scouseyb123
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this is the experience of the vast majority of passengers. The people moaning on this thread cannot admit that they’ve done something wrong and that its everyone else’s fault so blame the staff.
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Why are Euston gateline staff so hostile?
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this is the experience of the vast majority of passengers. The people moaning on this thread cannot admit that they’ve done something wrong and that its everyone else’s fault so blame the staff.
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RailUK Forums
Your response is the issue in a nutshell. The staff always believe they have done nothing wrong so blame the passenger.
Anyone in this thread who have had issues have done something wrong? Really?
When a lot of people complain about the service at a particular station, it's hard to believe that they are all wrong.
scouseyb123
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well i’ve never had an issue as a passenger. Maybe taking responsibility instead of blaming everyone else?
when you say alot of people. You mean a few people on a railway forum?
Quite a few and there seems to be no similar complaints about the service at any other stations.
Busaholic
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If your stance is 'the customer is always wrong' then it's self-explanatory. In a perfect world, those with this attitude would be re-educated by one means or another, perhaps by being on the receiving end of such treatment in an extreme form themselves, but in the real world....
Of course that isn't my stance. I suggest that you reread what I've posted.
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DarloRich
Veteran Member
I have seen the gateline staff called every name under the sun some so bad that even I, a northern well trained expert deployer of industrial language, blanche. I have seen grown adults have a massive paddy with shouting and balling becuase they are held to the rules.
I have seen the gate people spat at and saw one guy punched/swung at. There is a reason these people are wearing body cameras!
Some people dont know how to behave.
GrimShady
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I fail to see what I've done wrong when I had already checked in on the CS only to find out there was no catering so I went to retrieve Burger Kings for myself and the other half.
I simply made my way back to my waiting train before being snapped at by some horrible little woman.The entire station was a ghost town.
Elecman
Established Member
At the Managed Stations the Gateline staff are employed by the TOCs not Network Rail. The Customer Assistance staff are Network Rail employees
theironroad
Established Member
Incorrect. The revenue staff employed to check tickets at the gateline for virgin trains services* are VT employees not NR.
* Until Franchise handover at 0200 8/12 anyway.....
causton
Established Member
Then they are still VT employees. VT just means Avanti West Coast after that point
bramling
Veteran Member
Two wrongs don’t make a right. I’ve certainly experienced some pretty rough treatment at Manchester Piccadilly, numerous occasions having my valid ticket pretty roughly snatched out of my hand for inspection and then grunted at, and I’ve seen some pretty nasty exchanges there when people have turned up with no ticket having boarded at one of the numerous unmanned stations in the area and where the guard hasn’t come round. Blackpool North has to take first prize of course.
I get the point about having to deal with trouble, however this is no excuse to be off-hand to everyone.
Point of order: no need for any of that nonsense. Forget Star Wars. Those of us in the driving grade are usually described as “Gods of the railway” by lesser mortals.
As a true Titan of the industry, I expect lesser staff members to bow and scrape as I walk along the platform and mount my 125mph thoroughbred steed.
.
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AlterEgo
Veteran Member
I wouldn't allow youMost of these that don't like the long arm of the railway law have unvalid tickets but seem to think there should be tolerance.
I can speak from experience from handling complaints about Euston barrier staff that that’s untrue. But whatever turns you on.
dk1
Veteran Member
All other barrier lines suffer the same but whatever you say.
AlterEgo
Veteran Member
Euston was rather unique - barrier line and gateline. It’s always been a management problem. It’s been a known problem at VT since time immemorial.
paddington
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I've never had any issues with the staff, but this is purely because I have only ever travelled with VT on advance tickets, and even the most poorly trained staff can't argue when your ticket is for the specific train that is currently boarding, and you present the railcard stated on the ticket.... or can they?
Yes the logistics and arrangement of the gateline leave much to be desired, but I believe that a large number of passengers would also only use advance tickets for WCML intercity services, and thus similarly not have any arguments, therefore maybe they might not understand why people using other types of tickets would have problems.
