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Northern Station Improvements & New Ticket Machines

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Spartacus

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Unless there’s a fix it might not be long until word gets around that all you need to do to avoid buying a ticket is to try buy a first class return to Penzance or Thurso or similar to break the ticket machine. We used to play games about trying to find the most expensive ticket, then ticket beginning with a certain letter, so it could be very easily done.
 
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AndyHudds

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Just passed through Honley and there's a significant amount of vegetation been cleared from the lineside, including the disused up platform... if I didn't know better I'd think they were bringing it back into use!

Presumably the platform extensions on the route will be coming soon. Now that Yorkshire Tiger no longer actively uses the depot next to Honley station there's an opportunity to create a large car park and bus turning circle, to create a railhead for Holmfirth.

That would be expecting a bit too much forward thinking there mate on a Holmfirth railhead. In all honesty it's a shame the original short stub in to Holmfirth was closed, probably be very well used if around today. Metro seem to have taken a back seat in rail these days, long gone are it's hey days of the 80's when it was flinging up stations willy nilly, I guess we have to be thankful it did or West Yorkshire wouldn't have half these stations it has now.

Honley would need more than one service an hour in each direction to entice the people of the Holme Valley and Holmfirth away from the car and on to the train, sadly.
 

61653 HTAFC

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That would be expecting a bit too much forward thinking there mate on a Holmfirth railhead. In all honesty it's a shame the original short stub in to Holmfirth was closed, probably be very well used if around today. Metro seem to have taken a back seat in rail these days, long gone are it's hey days of the 80's when it was flinging up stations willy nilly, I guess we have to be thankful it did or West Yorkshire wouldn't have half these stations it has now.

Honley would need more than one service an hour in each direction to entice the people of the Holme Valley and Holmfirth away from the car and on to the train, sadly.
The loss of the Holmfirth branch is a great shame, unfortunately with the loss of the viaduct and much of the track bed, it's never coming back. I agree that a bus link to Honley would need more than an hourly train service, though Travel South Yorkshire recently unveiled their plans for Barnsley which specifies 2tph Barnsley to Huddersfield. That would require a loop between Huddersfield and Stocksmoor, with Honley or Lockwood still having the second platforms in existence albeit disused.
 

Killingworth

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Seated here in Sheffield after a dismal wet day I'd almost forgotten that a new TVM was installed at Dore & Totley in May last year and almost immediately failed after it suffered from severe sunstroke caused by the low rising sun. The machine was supposedly fixed but by that time the sun was no longer a problem as the year had moved on. Re-siting had been suggested. It will not be tested in 2019 as the machine was moved this month!

What's more it has been positioned under a new canopy, something local users have been wanting ever since the old station building closed about 1969, later becoming an Indian restaurant, and the second platform was demolished in 1985. The Hope Valley Capacity Scheme should restore that platform by 2022. HS2 may race through by 2033. There's a lot changing in South West Sheffield on the railway.

Northern provided most of the finance for the canopy, but TPE chipped in with a contribution because they can pick up 200 passengers for Manchester and the Airport each morning. Further support came from SYPTE, High Peak and Hope Valley CRP and ACoRP.

Still some finishing touches before any industry press releases can go out?
.IMG_20190506_100737.jpg WP_20190507_11_36_45_Pro.jpg
 

palmersears

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The ticket machine at new mills central finally works, some 7 months after initial installation!
 

thejuggler

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Pretty common, lots of people have told me about this and I did it myself while playing around with the machine at Ulleskelf! Luckily, it was Ulleskelf so nobody else needed to use the machine.

However recently I was at Apperley Bridge and the machine reset after a minute or so when it got to this stage, so they may be rolling out updates to them to prevent it from happening!

Not fixed yet - I had a "£485 due" screen yesterday.
 

causton

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Not fixed yet - I had a "£485 due" screen yesterday.
Interesting! At Hebden Bridge I tried it and it reset as well.

I notice some Northern machines also have a new layout with a separate Promise to Pay button. Nice to see some consistency as that probably means there's at least three versions floating around!
 

NorthernSpirit

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That would be expecting a bit too much forward thinking there mate on a Holmfirth railhead. In all honesty it's a shame the original short stub in to Holmfirth was closed, probably be very well used if around today. Metro seem to have taken a back seat in rail these days, long gone are it's hey days of the 80's when it was flinging up stations willy nilly, I guess we have to be thankful it did or West Yorkshire wouldn't have half these stations it has now.

Honley would need more than one service an hour in each direction to entice the people of the Holme Valley and Holmfirth away from the car and on to the train, sadly.

The nearest we'll get to a railhead for Holmfirth would be for the H6 to be extended from Brockholes to Honley railway station, or even resurecting the H4 but instead run it from Holmfirth to Honley railway station with Northern providing some support for an evening service since Stotts wraps up at 6pm.

