Great Western Coffee Shop

There was a piece in Wednesday's Western Mornng News saying that the barriers sent out a terrible signal to passengers - "we don't trust you, even if you've just shelled out hundreds on a ticket".

Anyone know whether the barriers in Devon (the ones at Exeter have ruined the flow of the station) were FGW's idea or DfT's?

Probably FGW's as they get extra income, the DfT don't usually have a say in these sort of things.

I thought in some instances they were actually specified as part of the franchise commitment?

I would imagine they are.

They are useful anyway and its a sign of a modern railway!

Come on, barriers are good.

Yes- they might reduce flow, but a bigger, wider concourse is the answer to that, barriers or no barriers!

But- they improve security, safety, reduce fare dodgers, and take the pressure off guards to do a complete ticket check each time (of course, they still should- but they are safe in the knowledge that if they have to turn around before completing the train, there is less of a chance of a dodger/ticket-less person is present).

They are also useful at doing passenger counts.

I would rather my local stations had barriers, and therefore had a more restricted flow, because I know that those fare dodgers would have to pay.

Of course, I realise that some stops (e.g. Finstock) can't realistically have barriers!

So you'd want to be even more sure that no one else has had the same journey for free! Like em or not, barriers are here to stay and are a necessity in this day and age as there are far too many people who we can't trust! Oh, they were part of the franchise spec aswell, and so were penalty fares.

Talk of  "this day and age" reminds me of something that occurred to me the other day. Back in the 1960s my father used to commute weekly from Chippenham to London. I can clearly remember waving him off on a Warship- or Western-hauled train on a Sunday (and welcoming him back again on a Friday) and in order to get onto the platform, Mum and me used to have to buy a platform ticket each, mine being a Junior one obviously. I still have one somewhere - I think they cost 6d. There were no barriers: just a uniformed employee stood at the entrance at the bottom of the stairs, checking that every single person that passed had a ticket of some sort.

My question is this then: surely train operators are missing out on a potential revenue stream today by not having platform tickets available for people who aren't actually travelling? Or would the fact that a platform ticket enables someone to legitimately pass through the barrier at any given station for a very small sum of money make the guard on the train's job that much harder? (although, no more difficult than it was 40+ years ago, presumably)

It^s about time if you ask me.

I travel from Langley to Paddington on a regular basis and I always buy a ticket, but I only very occasionally had my ticket checked at any point on the journey.

But because Langley and many other surrounding stations are either not manned or have no barriers (Slough being the exception) many people travel without a ticket and simply just get off at Paddington, where as I have forked out for a ticket.

I understand why these unmanned/quiet stations do not have ticket barriers, but why Paddington?

On a slightly different matter:

I arrived at Langley station the other day with about 10 mins to spare, only to find that the automatic ticket machine was not working. So I had to queue at the ticket office, which was about 15 deep. As a result I missed my train by seconds. Could I legitimately have bought a permit to travel and caught the train I missed or would it not be valid as the ticket office was open? (Not that anyone checked my ticket)

Paddington is a tricky one, it is a listed building, so planning permission was difficult. You will be half pleased to know that Platforms 10-14 will have barriers installed. And the process has already begun so we should hopefully see them soon.

I honestly find barriers to be a great thing to have in place, because I honestly feel a bit..well I guess cheated knowing full well that the pair of "chavs" (is that okay to use here? I know it does sometimes offend people) have just run onto the platform and not paid a fair when they jump off at Portchester or Cosham.

The great problem with some places as meantioned about, is that some stations are indeed listed buildings and it costs the operator a lot more money then its worth to them to protect revenues. They tend to make this up when people are caught and fined ^20 or double the cost of the ticket wanted, but this isnt always the case with the above being meantioned.

Several stations along the route I take to work or to visit my other half have no guard, no station staff and in one case no ticket machine! So I can see how it be a bit silly to put ticket barriers in place when no one's there to stop people getting over them by just jumping over.

The major problem we have with installing them is the age of the British network, because most of the buildings are 50 years old, the designs aren't built around the times reflected, back in the era the stations were created people were more trusting, more honest and more decent. Today's society seems to reflect that doing less is better and not paying for things when you can get away with it is alright.