Yes the logistics and arrangement of the gateline leave much to be desired, but I believe that a large number of passengers would also only use advance tickets for WCML intercity services, and thus similarly not have any arguments, therefore maybe they might not understand why people using other types of tickets would have problems.
nuts & bolts
Member
The Euston gate-lines are operated by LNW & Avanti West Coast, Clapham Jct another Network Rail operated Stn but Gateline staff are TOC employed staff.
furnessvale
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I presume you do the same to old fashioned proper drivers, that is steam drivers, pre 1968!Point of order: no need for any of that nonsense. Forget Star Wars. Those of us in the driving grade are usually described as “Gods of the railway” by lesser mortals.
As a true Titan of the industry, I expect lesser staff members to bow and scrape as I walk along the platform and mount my 125mph thoroughbred steed.
I presume you do the same to old fashioned proper drivers, that is steam drivers, pre 1968!
Of course - thems the proper drivers, as you say. Sadly not so many of them around these days!
furnessvale
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Indeed, my brother is one of them. 80 next year. Had him on the footplate of a 9F at Quorn earlier this year, couldn't get him off it, all day!
GrimShady
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Solution: scrap the barriers and go back to open stations.
I was interested to spot this thread, as the "Revenue Protection" people at Euston are the only people I've really taken a dislike to in 40+ years of Rail Travel. I was travelling through Euston when pretty much every train was affected by bad weather, and every departure on the boards with the exception of some overground services was awaiting information on whether they would run. The Virgin Train people were all sticking close to their gates, making no effort to advise on likely departures, and when I could see my train could not possibly depart on time, and may not run at all, I asked if I could travel on an earlier service that had been delayed to depart at the same time as mine was due to leave - but they would not sanction this, even though I would not get home to Rugby any earlier. Sure enough shortly after that train had departed came the news that my train would not run. Needless to say, my next journey from Euston to Rugby was booked with their rivals.
I hope Avanti have offered them some basic retraining in Customer Facing Skills when forced to keep them in their employ.
I hope Avanti have offered them some basic retraining in Customer Facing Skills when forced to keep them in their employ.
bramling
Veteran Member
One presumes a large part of the justification for these manual checks is to prevent people with service-specific advances getting on the wrong train, which if nothing else significantly reduces potential hassle and conflict for on-train staff.
How about doing away with such tickets and removing the root cause of the problem?
The problem we have here is that some people refuse to accept the fact of the matter: there are times when the staff get it wrong. People can deny that if they wish to but that does not change anything.
Staff must not make any errors detrimental to the customer when working on revenue protection. This isn't unusual or controversial, it's just the way that it is.
Other criticisms of the London Euston staff aren't something I have seen for myself.
Staff must not make any errors detrimental to the customer when working on revenue protection. This isn't unusual or controversial, it's just the way that it is.
Other criticisms of the London Euston staff aren't something I have seen for myself.
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As I understand it, this complies with the company policy, in that the customer shouldn't always be given the option of minimising their delay in arrival time. They would prefer, if your booked service is still running, that you are late. Certainly this is what they have told me in the past when I've asked. It remains to be seen if this will change.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
If you'd actually read this and previous threads you'd know that no, it is not the same thing. Some of these staff often reject valid tickets or combinations thereof, and can often be rude to passengers. It is a requirement of professionalism that staff should not be rude to passengers under any circumstances whatsoever, even if they are in receipt of a tirade of abuse from a passenger.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Even in such circumstances, it is not acceptable for them to be rude to passengers. Police Officers are not generally rude when arresting a criminal.
If they aren't able to do that with the appropriate training and support, they need to find a different job.
There are no circumstances whatsoever under which it is, for instance, acceptable for a public facing member of railway staff in uniform to use a swear word, even a mild one, in any context whatsoever.
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