The policies of First Capital Connect seem to be becoming more obnoxious by the day...
The latest imposition is that the automated barrier at Bedford (and presumably other Thameslink stations) has been rigged to decline all railcard discounted tickets. Put one through, and it flashes a 'seek assistance' message. At Bedford, this usually means retrieving the gate staff from somewhere a good distance away: be it the thermally-heated biscuit station in the corner of the concourse; or the platform, where staff are usually advising passengers bewildered by the desperately poor and ineffectual platform display boards.
Notwithstanding the fact that to abandon the automatic gate when closed is a breach of the TOC's Heath & Safety case (and therefore their franchise), this also slows down passengers. I have on a number of occasions in the last fortnight come close to missing a train because of these delays; compounded by the additional delays caused by the station having too few ticket windows open, and not enough ticket machines to meet the ensuing demand. There are further issues with staff being trained not to sell the cheapest tickets on some routes, and ticket machines not being set up to sell these.
All of these issues are down to one thing: FCC cutting staff to maximise profits. From travels with other TOCs which employ train managers to check tickets on-board, I'm not aware of any widespread railcard fraud. And on the occasions when I've encountered FCC's on-board roving RPIs, I've never seen someone brought up for travelling on a discounted ticket without a railcard (I'd be interested to hear from FCC RPIs on just how widespread this fraud is).
Today I was chased by the Bedford gate man who, having already let me through the gate, demanded to see my Network Card when I was half-way to the platform. By this stage I was already running for a train over the bridge, and had no intention of missing it simply to show him it (especially as I was catching a different TOC's train, in the full knowledge that my ticket and railcard would be checked on board - which they were).
Is there anything that can be done about all this?
The latest imposition is that the automated barrier at Bedford (and presumably other Thameslink stations) has been rigged to decline all railcard discounted tickets. Put one through, and it flashes a 'seek assistance' message. At Bedford, this usually means retrieving the gate staff from somewhere a good distance away: be it the thermally-heated biscuit station in the corner of the concourse; or the platform, where staff are usually advising passengers bewildered by the desperately poor and ineffectual platform display boards.
Notwithstanding the fact that to abandon the automatic gate when closed is a breach of the TOC's Heath & Safety case (and therefore their franchise), this also slows down passengers. I have on a number of occasions in the last fortnight come close to missing a train because of these delays; compounded by the additional delays caused by the station having too few ticket windows open, and not enough ticket machines to meet the ensuing demand. There are further issues with staff being trained not to sell the cheapest tickets on some routes, and ticket machines not being set up to sell these.
All of these issues are down to one thing: FCC cutting staff to maximise profits. From travels with other TOCs which employ train managers to check tickets on-board, I'm not aware of any widespread railcard fraud. And on the occasions when I've encountered FCC's on-board roving RPIs, I've never seen someone brought up for travelling on a discounted ticket without a railcard (I'd be interested to hear from FCC RPIs on just how widespread this fraud is).
Today I was chased by the Bedford gate man who, having already let me through the gate, demanded to see my Network Card when I was half-way to the platform. By this stage I was already running for a train over the bridge, and had no intention of missing it simply to show him it (especially as I was catching a different TOC's train, in the full knowledge that my ticket and railcard would be checked on board - which they were).
Is there anything that can be done about all this?
