• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

am i unique? amazed this evening

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Clip

Established Member
Joined
28 Jun 2010
Messages
10,822
I don't like buses full stop but I do understand that they are a great bit of public transport to ferry the masses to and from destination and I only use them when I have to. Like rain or going somewhere that I have to use one.

BUT I was so surprised this evening to actually see an inspector get on my bus and go ask people for their tickets.

Given I've lived in london half me life nearly and this is only about the 3rd time I've seen opne in that time I'm amazed.

And he done his job properly too, unlike dlr or tube by asking to see me photocard with me staff oyster.

Good on them too I say. Needs more of it.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

MK Tom

MK Tom

Established Member
Joined
31 Aug 2011
Messages
2,422
Location
Milton Keynes
I've used buses in Milton Keynes for about fifteen years and I've had an inspector get on once in all that time. But unlike London, MK is like most of Britain where you can't get on in the first place without having a valid ticket, so it is a bit pointless. It's only really needed in places with travelcard schemes like London and Oxford or places where double door vehicles are in common use.
 
O

overthewater

Established Member
Joined
16 Apr 2012
Messages
8,173
Recently in the past two weeks I have spotted three different inspectors. Your just not looking hard enough :p
 
Mojo

Mojo

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
7 Aug 2005
Messages
20,398
Location
0035
MK Tom said:
I've used buses in Milton Keynes for about fifteen years and I've had an inspector get on once in all that time. But unlike London, MK is like most of Britain where you can't get on in the first place without having a valid ticket, so it is a bit pointless. It's only really needed in places with travelcard schemes like London and Oxford or places where double door vehicles are in common use.
Click to expand...
I disagree, in that on most routes you can only board by the driver's door anyway, and elsewhere in that it is possible to:
a - purchase a ticket for a journey shorter than the one you are making
b - pass a ticket back to someone else (I regularly used to see people on school buses passing tickets through the window)
c - present a fake ticket which cannot easily be noticed by the driver

There are fewer than 300 Inspectors on London Buses (Surface Transport). Given the large number of customers, and buses, it's perhaps not unsurprising that customers see them fairly rarely. On the Underground inspectors spend a lot of time observing gatelines or investigating suspected offenders based on intelligence, however the bus network works a bit differently so regular customers might notice them a bit more.
 
J

jon0844

Veteran Member
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Messages
28,058
Location
UK
Revenue staff on TfL services are incredibly rare, but around here I'd like to see more inspectors to keep an eye on the drivers. :)
 
SS4

SS4

Established Member
Joined
30 Jan 2011
Messages
8,589
Location
Birmingham
They're also pretty rare in Birmingham too. They always seem to appear when either you or the bus is running late!
 
Deerfold

Deerfold

Veteran Member
Joined
26 Nov 2009
Messages
12,648
Location
Yorkshire
Trainbasher said:
Last one I saw doing Revenue was 2008!!
Click to expand...

Perhaps I use more buses or at times and places where fare-dodging is high but I usually have my ticket checked on a bus a couple of times a year.

Whereas on the Underground I've had one on-train check since getting a job in London in 2001 (on the Central Line).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Mojo said:
I disagree, in that on most routes you can only board by the driver's door anyway
Click to expand...

There are people who sneak on the middle door when people are getting off even when they're not supposed to. As the driver is focused on people boarding at the front door they don't always notice.
 
W

WhiteJoker

Member
Joined
27 Dec 2010
Messages
32
Not only in the UK it's rare to see fare inspectors, I take busses all the time in The Netherlands, and I've seen them only once. Though I have to admit that one was done thoroughly. They took the bus to a separate stop, unloaded all passengers one by one, and everyone who could not produce a ticket where given a fine by a police officer.

Though on the TramLink in Croydon I took the Beckenham line every day for half a year and I think on at least 50% of my journeys I had fare inspectors passing by.
 
T

Tomonthetrain

Established Member
Joined
12 Jul 2011
Messages
1,290
Deerfold said:
Perhaps I use more buses or at times and places where fare-dodging is high but I usually have my ticket checked on a bus a couple of times a year.

Whereas on the Underground I've had one on-train check since getting a job in London in 2001 (on the Central Line).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


There are people who sneak on the middle door when people are getting off even when they're not supposed to. As the driver is focused on people boarding at the front door they don't always notice.
Click to expand...

Living in the Black Country I have never seen one. There again if NX and a independent run the same route I usually get the independent. And I catch at least 4 buses per day
 
Deerfold

Deerfold

Veteran Member
Joined
26 Nov 2009
Messages
12,648
Location
Yorkshire
Trainbasher said:
Living in the Black Country I have never seen one. There again if NX and a independent run the same route I usually get the independent. And I catch at least 4 buses per day
Click to expand...

Sorry - I meant to quote jonmorris0844.
 
Last edited:
D

dvboy

Established Member
Joined
6 Sep 2011
Messages
1,939
Location
Birmingham
They do exist in the West Midlands, they are normally a team of Centro inspectors and police at the same time.
 
MCW

MCW

Member
Joined
30 Dec 2011
Messages
699
Location
Leicester UK
lived in Leicester all my life and in all those 20 years I can only think of one encounter of an inspector on a bus and that was a fortnight ago!
 
W

W-on-Sea

Established Member
Joined
18 Dec 2009
Messages
1,337
I commuted daily on Stagecoach Gold services in Oxfordshire for 12 months recently: during that time ticket inspectors checked tickets on two occasions (both in the morning rush hour) -although I think they were primarily interested in counting the different types of tickets used (i.e. singles, returns, different types of multi-ride tickets, paper vs smartcard) etc, rather than in the expectation of finding fare-evaders on that route on those journeys.
 
B

BuhSnarf

Member
Joined
22 May 2010
Messages
176
MCW said:
lived in Leicester all my life and in all those 20 years I can only think of one encounter of an inspector on a bus and that was a fortnight ago!
Click to expand...

I've had about 4-5 over a two year period on the 47/48 route.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 
WestCoast

WestCoast

Established Member
Joined
19 Jun 2010
Messages
5,584
Location
Glasgow
I have come across bus inspectors very occasionally;

In about 7 years of using Stagecoach in Lancashire buses regularly, I encountered an inspector for the first time this year. Smartly dressed older chap, who seemed concerned upon hearing complaints about bus drivers missing stops.

Blackpool Transport - never seen one doing revenue checks onboard in about 7 years of semi-regular use. I think they have one employee who does revenue checks 'once in a blue moon', so you'd have to be (un)lucky to encounter him.

Seen two on a bus in London, already seen a revenue team performing checks on a NXWM bus.

Personally, I think most regional bus companies/divisions are looking for driver 'irregularities' more than anything else.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top