The only way I can see more ticket barriers being put into place is  re-design (not smashing them down) the station to make it harder for people to access the platform, but in turn this will have knock on effects elsewhere.

I share the sentiments on some of the characters you refer to, but I will let grahame answer the "chavs" question.

They do sometimes have ticket checks at the Cosham station exits, but in my experience this isnt a regular thing.

A story relevant to this subject can be found in the link below, along with billyo getting caught up in a Weymouth line cancellation and bus replacement.
http://billyosstressrelief.blogspot.com/2008/03/worse-at-weekends.html

Blimey - you're all an obedient lot!

Three points.

First, there's no way that a Tesco could treat its customers in this way. It's the equivalent of frisking them when they leave the store.

Second, the barriers are a nightmare for old people, or those with lots of luggage and/or kids.

Third, when the Great Western really was great, such things did not exist. They didn't need to then, and they don't need to now.

First - Tesco's have security staff, security cameras and a team watching them at all times to prevent this from occuring. Thats pretty much the same.

Second - Tough luck sadly.

Third - They need them now because back then we didn't *have* so many people jumping the queues and not paying the fares. Times change, so should the methods to catch those who break the rules and make others deal with the increasing fees for trains.

In this day and age they are a necessary evil, but I wish a bit more thought was given to adapting stations to enable them to be used. Good example is Temple Meads where there's only physically enough space for 6 gates (I think, might be 7) in the old exit from platform 3. So every morning hundreds of us who have paid for a ticket have to queue up to get through 3 working exit gates, which seem to randomly reject every third ticket. Same goes for Bath Spa since the refurb where the exit is now gloomy and no doubt business for the coffee shop has been ruined.

Personally I don't know why fare paying passengers are so against barriers. If it keeps the fare dodgers, and other assorted vermin off the system (muggers, druggies, violent drunks and so on) then good. Surely passengers should support this, as it helps to keep them safe.

A bit of inconvience queueing is better than having to put up with mindless thugs on the network.

The ticket barriers do have larger gates, so those with mobility problems or lots of luggage should be allowed through them. If there is an issue with staff not manning the larger gates or not letting such passengers through them, then this does need to be rectified.

It is awkward to have barriers at some places and not others, and there are some stations that could really do with them. (*cough* Westbury!) There are also problems with disabled/wide access, large or paper tickets, and the fact they occasionally reject legitimate tickets so any station that has them needs to be well manned while they are in use.

I agree with Miniman, they are a neccesary evil and do make people out to be fare-dodgers. Personally though I am for them, although I do wish they wouldn't swallow tickets when you exit the station because it's a lot more difficult to claim compensation should you need to.

I've also had one swallow my all day travelcard once at Cardiff Central, and that was a bit of a nightmare to get back... :-\

Barriers on FGW stations are always manned by at least two members of staff (a legal requirement) so it shouldn't be too difficult for old people, when the Great Western was "Great" as you say, then EVERY station had barrier staff, and as mentioned by someone else, society has changed dramaticly since the 1930's. When Exeter's barriers were first introduced then the main complaint from the majority of passengers was "it's about time, i'm fed up of paying when half the train has been travelling for free", as for comparing it to Tesco's, then this is slightly different, people don't think it's acceptable to walk out of Tesco's without paying, but far too many people think it's acceptable to leave a train station after travelling without having paid, many passengers have brought the need for barriers on themselves!

If anyone's ever been to Cathays station in Cardiff there are barriers there on both platforms- only three if I remember correctly on each. Only a small station but they were there and manned by two guards on each side.

Yep, I was shocked to see them there the other day!

I must confess I got caught out at that one. I stayed with my daughter (who lived near Cathays for a year or so when working in Cardiff) one night after seeing a band. My return ticket covered me from Cardiff Central back to Bath. It was raining, it was still dark, it was about 6.30am, and rather than walk the mile and a half or so down to Cardiff Central, I decided to jump on a train from Cathays station. I was perfectly prepared to pay, obviously, but I admit it did cross my mind that it was a tiny, and probably unmanned, station and there was actually very little likelihood of my lack of a valid ticket being picked up during the 3 minute long journey down to Cardiff Central. Came as quite a surprise to find barriers and people there! On reflection of course it's smack in the middle of student land, so the barriers probably paid for themselves in terms of lost revenue from people with far worse intentions that mine in the space of just a few months.

