Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
They can be as grumpy as they like provided they don't reject valid tickets.
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Why are Euston gateline staff so hostile?
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Bantamzen
Established Member
A unhappy team is more liable to make mistakes, or at the very least be less receptive when challenged by a passenger holding a valid ticket.
matt_world2004
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London Midland and London Overground seem to not have this problem
Grumpy Git
On Moderation
Last time I travelled to Euston on a LNW advance cheapo, the automatic barrier at Euston refused to recognise the QR code. This was despite the train guard having checked it OK en-route. The gate line staff at Euston did say something to me at the time, but as they opened the barrier without any real fuss I don't recall what they said.
Revaulx
Member
If not it soon will be. The Bree Louise has gone already
The Great Hall was fabulous for the first 12 to 15 years or so of its existence. The rot set in in the 80s when it got cluttered up with “retail units” and associated detritus. Most have now gone, but the impression of light and space hasn’t been recovered due to the insertion of the mezzanine floor.
Even in its halcyon days the station had major shortcomings. The platforms have always been vile, and access to Euston Square underground atrocious.
Oh undoubtedly. Even without it I think the station would still struggle though; the number of passengers has now increased to the extent that all the facilities (tube access; taxi rank etc.) are now inadequate.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
One of the gates at Euston has a broken barcode reader, I failed to open the gate with it this morning.
Dont think ive ever had a QR code that works at barriers.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Mine generally do.
A quick reset by staff usually fixes it or its not always the barrier it could be something as simple as a fingerprint on phone screen meaning code can't be fully scanned or phone screen not bright enough
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I do find that the laser barcode scanners that almost all gates use to be quite awkward to use. I don't get why a camera wasn't used, it works much better that way as the screen brightness is less of an issue.
I don't know what ones they have at Peterborough, but they've always worked particularly well for me. To the point that I've been standing there not realising that the barriers have remained open for me!
cjmillsnun
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And here is the other issue. The Euston scrum can be avoided. Not announcing platforms until a few minutes before boarding despite the train being at the platform for at least half an hour means people mill about in the concourse waiting for their train to be boarding. It’s not just Euston. It’s likely all the London termini.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Most London termini do it, as do a few other termini. Not all do, though - most notably Manchester Picc doesn't and gets on just fine without it.
Euston hasn't always done it for local services - in Silverlink days those platforms were always shown. Those are worse, as unlike VT nobody has a reservation as they don't exist.
Weirdly, Inverness does it, but the result isn't a scrum. It's a very long, orderly queue with an entire trainload of passengers across the entire station concourse. Nobody dares cut into it, either - I've never seen anything quite like it.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Doesn't happen any more since they installed automatic barriers and started suppressing platform numbers, and has now reverted to a Euston style scrum. I agree it was the height of civility. It could be done easily at Euston (provided the ramps are strong enough, if not they could be reinforced) by keeping the doors closed and having Tensabarriers there to queue in.
Out of curiosity what is the reason(s) for not announcing platforms earlier? I’d always assumed (rightly or wrongly) it was to allow for quicker servicing/cleaning/etc before return journeys without passengers boarding, and to ensure crew had a sufficient rest break.
One (good) reason for doing this is if a train is late on its inbound journey - it avoids the inevitable crush when inbound passengers alight onto a platform thronging with outbounds.
E6007
Member
"We're sorry for the late boarding of your train but it was delayed on its inbound journey. It has now arrived in the station and is being cleaned and prepared for your journey. Please remain on the concourse and await further announcements".
Otherwise we'd be moaning about the train not being prepared properly and reservations not loaded!
But if they announced that you’d be there banging on the doors before wheels stopped turning, as it arrived into the “usual platform”.
That’s why they keep you guessing
.Just found an old text on my phone that I was clearing up, deleting stuff, a text from VT from April 2016 that my (12.30) train from Euston to Glasgow) was available to board, this text was sent 25 minutes before departure, did this practice continue?..
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
There are a few reasons.
One is to let the incoming passengers off before people start crowding the doors.
Another is so the train can be cleaned without said people crowding the doors getting in the way. Though that dates back to non-locking slamdoor stock - these days you could let everyone off, lock the doors and then call the platform, which for Euston would be maybe 20 minutes before. That wouldn't result in a massive rush (just as it doesn't when a LNR is called that early) - people wander down in dribs and drabs and wait by a door for them to be released. If you didn't put "boarding"[1] up until the doors were released, more people wouldn't either.
A third is to allow the reservations to be placed - but now they're electronic they place themselves without anyone boarding getting in the way. You do risk having to move if the seat comes up reserved, but that's no great issue and if you go for coach C or if applicable U you won't.
Mind you, the cleaning isn't intensive, it's not like it's any more than a quick litter sweep, and at Manchester Picc it's done with people already on board. Though typically two or even all three sets are there at once (the one in less than 20 minutes, the one in 20-40 minutes, and the one in 40-60 minutes) so in practice it's only people wanting specific intermediate stations who will board one really early.
I really see very little practical reason why Euston couldn't move to putting platforms up as soon as the inbound train has tipped out and people have left the platform. With some effort and maybe work on the ramps, they could have a Tensabarrier queue on the ramp (a bit like Inverness) which would be better still.
[1] Does anyone hate how airlines have changed the meaning of that word away from, er, boarding?
Thanks for the info - apologies, I should have stated my curiosity was about what caused delayed platform number announcements after incoming passengers had disembarked.
It's been a long time since I last experienced the Euston scrum, although as has been said previously this situation is not unique to Euston. It has been a problem for as long as I remember though, albeit may be much worse now.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
An 11 car Pendolino seats far more people than an 8-car Mk3 formation...
They also do it for local services now, which they didn't used to, certainly back when the local services were basically their own separate station operating only from P8-11, which doesn't work now there are more 12-car formations which don't fit in 9 or 10.
The layout makes it worse at Euston though, I think - at pretty much any other London terminal you can go through any of several automatic gates and filter across to your platform after that point - it's only Euston isn't it that funnels people down the ramps like that.
Why is Euston like that anyway, with the platforms below the level of the concourse?
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The lie of the land, probably. Mind you, only to an extent. The concourse is up on stilts, the platforms are at the level of the surrounding roads.
The only station I can think of that was borderline similar in layout was the old New St, which had one gateline and didn't engage in the practice.
Jamesrob637
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Staff on the ramp to P14 at Euston were fine Wednesday evening. Staff out of one of the low-numbered platforms Tuesday morning were not friendly, just indifferent. Overall a fairly pleasant experience.
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