Regarding the machine opposite the ticket office at Bingley station...
One Friday I was heading to Leeds having finished work nearby at 15:30. The next train to Leeds would depart at 16:07 so I'd need a peak ticket (peak kicks in at 16:00) but because it wasn't yet 16:00 the machine defaulted to offering an off peak ticket. I knew I'd need a peak ticket so I navigated to the sub-menu where I could select a peak ticket but, even then, it gave me a warning that a cheaper ticket was available and tried to sell me an off peak ticket! In the end I started to doubt myself, gave up, and went to the ticket office to buy one instead. I'm a relatively train savvy person but I can imagine someone less so ending up with the wrong ticket due to the poor UX of these machines and then, no doubt, being treated like they're trying to pull a fast one once they present their ticket for examination to the conductor on the train.
Also, it doesn't appear possible to pay with contactless on this machine. There's a panel with a contactless symbol on it and it appears to light up blue when you reach the payment stage, but presenting my card or my phone to the panel results in nothing happening. It might not sound like much but, during the morning rush when a lot of people are queueing to buy tickets, the ability, or otherwise, to pay with contactless might be the difference between some people in the queue catching or missing their train.
Northernman talked earlier in the thread of focus groups and stakeholder groups but do they employ User Researchers, UX Designers and conduct any user testing with real users? This kind of forward thinking, user-centric approach is highly prevalent in the tech sector but in well established (read old fashioned and slow to evolve) sectors, such as transport, that are increasingly (and somewhat reluctantly it would appear) using tech, it doesn't appear to have sunk in yet.