Bear in mind that Honley also provides a railhead for Meltham in the form of service 911!
 

skyhigh

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Interesting! I notice some Northern machines also have a new layout with a separate Promise to Pay button. Nice to see some consistency as that probably means there's at least three versions floating around!
Last time I checked, one of the machines at Leeds had the new layout, and the rest had the old one...
 

exesoundtech

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Last time I checked, one of the machines at Leeds had the new layout, and the rest had the old one...

Worth having a play with those ones - they sell a lot more tickets than the previous software, including different origin, future travel dates and Advanced Purchase (including Advance Purchase on the Day)...
 

61653 HTAFC

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Just noticed that the shiny new platform sections at Ravensthorpe (which rarely if ever see use due to the rarity of trains longer than 3x23m calling) are now blocked off on the down (towards Dewsbury and Leeds) side with a temporary barrier for some reason.
 

61653 HTAFC

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Worth having a play with those ones - they sell a lot more tickets than the previous software, including different origin, future travel dates and Advanced Purchase (including Advance Purchase on the Day)...
Hopefully the different origin facility will be rolled out to all machines. As I have a zones 2-5 Mcard it's a right pain finding the guard on the way to Leeds (from Batley) in order to get the required Cottingley to Leeds return. More often than not the guard can't or won't come down (even if I'm in the rear vestibule/ballroom) so it means a queue at the ticket window at the end of P1 at Leeds.
 

m94x

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Just noticed that the shiny new platform sections at Ravensthorpe (which rarely if ever see use due to the rarity of trains longer than 3x23m calling) are now blocked off on the down (towards Dewsbury and Leeds) side with a temporary barrier for some reason.

i believe that the platform extensions at ravensthorpe and at mirfield were largely due to the newer longer trains, most likely by Transpennine Express or could possibly be with the new Northern class 195's, so they may open the new section when those trains come into the new timetable system, as currently they will only be likely to be served by the smaller pacer or sprinter trains.
 

geoffk

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Platform extensions at Littleborough, Mills Hill and Walsden look complete but are barriered off; the steps at Littleborough giving access up to platform 2 (avoiding the ramp) have still to be finished. I assume all these will be inspected together, don't know when. TfGM concessionary passes will work the ticket gates at Piccadilly and Manchester Airport, but not Victoria or Rochdale (not yet anyway, I assume software changes are needed).
 

61653 HTAFC

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i believe that the platform extensions at ravensthorpe and at mirfield were largely due to the newer longer trains, most likely by Transpennine Express or could possibly be with the new Northern class 195's, so they may open the new section when those trains come into the new timetable system, as currently they will only be likely to be served by the smaller pacer or sprinter trains.
The extensions were accessible until recently. They were done to allow 6-car 185s to call, though there'll be no 6-car workings for the forseeable, especially on the stoppers.
 

scrapy

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Interesting! At Hebden Bridge I tried it and it reset as well.

I notice some Northern machines also have a new layout with a separate Promise to Pay button. Nice to see some consistency as that probably means there's at least three versions floating around!
The machines will consistently evolve with software updates as ticketing and smart card use evolves. Some will also become ''virtual ticket offices' to allow human interaction at places without staff. Rather than role out updates across the network they usually do it at trial locations (about 15 machines for last update) this enables bugs to be ironed out, and staff and customer feedback to be obtained rather than rolling out something that is unpopular or has flaws to all the machines. Yes this means not all machines are consistent but the vast majority are. The trial locations will usually have either more than one machine meaning there is a choice for customers (most won't even notice the difference) or those where there is a group of trialists being asked for their feedback.
 

themiller

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I don't know if it's been mentioned but you can pick up pre-booked tickets from Virgin from these machines despite the locations not being listed on the Virgin website.
 

m94x

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The extensions were accessible until recently. They were done to allow 6-car 185s to call, though there'll be no 6-car workings for the forseeable, especially on the stoppers.

ah okay, didn't realise that was the plan. Although 6 cars for the local Leeds to Huddersfield stopper seems a bit excessive unless it is for future projections especially with the council's plan for "Dewsbury Riverside Housing plan." + for more timetabled slots/ calls.

Has it been fully completed as in the lighting, dot matrix signs, painting etc?
 

61653 HTAFC

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ah okay, didn't realise that was the plan. Although 6 cars for the local Leeds to Huddersfield stopper seems a bit excessive unless it is for future projections especially with the council's plan for "Dewsbury Riverside Housing plan." + for more timetabled slots/ calls.

Has it been fully completed as in the lighting, dot matrix signs, painting etc?
Not sure about lighting: the lack of such could explain them being closed off I guess. The station has just one dot matrix indicator, one of the little two-line ones on the Leeds platform.