^Very true, the university is literally a 2 minute walk away!
Me too, that effectively makes Cardiff Bay the only barrier-less station in central Cardiff!

And not only the University, but it's more convenient for much of the Civic Centre working population. So avoids passengers alighting from further north without a ticket, and also avoids those who might be tempted to travel into Cardiff Queen St or Central and claim they only got on at Cathays.

I was surprised by them a couple of weeks ago ... but the fact that so many of us have been to Cathays in the last couple of months is rather telling. Perhaps my Melksham to Cathays ticket is not as much of a collectors item as I thought.   The Northbound were unmanned / out of use / open in the evening peak when I went past them to go over bridge and join train south to Cardiff.

The work to install new barriers across platforms 10-14 at Paddington is featured in the link below.
http://www.iworkforfgw.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=53&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Like so many other things in life its not a question of what you do but how you do it.

I'd be all for barriers but only if the following conditions are met (and they never are)

1) all tickets sold are the right size for the barriers
2) they are used in the evening when the chavs are out (otherwise the justification that they reduce antisocial behaviour is weak)
3) there are loads of them so that they don't cause queues
4) they do not retain tickets but merely cancel them (so tickets are available for compensation or company expenses claims)
5) there are realiable (and staff are instructed not to clip tickets across the magnetic strip)
6) they are not used as an excuse to reduce on-train ticket checking (i resent it when barriers are installed for the reasons that FGW don't trust their staff to check tickets on trains or because the trains are too-crowded for an on-train ticket check)
7) there are always suffcient ticket machines and manned windows.
8) they do not reduce access to the station (for example the barriers at Bath mean that customers coming from Widcomb have to cross the track via the underpass to reach the barriers and then cross the track again to reach platform 1.  this adds a couple of minutes to their journey)
9) the barriers are sophisticated enough to let you out of the station and then back in a few hours later. (so for example you can buy a Paper from Smiths at BTM between trains)
10) the barriers are correctly programmed (for example the Oxford barriers are programmed to reject certain tickets at peak times and are unable to descriminate between valid Oxford to Bristol tickets and invalid Oxford to London tickets and will reject both)
11) disabled and pushchair access is maintained
12) platform tickets are available so you can help friends onto their trains (afterall porters have been abolished)
13) platform numbers are acounced in good time (not like at Paddington)
14) they do not lead to overcharging (as is the case where Pay as you go Oyster has been introduced on the London Overground - cheaper tcikets are avilable on trains after 9:30, but if you travel on the 9:31, and touch in at 9:29, you will be overcharged - possibily illegally)

My objection to barriers is not that they are bad per se but rather that they are implemented in a  cack-handed and customer-unfriendly way

you say about barriers should not retain tickets, remember that a ticket remains the property of the train company AT ALL TIMES and a ticket is merely a contract of travel and is not a reciept nor proof of purchase. Platform tickets are open to abuse, i.e. all the chavs would buy a 20p platform ticket to get through the barriers, then jump on a train, as for on train checks, then this really isn't as easy as it used to be, the Train manager has far more to do now rather than check tickets, I still believe that TM's should always check tickets once their primary duties are complete, but with things such as SDO it really isn't practical anymore. As for being customer unfriendly, well unfortunately there are too many "customers" who think that it is their right to travel for free!

Yes Vacman. But that does not mean that you should punish the 99% of people who are honest in order to catch the 1% of ones who are not. Because that's what the barriers do. And the very word - "barrier" - demonstrates what Andrew Haines admitted to in the Guardian a couple of weeks back - a "disconnect between the company and its customers".

Can you imagine Sainsbury's insisting that their shoppers go through barriers before entering? Of course not.

You are not actually alowed to do that with or without barriers. You have a ticket which wil specifically have the condition No Break in Journey, leaving the platforms consists of a break in journey, which is not allowed.

Blimey. Do the conditions of carriage specify a dress code too?

