Passengers denied boarding at Blackpool North?

[bramling]

We should preserve the archaic method of operation for future generations to enjoy!

It feels like a timewarp for sure. At the end of the day other seaside stations seem to manage otherwise, so the onus is kind of on Blackpool North to justify why they need to operate differently.

I find Skegness equally infuriating, however I can sort of see why it happens there - and I've always got the feeling the staff there do make some attempt to get people onto the train as soon as they can having done everything which needs doing. I'm not sure that's always the case at Blackpool.

 

[Starmill]

Are tickets to Blackpool North valid to and from Blackpool South?

Officially this is not permitted. In practice you may be let off.

Or is the real reason for the gates simply that the train service to Blackpool North isn't adequate enough to cope with demand?

In general the train service is adequate for the numbers travelling, when all four trains per hour are running. It's just that some trains may be full and standing. It's difficult to see what the problem is with a train being full and standing however.

 

[bramling]

Oban has a gate which can be locked to prevent access to the platform.

But they usually unlock it in plenty of time before departure, and in any cases Oban doesn't have the crowds that Blackpool North has.

I was in Brighton in August this year, and the town was very busy, with a traffic jam around the station. A station like Brighton can get just as busy as Blackpool North during the peak season.

At Brighton, there are automatic ticket gates, and platforms are announced in plenty of time, so that people can board safely in a controlled manner. The train disappears from the departures screen about a minute beforehand, so that the train can depart on time.

Is there any reason why such a set up won't work at Blackpool North?

Or is the real reason for the gates simply that the train service to Blackpool North isn't adequate enough to cope with demand?

If this is the case, is there any scope for making more use of the Blackpool South line, at least for people travelling to Preston?

Are tickets to Blackpool North valid to and from Blackpool South?

If not perhaps they should be.

I suspect the real reason is because "this is how we've always done things here".

My impression is there's sufficient capacity *most* of the time to/from Blackpool, but no doubt this will be exceeded at times such as if the weather is fine. I suppose a load of heavily drunk people all trying to cram into a Sprinter is never going to be ideal, but it happens elsewhere. I'm not convinces having loads of heavily drunk people crammed into the station building is a particularly good solution.

 

[Taunton]

Surely the guard would have spoke to someone or contacted control before setting off empty?

Paranoia about on time departure and not having a delay booked against you trumps all that.

London Marylebone has been the same, trains setting off with nobody admitted yet, particularly at the end of the evening peak. Where there are trains double banked in a platform, the second one is not announced until the first one departs. However the platform allocation seems unaware of this, and there are occasions where the second one is departing only three minutes after the first, and worse from the "new" platforms on the left which only start a full train length beyond the barrier. If the indicator staff are distracted for a moment in putting it up, driver gets a green, departure time, off we go ...

 

[greyman42]

Staff with that sort of attitude are likely to end up being physically assaulted. It shouldn't happen but all too easily could.

With very little sympathy from the public.

 

[Elecman]

Are tickets to Blackpool North valid to and from Blackpool South?

If not perhaps they should be.

No they aren’t technically valid

 

[Fokx]

Are tickets to Blackpool North valid to and from Blackpool South?

Officially this is not permitted. In practice you may be let off.

No they aren’t technically valid

However, and speaking from experience most change of route excess fare tickets for longer distance stations will result in a excess fare of £0.00, and the passenger doesn’t have to use it

The remedy for this is replacing the automatic ticket gate check with the manual one. You don't do both.

Nothing to say you can’t do both

 

[Wolfie]

Paranoia about on time departure and not having a delay booked against you trumps all that.

London Marylebone has been the same, trains setting off with nobody admitted yet, particularly at the end of the evening peak. Where there are trains double banked in a platform, the second one is not announced until the first one departs. However the platform allocation seems unaware of this, and there are occasions where the second one is departing only three minutes after the first, and worse from the "new" platforms on the left which only start a full train length beyond the barrier. If the indicator staff are distracted for a moment in putting it up, driver gets a green, departure time, off we go ...