The extended platforms will still come in handy if a Mk5a or 802 set needs to be evacuated in an emergency I suppose...
 

Spartacus

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ah okay, didn't realise that was the plan. Although 6 cars for the local Leeds to Huddersfield stopper seems a bit excessive unless it is for future projections especially with the council's plan for "Dewsbury Riverside Housing plan." + for more timetabled slots/ calls.

Don’t forget that briefly the Leeds - Huddersfield services ceased and the stations were being served by proper transpennines.
 

61653 HTAFC

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Don’t forget that briefly the Leeds - Huddersfield services ceased and the stations were being served by proper transpennines.
On paper it was a 6th "express" from Leeds to Manchester. In practice it was the two stoppers joined at Huddersfield, with a few stops skipped and given to the Hull train instead.

At Ravensthorpe the new platform edges are being replaced, so perhaps there was something amiss with the original work.

P.S. Amusingly at Batley, the 20:34 to Southport has Heaton Lodge Junction appearing on the PIS system!
 
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a_c_skinner

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My local, Arnside, has recently got a machine. No signage to say things have changed, you need to buy a ticket. It is hidden in the Barrow bound shelter. Currently the guards are still selling tickets but strictly speaking they are no longer the first opportunity to buy. I worry that there will be tears before bedtime.

Mind you I managed to buy the wrong ticket and had a new experience getting it excessed at Preston. Pensioners, eh?
 

CN12

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The first trip with the new timetable and on arrival at the local station the new display is showing all trains leave from platform 1, not bad for a station with 2 platforms ( an up & dn)!
 

Allwinter_Kit

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Currently the guards are still selling tickets but strictly speaking they are no longer the first opportunity to buy. I worry that there will be tears before bedtime.

We have had 1 machine (on only 1 platform with a long, circuitous walk between the 2) for years now, and are a full on penalty fare location - and have been for a while.

Guards still more than happy to sell you a ticket on the train. Whole thing is a complete waste of everyone's time. I guess that one day Northern could choose to suddenly enforce the regs, but so far it has all been a great big nothing.
 

Tracked

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noticed one of the ones at Bentley had been vandalised the other day, still out of operation. There's one on the other platform but as there's no footbridge and a half mile walk if the crossings are down (which they often are) I'm not sure what would happen if I got on a train without a ticket - would I be expected to risk getting stuck at the other side of the crossing and miss the train? the broken machine's on Platform 2, for Leeds-bound trains, so the level crossings go down and stay down while any trains in that direction are at the platform.
 

AndyHudds

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On paper it was a 6th "express" from Leeds to Manchester. In practice it was the two stoppers joined at Huddersfield, with a few stops skipped and given to the Hull train instead.

At Ravensthorpe the new platform edges are being replaced, so perhaps there was something amiss with the original work.

P.S. Amusingly at Batley, the 20:34 to Southport has Heaton Lodge Junction appearing on the PIS system!

When I passed on my way to work I notice the coping edge stones had been removed so I imagine that's why the platforms are blocked off. I always see Ravensthorpe as a bit of a missed opportunity for a parkway style station, with extra platforms in the Wakefield direction getting GC to call, lots of land for a big car park. It's current remoteness means it's unattractive to passengers and will never see passenger numbers increase unless there is a reason to use it, the current service is all but putting only the most intrepid passengers off and I would never venture there under the cover of darkness.
 

61653 HTAFC

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When I passed on my way to work I notice the coping edge stones had been removed so I imagine that's why the platforms are blocked off. I always see Ravensthorpe as a bit of a missed opportunity for a parkway style station, with extra platforms in the Wakefield direction getting GC to call, lots of land for a big car park. It's current remoteness means it's unattractive to passengers and will never see passenger numbers increase unless there is a reason to use it, the current service is all but putting only the most intrepid passengers off and I would never venture there under the cover of darkness.
Under the latest Trans-pennine Route Upgrade plans, as part of grade-separation of Thornhill LNW junction the junction from the slow lines to Wakefield will be beyond the Dewsbury side end of the platforms. So at long last Wakefield-bound services will be able to call at RVN. Kirklees Council also have plans for housing in the immediate vicinity of the station, so it may become less isolated.
 

johntea

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Good news for Wakefield MCard holders, apparently they're finally upgrading the gates to read them in July!
 

Killingworth

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A yellow 'Tardis' has arrived at Dore & Totley. Apparently they're intended to go into all busy Northern stations where electrical wiring is available and a secure back wall is present.

Hopefully it is less sensitive than ticket machines, and adds to total revenue for Northern. Is this a station improvement?
IMG_20190603_105940_1.jpg
 
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