Another thread has prompted me to ask whether any ticket vending machines in the UK allow you to purchase tickets from a station other than the one at which the TVM is located? If not (and I have never seen any), why not ?
Having been in Germany for the last few days I noticed that it was possible to buy a ticket from any station at the TVMs, and for dates in the future as well. (As an aside, you can also print out your itinerary with details of arrival and departure platforms at all points where a train change was needed.) Even at busy stations such as Frankurt there did not seem to be queues of people building up while someone was booking five Hamburg - Berlin returns for the next few weeks.
As the TVMs at UK stations are presumably linked to the same fares database as the internet booking engines, I would have thought it was technically possible to allow 'other location' and advance bookings, so there must be other reasons why this facility is not available.
Having been in Germany for the last few days I noticed that it was possible to buy a ticket from any station at the TVMs, and for dates in the future as well. (As an aside, you can also print out your itinerary with details of arrival and departure platforms at all points where a train change was needed.) Even at busy stations such as Frankurt there did not seem to be queues of people building up while someone was booking five Hamburg - Berlin returns for the next few weeks.
As the TVMs at UK stations are presumably linked to the same fares database as the internet booking engines, I would have thought it was technically possible to allow 'other location' and advance bookings, so there must be other reasons why this facility is not available.