The railway being run for the benefit of passengers....NOT

 

[paul1609]

The remedy for this is replacing the automatic ticket gate check with the manual one. You don't do both.

With the multitude of ticketing systems in use now a inspection by revenue staff may not end route your journey correctly. For instance with Keygo on GTR you will not be charged correctly if you don't pass through the barriers. I think its just simpler to leave the barriers In use.

 

[Wolfie]

With the multitude of ticketing systems in use now a inspection by revenue staff may not end route your journey correctly. For instance with Keygo on GTR you will not be charged correctly if you don't pass through the barriers. I think its just simpler to leave the barriers In use.

True enough. Barriers being out causes problems for Oyster too for example.

 

[Scotrail314209]

I forgot if some Scottish termini work in a similar way. I've seen barriers at both Inverness and Fort William, but not sure if this is just for revenue purposes.

Inverness staff can be a bit rude at times, had a bad experience before with some agency gateline staff who clearly didn't know the rules.

Fort William has the barriers to separate Mallaig/Glasgow passengers from the Jacobite service.

 

[Platform1]

There is a (closed) thread:

Blackpool North: The most unfriendly station in the country?​

A post from @38Cto15E (#494)

Not surprised. Used BPN twice in the last month and found it an organisational shambles. And staff mostly charmless patronising jobsworths

 

[Vespa]

Get rid of all the current staff top to bottom at BPN, bring in a more customer focused staff then the BPN experiece would be better, otherwise you have two alternatives arrive BPN and leave from Blackpool South then change at Preston or drive up and park somewhere with cheap or free parking.

 

[Roast Veg]

Yep Skegness did last time I traveled to & from there (not for pleasure I assure you)

My experience at Skegness was pleasant. Held in a sensible queue, passengers off, passengers on.

 

[nanstallon]

"I've got a job for life. The public can get stuffed".

While the government subsidises TOCs and bales them out so there are no consequences for failure such as redundancy without a pay-off, you're going to get this British customer non-service mentality for ever.

 

[pdeaves]

"I've got a job for life. The public can get stuffed".

While the government subsidises TOCs and bales them out so there are no consequences for failure such as redundancy without a pay-off, you're going to get this British customer non-service mentality for ever.

Northern is now nationalised/in public control/(name it how you will). If they can't fix the problem, be careful what you wish for if you (plural, not you specifically) want more nationalisation!

 

[Welly]

Let's rename Blackpool North as Blackhole North...

 

[Gathursty]

I wonder if there is a link with the mass of stag and hen do participants that can misbehave after alcohol as well as other silly behaviour from a minority of tourists in Blackpool and the cold nature of the Northern team at Blackpool North: ie: Have the Northern staff at Blackpool lost their friendly nature because of the minority that spoil it for others?

 

[Wolfie]

I wonder if there is a link with the mass of stag and hen do participants that can misbehave after alcohol as well as other silly behaviour from a minority of tourists in Blackpool and the cold nature of the Northern team at Blackpool North: ie: Have the Northern staff at Blackpool lost their friendly nature because of the minority that spoil it for others?

I can certainly imagine that they have their fair share of AHs to deal with. However, they shouldn't take it out on everyone, particularly at quieter times....

 

[Ianno87]

I wonder if there is a link with the mass of stag and hen do participants that can misbehave after alcohol as well as other silly behaviour from a minority of tourists in Blackpool and the cold nature of the Northern team at Blackpool North: ie: Have the Northern staff at Blackpool lost their friendly nature because of the minority that spoil it for others?

I can certainly imagine that they have their fair share of AHs to deal with. However, they shouldn't take it out on everyone, particularly at quieter times....

Blackpool is probably not much different to other towns/cities for such things.

 

[Wolfie]

Blackpool is probably not much different to other towns/cities for such things.

I would imagine that it is potentially much worse, particularly in the summer and at weekends.

