I think the only thing we can't do I'd put a big cross on it as that means its void, there are many endorsments which we are told to make if the passenger has no railcard, often if my service is late I will put headcode on and write service was late for passengers with connections. I admit the squiggles don't look professional (I tend to put a line through the date or circle it) but until my TOC invest in the ink stampers its the best I can do
Condition 23. If a ticket has been damaged or has been tampered with or altered in any way, it is not valid for travel.
Whats your regular route?
Condition 23 is for things like this:
http://matthew-taylor.fotopic.net/p55442954.html
I check hundreds of tickets each day and don't have a problem differentiating between a ticket that has been marked by a member of staff and a ticket that has been altered/tampered with.
That is one of the most ridiculous conditions I have ever come across. Damaged when a small corner is mis-torn off the ticket machine? Damaged because it got wet in the pouring rain on a platform where there was no shelter? Altered in any way - by an official writing on it, or is that tampering? It is yet another example of an attempt to address a "problem" without putting any thought into what the problem is or whether there is a more reasonable solution.Condition 23. If a ticket has been damaged or has been tampered with or altered in any way, it is not valid for travel.
That is one of the most ridiculous conditions I have ever come across. Damaged when a small corner is mis-torn off the ticket machine? Damaged because it got wet in the pouring rain on a platform where there was no shelter? Altered in any way - by an official writing on it, or is that tampering? It is yet another example of an attempt to address a "problem" without putting any thought into what the problem is or whether there is a more reasonable solution.
Looking at tickets in my pocket I can find: circled dates; a sprawling "Z" mark; something that looks like a Greek "phi"; a squiggle; and a cross written without taking the pen off the paper so with lots of extra bits. There is NO standard mark, nothing to tell the customer what it means, nothing to tell other staff what it means. All it can legitimately convey is that someone with a pen has written on the ticket. I do have one with a clipper mark on it; it has the date of inspection (and the train number, though that is perhaps gibberish to the customer).
When will the people who create these conditions and implement these systems realise that the customer is not the enemy, and that if better thought out systems were in place a lot of the problems at the customer/railways interface would vanish?
the customer is not the enemy,
Date and headcode is a useful endorsement - just some random scrawl could've been done by a 5 year old tells me nothing!
I sort of agree but try writing all of those on everyticket on a 4 car set with stations every two minutes hence the quick squiggle unless a passenger is going further
Yes - that is the key. How many of the customer relations problems on the railways would vanish if this little bit were to be addressed.:roll:.... The problem is from TOC to TOC and even within that TOC (depot to depot), there is no set proceed ...
I generally wont mark a long distance ticket unless the journey is being finished on my particular service. The bigger problem where i am is people re-using their outward portion of day returns later on. I come across this every day, though it is more prevalent on the backshift. If i mark someones return portion and they hand me the used outward also, i'll mark that too. I won't even go into flexi passes, but they take up far more of my commercial duties time than they should!
Is it an official TOC policy to give you a biro rather than a stamp/clipper? If I have broken my journey, how would the second guard do his 3 year old impressions, presumably find a different coloured pen?
I am surprised the flexipasses are not included in the smart ticketing trail on the e&g it would solve fraud on them instantly. No check and check out = large fine. Problem solved!
...we could go like the continent and make passengers stamp there own tickets prior to joining the train to make sure they had a proper stamp on.
Is it an official TOC policy to give you a biro rather than a stamp/clipper? If I have broken my journey, how would the second guard do his 3 year old impressions, presumably find a different coloured pen?
Can someone tell me which issue of RAIL is being talked about here, and what page it is on? I'm looking at the Fare Dealer in RAIL 656 (the latest issue) and I can't see anything remotely matching this discussion.
Imagine doing York-Brum and didn't want to be ripped off, you'd have to have card readers at the platform, step off the train at Sheffield & Derby and touch the readers and get back on! It would save hassle at the ticket office, but create hassle at the splitting points. Not sure how it'd work with seasons! (The equivalent of an OEP perhaps?!).I think eventually a smart card ticketing system will win out but it will take a while.
It's in 655.
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Imagine doing York-Brum and didn't want to be ripped off, you'd have to have card readers at the platform, step off the train at Sheffield & Derby and touch the readers and get back on! It would save hassle at the ticket office, but create hassle at the splitting points. Not sure how it'd work with seasons! (The equivalent of an OEP perhaps?!).
Why not write 'after x', where x is the last station the train stopped at? Anything else only proves that the ticket was used as far as the first station after the origin shown on the ticket.
Or, even better, something which automatically printed that.
I am surprised the flexipasses are not included in the smart ticketing trail on the e&g it would solve fraud on them instantly. No check and check out = large fine. Problem solved!
They are NOT ticket stampers, they are just an item of stationery! A hole means nothing to the hardened try-it-on brigade. (and I too have seen these "didcot" chippings fly off in all sorts of directions towards other seated punters. . . they'll have somebody's eye out soon!!).Officially at our depot we are supposed to use our hole punch BUT they are cheap £1.50 ones which aren't good for the job, they jam and start spitting the punched holes back after the 20th or so one
Here are four different styles of clipping a ticket by marking:
1) Unprofessional scribble - though a lot neater than most - tells absolutely nothing about the usage.
2) Ticket used on two different trains on the same route, having changed from one to the other. Very clear marking with both headcodes legible. Very professional looking and fully informative.
3) Date, but no headcode. Not very informative, but still very clear and professional.
4) Circular stamp - no date. Sort of half way house in terms of image and information, I think.