsense about the burden of proof lying with the customer (ie taking a photo) are, as you suggest utter rubbish.

Sorry if I wasn't clear - when I said "but they dont", I meant they dont check if an office was infact closed themselves, the first thing they ask is did you take a photo, if the answer is no then they'll issue a penalty fare. I have seen Merseyrails own in house RPIs call the station before, but the carlisle ones on the other hand don't.

Of course they should make the call as its not for the passenger to prove an office is closed, but the made up "take a photo" policy is another of Merseyrails do what we want policies. Theyre a shambles.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Sorry if I wasn't clear - when I said "but they dont", I meant they dont check if an office was infact closed themselves, the first thing they ask is did you take a photo, if the answer is no then they'll issue a penalty fare. I have seen Merseyrails own in house RPIs call the station before, but the carlisle ones on the other hand don't.

I've had this once personally (by the poorly trained RPI who didn't know what a Saveaway was) and he just believed me straight off. Presumably I wasn't the first one to report that office closed that day.

That said, if you have a smartphone take a picture of it. There's no point making your life hard - I always do if I encounter a closed booking office or knackered TVM (even once a short video to show that while it looked like the TVM was working it wasn't responding to touch). Only if you don't have a smartphone is it worth arguing, unless you're one of those "auditors" or something.

 

[reb0118]

Of course they [Carlisle] should make the call as its not for the passenger to prove an office is closed,.....

I suppose that just proves that the clerk is available at the time of the call - not that he was available at the time the passenger attempted to purchase/pick up the ticket?

Conversely, no answer could mean that the clerk is too busy selling tickets to pick up the phone.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I suppose that just proves that the clerk is available at the time of the call - not that he was available at the time the passenger attempted to purchase/pick up the ticket?

I know Carlisle RPIs are generally considered of poor quality and skill, but I would imagine even they are capable of a short conversation along the lines of "Were you open at xx:xx as a passenger is saying you weren't? No, I'd gone to the loo. OK, cheers mate".

Conversely, no answer could mean that the clerk is too busy selling tickets to pick up the phone.

In which case the correct thing to do is give the benefit of the doubt and sell a ticket.

 

[JBuchananGB]

I travelled with a few members of my family from Birkdale to Liverpool on Sunday 29 December. The Birkdale ticket office was shut, the roller shutter was closed. There was a large notice board advising to buy at destination. One of the group took a photo. On arrival at Liverpool Central the gateline attendant simply waved us in the direction of the ticket office. My son-in-law, who is accustomed to Greater Anglia fares, couldn't believe that for £13 himself, his wife and their son could go anywhere on MerseyRail.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I travelled with a few members of my family from Birkdale to Liverpool on Sunday 29 December. The Birkdale ticket office was shut, the roller shutter was closed. There was a large notice board advising to buy at destination. One of the group took a photo. On arrival at Liverpool Central the gateline attendant simply waved us in the direction of the ticket office. My son-in-law, who is accustomed to Greater Anglia fares, couldn't believe that for £13 himself, his wife and their son could go anywhere on MerseyRail.

With South East trains typically being faster but going further, people could be forgiven for comparing fares between say a 45 minute journey between Tring and Euston and the same time between Liverpool and Chester, but in reality Merseyrail is more like the London Underground (slow and short distances) and the fares are pretty similar.

 

[reb0118]

It also happens in reverse. I had a London Geezer giving it large, using the local patois, that his train fare in Scotland was twice as expensive as in the Metropolis, innit?

I worked out he was comparing a 19 mile trip in Scotland on a semi fast service to a 6 mile inner London stopper. The journey times were a bit similar.

 

[island]

That said, if you have a smartphone take a picture of it. There's no point making your life hard - I always do if I encounter a closed booking office or knackered TVM (even once a short video to show that while it looked like the TVM was working it wasn't responding to touch).

This.

Anything else is making life unnecessarily hard for yourself on a point of principle.