 

[Sm5]

Let's rename Blackpool North as Blackhole North...

They smoke something different in Blackpool..



So it probably explains why they think differently.

Blackpool North has always treated passengers like groupies waiting to see the band when it comes to boarding, all my life, so its going back to the 1970’s and class 104’s Or class 40’s.

I was told it was a policy to lock doors as a result of last minute passengers running to slam door stock as the train was already on the way out, and the advance queuing was to prevent overcrowding at Blackpool North stopping passengers at other stations enroute boarding During illuminations, weekends and holiday seasons... on balance crowd control at Blackpool North has some sense to it, no other station, except maybe Brighton has this..but Brighton equally has a much bigger station, more trains and longer trains than Blackpool.

I have seen fights break out onboard trains at Blackpool with police called where crowd control wasn't observed, resulting in arrests and delayed trains.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The only reason the passenger guard exists is passengers. Thus, that is too simplistic a view.

That view leads to "let's leave the wheelchair user behind so the train isn't late".

Paranoia about on time departure and not having a delay booked against you trumps all that.

London Marylebone has been the same, trains setting off with nobody admitted yet, particularly at the end of the evening peak. Where there are trains double banked in a platform, the second one is not announced until the first one departs. However the platform allocation seems unaware of this, and there are occasions where the second one is departing only three minutes after the first, and worse from the "new" platforms on the left which only start a full train length beyond the barrier. If the indicator staff are distracted for a moment in putting it up, driver gets a green, departure time, off we go ...

DOO drivers can be excused for this as they have more to deal with than guards and aren't really watching boarding in and of itself. But isn't Marylebone dispatched? If dispatchers are not dealing with this situation this is more of the same problem - if there's something that doesn't look right....

I wonder if there is a link with the mass of stag and hen do participants that can misbehave after alcohol as well as other silly behaviour from a minority of tourists in Blackpool and the cold nature of the Northern team at Blackpool North: ie: Have the Northern staff at Blackpool lost their friendly nature because of the minority that spoil it for others?

I don't think anyone is asking them to be friendly and wish everyone a nice day, just to operate the station in keeping with normal railway operating practices.

 

[Gathursty]

I don't think anyone is asking them to be friendly and wish everyone a nice day, just to operate the station in keeping with normal railway operating practices.

I think my use of friendly was poor. I'll try to be more clearer. I'm suggesting that due to the tide of miscreants that turn up in Blackpool, I think the Northern staff rightly or wrongly have become embittered and hard-nosed and are keeping all passengers at arms length to save the hassle from the few idiots that use the station but in doing so tar all passengers with the same brush leading to weird practices as already described.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think my use of friendly was poor. I'll try to be more clearer. I'm suggesting that due to the tide of miscreants that turn up in Blackpool, I think the Northern staff rightly or wrongly have become embittered and hard-nosed and are keeping all passengers at arms length to save the hassle from the few idiots that use the station but in doing so tar all passengers with the same brush leading to weird practices as already described.

Surely the best way to get rid of passengers is to get them on trains as quickly and efficiently as possible?

 

[Gathursty]

Surely the best way to get rid of passengers is to get them on trains as quickly and efficiently as possible?

I agree. I'm just trying to see the issue from Northern's side. As a passenger, I'd prefer to be on the train as soon as possible. I can see how from Northern's point of view, its easier to deal with idiots if they are in a station building than the platform area, especially one which is electrified.

I wonder if lessons can be learned from Southend Victoria or Clacton-on-Sea which I assume are similar to Blackpool North in that they must attract similar passengers and are both electrified and staffed termini.

 

[XAM2175]

They smoke something different in Blackpool..

Is this meant to be a joke? Because the enormous photograph shows a completely normal sign.

 

[py_megapixel]

Is this meant to be a joke? Because the enormous photograph shows a completely normal sign.

"e-cigatetes"

 

[XAM2175]

"e-cigatetes"

Ahh.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

"e-cigatettes"

Actual signage or photo-shopped?