Rail Staff Reject Online Tickets

[Coxster]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6131498.stm

Rail staff reject online tickets

Ticketing staff at rail firm GNER are to take industrial action, claiming the company is unfairly imposing job cuts.

The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) says GNER refuses to discuss plans to close ticket counters.

GNER says it expects to reduce staffing over the next five years but that there would be no compulsory redundancies.

From Friday, TSSA members will refuse to issue tickets bought online, and customers must collect them from automated ticketing machines.

The industrial action will continue indefinitely.

TSSA spokesman Brian Brock said: "We are a union that has never been opposed to progress but GNER has not been willing to sit down and discuss the changes with us.

'Invested £1m'

"We have been trying to discuss this with GNER since April without any success, and what we have found is that the company is actually forcing changes by closing windows and counters, and putting more fast ticket machines in."

GNER spokesman John Gelson denied the company was forcing through job cuts or closing ticket counters.

He said: "At Durham we've invested just over £1m in refurbishing and rebuilding a new travel centre, which we wouldn't be doing if we were in the business of cutting such services.

"There is a real shift towards online custom across the entire service sector. It's not unique to the rail system.

"I can't say nobody will lose their jobs, but I can say we expect to achieve any reduction in numbers through natural turnover or voluntary redeployment."

 

[compsci]

I'm thankful that I've already got my tickets to go home at Christmas. Assuming that this is referring to staff not printing and posting online tickets (the title actually suggests that guards will be throwing people off trains), how is a passenger starting their journey at a non GNER station such as Cambridge supposed to collect a ticket which includes connecting travel?

 

[gordonthemoron]

I'm thankful that I've already got my tickets to go home at Christmas. Assuming that this is referring to staff not printing and posting online tickets (the title actually suggests that guards will be throwing people off trains), how is a passenger starting their journey at a non GNER station such as Cambridge supposed to collect a ticket which includes connecting travel?

You can also collect GNER tickets from ticket machines in non-GNER stations, e.g. Nottingham

 

[metrocammel]

I'm thankful that I've already got my tickets to go home at Christmas. Assuming that this is referring to staff not printing and posting online tickets (the title actually suggests that guards will be throwing people off trains), how is a passenger starting their journey at a non GNER station such as Cambridge supposed to collect a ticket which includes connecting travel?

That makes little, or no sense!

If your starting your journey at Cambridge, you will either a) (if they have a fasticket) choose to collect them there, or b) (if they dont have a FT) get them posted to your house.
The article says nowhere that "call-centre" offices (where the tickets are printed, to be posted to your house) (as the majority of them are operated by 3rd pary companies, eg The Trainline) will not post tickets. I think it just means that if your turn up to a station, they will tell you to go to a fast-ticket (whereas at the moment, it is possible to go to a ticket window and collect your tickets- but a bit silly as it defeats the object of no queues!)

 

[gordonthemoron]

However somtimes (especially Nottingham for some reason) the Fastticket machine is broken. Or the ticket type can't be handled by the machine, GNER advances used to be labelled BUS for some reason.

Then you have to ask at the ticket window

 

[afterburner]

Glad they've already sent me my tickets for my upcoming trip to York then!

Guess GNER are looking to save money wherever they can these days...

 

[66526]

What about people liek me with privs? What do they intend to do about that?

 

[Tom]

James, remember you can buy (pretty much) any type of ticket for any journey from any station. I believe you live in the Southampton area and SWT are keeping on quite a lot of ticket staff so you can purchase there!

 

[yorkie]

If you are unable to collect your ticket, you then simply travel anyway. Quote the ref no to the guard. If no-one wants to issue the ticket that's up to them. But once you've been charged the TOC(s) have entered into a contract and cannot just terminate that contract at a whim.

if any guard refuses to accept a ref no, simply refuse to pay, get an unpaid fares notice and then refuse to pay that. Having spoken to people who have been unfairly issued unpaid fare notices, I now realise that if you refuse to pay for a good reason then that'll be the end of it.

 

[yorkie]

What about people liek me with privs? What do they intend to do about that?

As far as I know they are not available online anyway, so it's not applicable.

 

[TheSlash]

This looks like a case for Ticketman......

 

[metrocammel]

What about people liek me with privs? What do they intend to do about that?

As Yorkie said, you cannot buy them online, so you are not affected, just go to your ticket office (but not travel-agent, as they cannot (should not?) sell privilege tickets) as usual and buy your ticket.