I'm wondering at what point will customer convenience stop taking second place to revenue protection.
* Yesterday morning at 08:50 I couldn't buy an Offpeak ticket from a Ticket Machine for a off-peak 09:00. So after queuing at the ticket machines, I then had to queue at the manned desk. The lady said it was because there was still a fast (peak) train.
* Ticket barriers - Always fun queuing at them at under-provisioned stations when you're on a busy train. Also being shepparded all the way around the station to go through them rather than use the nearby exit which doesn't have barriers and is thus closed to the public (sometimes excepting peak times) is also fun!
* Queues of 40+ people waiting at what passes for "unpaid fares" (a single guy standing next to the disabled/bike gate with one of those hand-held things).
* Not being able to get out of the gates at 09:25 because your train is earlier than usual and your ticket is off-peak.
* Being woken (or interrupted) by ticket inspectors, sometimes repeatedly if the inspector changes during the journey.
I get that there are people who don't pay fares, but this lot must cost a fortune - not just for the "revenue protection" folks and kit, but also time wasted for the passengers. Given a large chunk of the railways is public subsidy anyway, this seems rather wasteful.
Any other examples of where revenue protection comes first?
* Yesterday morning at 08:50 I couldn't buy an Offpeak ticket from a Ticket Machine for a off-peak 09:00. So after queuing at the ticket machines, I then had to queue at the manned desk. The lady said it was because there was still a fast (peak) train.
* Ticket barriers - Always fun queuing at them at under-provisioned stations when you're on a busy train. Also being shepparded all the way around the station to go through them rather than use the nearby exit which doesn't have barriers and is thus closed to the public (sometimes excepting peak times) is also fun!
* Queues of 40+ people waiting at what passes for "unpaid fares" (a single guy standing next to the disabled/bike gate with one of those hand-held things).
* Not being able to get out of the gates at 09:25 because your train is earlier than usual and your ticket is off-peak.
* Being woken (or interrupted) by ticket inspectors, sometimes repeatedly if the inspector changes during the journey.
I get that there are people who don't pay fares, but this lot must cost a fortune - not just for the "revenue protection" folks and kit, but also time wasted for the passengers. Given a large chunk of the railways is public subsidy anyway, this seems rather wasteful.
Any other examples of where revenue protection comes first?