Will the rest of the UK copy London tube and close ticket offices down?

[southern442]

They can't get rid of paper tickets altogether. They can't expect tourists from halfway across the world to magically produce a smartcard from their pockets.

 

[causton]

They can't get rid of paper tickets altogether. They can't expect tourists from halfway across the world to magically produce a smartcard from their pockets.

A ticket machine could magically produce them!

(See: Glasgow. Their day tickets are paper, but have an ITSO chip in them. They also have a mag stripe to work conventional barriers on the system!*)

*At least, this was what happened in July. Didn't actually see any ITSO barriers though

 

[HSTEd]

Non Contact Smartcards are so cheap now that its getting the point that a ten pence ticket deposit would make them cheaper to use than the existing ticket stock.

 

[pt_mad]

The role of station staff could be expanded from merely working in the ticket office - at some smaller locations already station staff are responsible for mobility assistance, train dispatch, light cleaning, general customer service duties, gateline monitoring, poster and leaflet replenishment, security checks and so on, in addition to staffing the ticket office.

With the exception of staffing the ticket office, that pretty much describes the role of platform assistant / dispatch - at many locations.
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Why do we require to have all station staffed at all times?

Some comments relate to safety issues, especially at night. Should that mean that we should have every bus stopped manned to protect the safety of customers and to help with ticketing?

At my local station, the station is always manned, however the guy just hangs around inside the ticket office. Never ever see them going on a patrol, being out in public or doing anything useful. Seems a waste of money really!

I don't see why people can't just use the help points to get information and in case of emergency's?

We are not required to have all stations staffed at all times - hence why not all stations are staffed.

It would not be viable to have a small village station staffed until midnight if only 10 people use the station after the hours of 2000, or if very few trains stop there, or the site is open at all times.

However, take a larger town sized station, lets say Didcot Parkway for example. Could you really imagine the whole station unstaffed for hours and hours a day? Its not just down to making passengers feel safe. Its also down to lineside safety, customer service, mobility assistance, the station's obligations as regards station search policy, and someone there with the keys to lock up.


I know CCTV is nearly always present, but for control rooms to monitor 100s if not thousands of cameras 24/7 you'd need a whole army of staff and a warehouse full of screens. If an incident happens at a major location it helps if it can be identified straight away.

 

[pitdiver]

Berney Arms needs a Porter, Booking Office Clerk, Station Foreman, and a Station Cat, not forgetting someone to man the Parcels Office.

 

[pt_mad]

Berney Arms needs a Porter, Booking Office Clerk, Station Foreman, and a Station Cat, not forgetting someone to man the Parcels Office.

The cat is vital

 

[CockneySparrow]

Yes. The government fares review has stated that paper tickets are going to be withdrawn in the next 10 - 15 years. There will just be someone wandering about the concourse most likely.

Suppose the booths that once handed out tickets will be dishing out hot dogs lol

On a serious note I can't see every station closing their booking halls, however I can see alot reducing their opening hours maybe closing an hour or two earlier, maybe at smaller stations only opening during morning rush hour and closed at weekends

 

[pt_mad]

On a serious note I can't see every station closing their booking halls, however I can see alot reducing their opening hours maybe closing an hour or two earlier, maybe at smaller stations only opening during morning rush hour and closed at weekends

And this often riles up the public!

They turn up to the station at 1600 on a Wednesday to find the ticket office is closed. The answer of 'there is a machine available outside' or that 'this is the future' riles them up further and they carry on their way tut tut tutting.