ToD System Failure (19/02/2019)

[mallard]

The BBC is reporting a "nationwide" failure of the Ticket on Departure system this morning:

Several rail firms are reporting problems with pre-paid ticket collection from machines across the country.

Greater Anglia, Thameslink, Stansted Express, Southern, Southeastern, and ScotRail all confirmed the issue had been affecting passengers on Tuesday.

The usual failures in railway information dissemination are, of course, shown in the article (e.g. the LNWR poster about "advanced" tickets; the issue seems to apply to all ToD tickets, not just Advance fares). There are also problems with the mooted "solution" of showing a proof-of-purchase; the chances of all guards/RPIs in the country being briefed about the problem are exactly nil, and what happens if you're going for, say, a week away to a destination station without pickup facilities? While you might be able to complete your outward journey with just the confirmation, the return is unlikely to be without hassle...

 

[alistairlees]

It was all sorted by 10 so hopefully the impact was not too great. I do agree with you regarding clarity of communication though. The LNWR notice was particularly poor. It should be quite easy to have a ready made “facilities to pick up tickets bought online are not currently available at our ticket machines. Please collect from the ticket office or, if there is not enough time, board your train and staff will be happy to help you.” Text available free to anyone to use!

 

[Llanigraham]

It was all sorted by 10 so hopefully the impact was not too great. I do agree with you regarding clarity of communication though. The LNWR notice was particularly poor. It should be quite easy to have a ready made “facilities to pick up tickets bought online are not currently available at our ticket machines. Please collect from the ticket office or, if there is not enough time, board your train and staff will be happy to help you.” Text available free to anyone to use!

How are they going to do that when they don't have the mobile number for most passengers?

 

[alistairlees]

How are they going to do that when they don't have the mobile number for most passengers?

I meant that I didn’t mind if TOCs used the text I had written and stuck it on their machines, to improve on the lnwr notice. It was fairly tongue in cheek.

 

[fgwrich]

I noticed the issue starting to develop when I had to collect my tickets at my local station on Monday (SWR). A lot of passengers were finding the TOD / Collection systems had failed, including myself. Thankfully one of GWRs machines at my next stop allowed me to have my tickets, but I could see others struggling with theirs. Coupled with the "Broken Down Freight" on the SWML, it didn't make for a fun Monday morning!

 

[185]

Does anyone know who the blame for this sits with? RDG (Atoc) mention a vague service provider being to blame with a server fault, is it either Schiedt & Bachmann or ATOS?

If it's S&B, I think it's time DfT or RDG took legal action as this is becoming a regular thing now with either payment authorisation or this.

 

[bubieyehyeh]

In the past I've seen the collect option greyed out before on S&B machines, which the ticket office said was due to lack of internet connection, due to the ADSL router locking up every few hours.

I encountered this issue on the 19th, but the ticket office were able to print my ticket.

 

[causton]

If it's S&B, I think it's time DfT or RDG took legal action as this is becoming a regular thing now with either payment authorisation or this.

It is not them, it is a third party. And I think it would be down to the TOCs and their individual contracts with S&B/Atos about their TVMs failing which is a separate issue to the ToD failures.

 

[noddingdonkey]

How are they going to do that when they don't have the mobile number for most passengers?

Although the sites that sold the ToD tickets will have contact details. It shouldn't be beyond them to identify uncollected tickets for departure on a given day and email/text the purchaser with specific information.