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Why are Euston gateline staff so hostile?

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Comstock

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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.
 
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Jamesrob637

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One was arsey and wouldn't let my pal on once even though he works for the railways. Mind you, it's discretion there when they don't work for Virgin. Another tried to be arsey but was saved by a train manager who waved him through. Not working for the railway, I had Advances on the services so they couldn't reject me!
 

IslandDweller

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I have never had the Euston gateline staff be hostile to me, but nor have I ever found them a welcoming or helpful first contact with the rail system. These interactions matter, and the "attitude" of these people gets the journey off to a very poor start. I need to say that (with only one exception across countless journeys), I've always found onboard staff to be professional, personable and an asset to the rail network
I travel often between London and Scotland. The contrast in attitude and demeanor between airport staff (checking my boarding pass) and the Euston gateline staff (checking my ticket) could not be wider.
I'm also not a fan of their habit of using pen to deface my ticket in a random way. My journey usually involves a Virgin portion and a Scotrail portion, on accasions the Scotrail guard struggles to read my ticket because the Euston staff have scribbled over it in marker pen.
 

urbophile

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I wouldn't allow you :lol: 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.
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.
Though I have to say that I have not experienced this sort of treatment personally. Brusque and unsmiling yes, but not aggressive.
 

mirodo

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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. ;)

He probably got a promotion to Blackpool North...
 

xc170

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Never had any issues with the Euston gateline staff, but as other posters have said, they've always come across as hostile and unapproachable, not what you'd expect from Virgin, or any other TOC.

They're also from experience, quite in depth with ticket checks, I have a railcard but apart from Euston, I've never been asked to present it at the gateline, given the nature of the staff I've never had a please or thank you, usually just a blunt "Where's your railcard?".
 

Antman

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I've never had any problems at Euston myself, although I only go through there occasionally, but not so long ago I witnessed a heated argument between a couple and the gate line staff. I don't know anything about the rights and wrongs of the argument but the attitude of one staff member really was appalling, indeed the lady had her phone out filming him. Clearly it wasn't an isolated incident.
 

Richard P

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Similar to many here (and I'm a very frequent user of Euston station) I have never had an issue there with staff but then I've never tried to board a train with an invalid ticket. There is one problem though that drives issues at the gate line and that is train boarding times. Board at Manchester Piccadilly and so long as the train is at the platform - even 30+ minutes before departure and you can just walk on and sit in your appointed seat. At Euston is never has been that way and I guess never will be. 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
 

falcon

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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.
 

packermac

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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.
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.
 

Antman

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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.

Doesn't really answer anything does it?
 

E6007

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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
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.
 

43066

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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.

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.
 

6Gman

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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.

I don't tghink I have ever seen a train (VTWC) platform announced 18 minutes before departure on recent visits (probably 10 in the last 3 years). Usually, in my experience, 8-10 minutes before departure. On occasion less than 5 minutes.
 

theironroad

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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.

Lol, I love a challenge and wouldn't have let him in.
 

HOOVER29

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Whenever I catch the 22:00 VT service to Crewe it’s never before 21:50 that they call the platform. They think that 5 or 6 mins is enough time.
 

Ianno87

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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.

OT, but some airline premium card holders are on another level entirely with outright infantile demands and expectations.
 

GrimShady

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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.

My reply was less than gentlemanly should I say as I continued to head for coach J. That was the end of that interaction.

There had been a VT departure from the opposite platform a few mins before I arrived. Maybe she thought I was going to chase it like a lost dog or something?

Another time I once had a go at a fellow abusive passenger who was giving a young girl (also VT) a hard time which wasn't her fault.

Then there's the coach Kilo saga which really boils my blood.
 
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They are a bit of a mixed bunch at Euston, I have travelled through many times but none have been hostile as such, maybe I always have my ticket ready!. However i will say the last time my mother was down from Cumbria I was allowed through without argument to help her get on the train home with her case as she had recently had a knee replacement operation. Judging by some experiences on here im surprised they didnt want to see the scar!
 

ATW Alex 101

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It’s been a problem there for years, not the most welcome or friendly bunch. I came up with a solution a few years back, and that’s to check on one of the various diagram websites which platform my train is leaving from and make my way down there early. That way, you avoid the scrum when it’s announced on the board and you avoid the gate line gestapo.

One time I did this back in about 2014 and there was a member of staff on the platform asking what I was doing, I politely replied that I was waiting for the train (stood at the platform being cleaned), to which they replied “it’s not been announced yet” as if I was committing a serious crime. I just told them that I know that, and made it clear in my expression that I was quite happy waiting right where I am. Other than that, I haven’t had any kind of confrontation there because of waiting at the platform early.
 

ChilternTurbo

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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.
 

nlogax

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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.

Same. Never an issue at Euston in the last 14 years I've been using VTWC on a regular basis. Often RTT will give me the front of line advantage before the platform is called but as long as I don't walk to the train before the gate staff are ready there's not a problem.
 
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iknowyeah

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I never have been because if my pass/ticket wasn't valid I would apologise & humbly retreat.
I have been forced to get a zero fare excess on a valid ticket at Euston barrier, and missed my train doing so.
 

hooverboy

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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.
..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!
 
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Matt_pool

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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!

Funnily enough I had a similar experience at Lime Street on Thursday morning. The Northern train I was on arrived at platform 8 and the Virgin train on platform 9 was already boarding.

The Virgin staff, about 7 or 8 of them (!), position themselves 1 carriage length up the platform and have a temporary barrier that usually goes down the middle of platform 8 and 9. All 7 or 8 of them (God knows why they need so many staff!) then check passengers tickets. Well, 2 of them check tickets while the other 5 or 6 of them stand around chatting!

But on this occasion the temporary barrier was more than half way acros the platform, in fact more like 3/4's the way across encroaching onto platform 8, giving only a very narrow gap for the passengers alighting the Northern service to get through.

I thought to myself "I'm not going to try and squeeeze through that narrow gap with everyone else" so I crossed over to where the Virgin staff where stood with their backs to me and said out loud "what the hell is going on!?" and pushed my way in between two of the Virgin staff! One of them mumbled something along the lines of "ugh ugh ugh"!

It's already a bottle neck trying to get off those platforms onto the concourse due to the idiotic decision to place departure/arrival screens at the ends of the platforms causing lots of people to congregate there, so for Virgin to suddenly decide to take over most of the width of platforms 8 and 9 it was made even worse for commuters like myself who just want to get off the Northern train, which arrived 6 minutes late (obviously!) and get out of the station as quickly as possible to get to work.

Lets see what happens on Monday morning. It will be the same staff but in diffferent uniforms!
 

Mag_seven

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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.

What a shocking way to speak to a customer (even if you were not actually using VT). In any other business you would be out on your ear for speaking to a customer like that.
 

Richard P

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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.

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
 

E6007

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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
Your scenario might not be unusual but it is not like that all the time!

When I arrive at Euston just after 8 most mornings, it's not unusual to hear the 8:20 to Manchester or 8:23 to Birmingham being announced. The determining factor is usually the arrival time of the incoming train.
 

VauxhallandI

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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)

They specialise in not attending their gates, blocking the platforms in a Huddle, standing around chatting, not marshalling passengers correctly and as you say hunting in packs.
 

Doomotron

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..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!
Good idea, I'll take note. :D:D:D
 
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