It's not nonsense, in most cases anyone caught without a ticket just pays what they would have paid had they purchased a ticket, it's only a small minority that are prosecuted.
I did not here one and the screens were set on thank you for travelling with London North Western Railway
Other than the loco hauled sets which have guards on throughout
.It surely wouldn’t be difficult for guards to have to be notified whenever these agents are operating on their trains, and to make an announcement to passengers explaining what is happening.
The view of an increasing number of Guards is that this is not what the role exists for (and indeed the fact that a Guard can be non-commercial makes this difficult to argue against) and unless they are happy with their salary and other terms & conditions they are not going to do it and can't be made to do it.
Indeed; what @Shrop said is absolutely demonstrably untrue.
They are referring to your comment.
Most cases on your line yes, but on other routes it is different.
True, and really no-one should be prosecuted, but that's not for this thread. But other than the two extremes, an increasing number of routes now operate PF schemes and there are full fares in operation on many lines too.
Exactly the same here. I can use any panel I'm nearest to at the time with the exception of certain stations where a specific door must be used due to platform curvature etc.
A terrible decision, the amount of fare evasion and chancers around Grantham now is unreal. On the EMR services you can regularly take £100+ out of their depending on time of day and direction.
Therein lies the problem - Virgin East Coast had a clause that said any gatelines extent on a certain date had to be open certain hours. The likes of Grantham, Newark and Durham were low priorities for them, preferring to have more on board RPIs, so out were ripped the gates and screw the local trains!
Because these are non-threatening middle class people who comply, give correct details and beg for a chance to pay a £100+ admin fee for their "mistake" (whether they return to the railway after is another question, in the long term I imagine a lot will choose not to). It does feel wrong to see on here such people being threatened with criminal sanctions when those who have no intention of paying just push through barriers, or even get them opened for them.
Wow, fabulous attitude!
This is great and is how I like to work myself. My TOC seems to have an 'avoid confrontation' policy. I understand that and I'll wear a body worn video for my own protection. Sure, some passengers can be more challenging and there's little I can realistically do with a refusal to pay. I could spend 15 minutes taking an unpaid fare notice which will probably have false information on it, or I could focus on giving excellent service to other passengers. I'll just send in a report in for non payers and encourage them to voluntarily leave the service.
This feels like a dangours game for guards,
This is false - there is an OBS on-board for the whole route. Whether they check or not is a seperate matter.
How much did it cost to install, maintain and staff the barriers at Grantham, Newark, Durham etc compared to the value of fares lost? Remember to include the whole cost of staffing the barriers such as employers NI, pension contributions, holiday cover, recruitment, uniforms, management costs etc.Therein lies the problem - Virgin East Coast had a clause that said any gatelines extent on a certain date had to be open certain hours. The likes of Grantham, Newark and Durham were low priorities for them, preferring to have more on board RPIs, so out were ripped the gates and screw the local trains!
They keep us in a job I suppose
The number of stations without any ticketing facilities at all is now quite low. It would not take an inordinate amount to fit all stations with TVMs, although many would still only have card payment facilities.
They are still DOO from an operational standpoint. They can run without the OBS if need be (unlike Southern routes outwith the Brighton Main Line).
Are you sure? Is that a new thing? When they were first introduced they were definitely only on the Gatwick to London Victoria section. Many of them confirmed this to me and i would always see them either board or alight at Gatwick on the Brighton trains. So it must have changed recently? Perhaps it is a new thing since the service has been reintroduced after the two year gap?
I am pretty sure all of the Southern routes can run without an OBS too. The unions wanted an OBS to be guaranteed but i do not think Southern ever agreed to that. So as far as i am aware Southern trains can run anywhere without an OBS onboard if necessary. Unless something has changed perhaps.
Apologies, I should have clarified. OBSs must be diagrammed for non-BML Southern services (outwith the Metro area). They don't need to be diagrammed for BML or Metro services. In all cases, the train can run without the OBS if the turn is uncovered or they're delayed etc. The only Southern services where a second member of staff is mandatory are those which are 313 and 171 operated, and services on the West London Line to the West Coast Main Line; in any event, these use guards, who are a different role to OBSs.