I'd say more tickets have a break in journey allowance... the only major ones that I can think of that don't are Advance Purchase and Saver Returns (outward portion).

with barriers in place there is about 7% ticketless travel as the "opportunist" can't get away with it, take tha barriers away and it goes up to 15% overnight, anyway, 99% are not being "punished" as 90% have the brain power to use barriers properly, particularly the commuters whom travel every day who are the "bread and butter" and ultimately the ones who end up paying for the people who faredodge, if you think that only 1% of passengers are dishonest then you should ask FGW for a weeks work experience and see it from the "other side"!!! as for sainsburys, the average person wouldn't walk into a store and walk out with their shopping without paying if noone challenged them, but plenty of people think they can take a train journey and walk off without paying..

I didn't know that.  I am ashamed of myself.  Is leaving the platform but staying on the station really not allowed?

I'm pretty sure I have been told at a ticket offic ethat a break in jounrey is allowed (my specific query was regarding the return portion of a saver)

Return portion of a Saver is fine for breaking journies.

If 7% manage to travel without a ticket even when there are barriers (HOW?), then doesn't that demonsatrate that barriers are not the panacea for solving fare evasion.

Manual Barriers - It's always hard for them to check everything fully

Double Barriering (or whatever it might be when you walk through right behind someone)

Yes, I'm not quite sure how barriers "punish" people, especially those with tickets. A bit of a pain sometimes, but I haven't seen a barrier issue a penalty fare notice yet.

don't know if you've noticed, but not all stations are barriered!  ;) that percentage is across FGW, I really dont think you can argue that barriers are ineffective in reducing fare evasion! on the first month of manual barriers at Plymouth before the gates went in, they were taking over ^1000 per day on passengers coming OFF trains, now days they rarely take more than ^100, thats a 90% reduction in that particular area!

Either way can't win, for Paddington people want Oyster, install barriers so that it will be a step in the right direction to finally being able, and they complain about the barriers.

Not referring to people in this topic btw, was actually a customer at Paddington.

The reason I dont like barriers (ad penalty fares) is because the innocent punter often loses out

1. One occasions approaching slough on bike I was turning bike lights off as I approached station (very bright lights which were turned off by holding button down for 20 seconds) - not allowed onto platform with lights on - I was late because of a diversion (I a a law abiding cyclist) and having to faff with getting ticket out of bag and shoving through barrier I could not hold for 20 seconds straight - barrier staff would not allow me onto platfprm with lights despite me being in process of turning off 0 I missed train to reading which meant I missed the connection (post peak ) and got back to WOS 2 hours later than I should

2. On another occasion I was going egham to putney - egham car park was jammed as half the spaces were coned off - by the time I parked the train was coming in - I made every effort to find the TM to buy a ticket but he was AWOL (but making announcements) - I got off at putney went to the excess fare point - anf got charged fair plus ^20 - I TRIED TO PAY THE TICKET BUT COULDNT AND DO I HAVE TO BE LATE FOR A MEETING OR PENALISED BECAUSE OF EVENTS OUTSIDE MY CONTROL

That is why I do not like barriers

Also - before barriers I could wander PAD and find my train.......... and get on and bag a seat before it is announced

Post barriers

If I go for the 1821 I have to chance it will go from plat 10 (normal but can change) and if it doesnt and I get a jobsworth who wont tell me the plat change before it is announced I have to join the scrum of sheep who wont think for themselves and I end up in s**t seat

If I go for the 1721 it goes from 2/3 I go through the barrier and wait for it to arrive - so I can again get a seat first - If it doesnt come in where diagrammed the I have to plead with barrier staff to let me back through and then get denied access when I do work out which plat its going from (you are penalising people who think ahead )

Can the barrier staff not show discretion - at the moment at Pad it works - you can go through the barriers but if you then go yup to the balcony you get unrestricted to all platforms - so I go through and stand on the bridge until I see the train with the hereford sticker snd then I go down

If everything is  barriered (tongue in cheek mode - I may have to queue with every one else and not  get my seat!)

IS this right just to stop a small percentage of fair dodgers

They do on the way out.....it's called a checkout, where you pay for your goods(or services in a train operators case). No difference at all from a revenue point of view.

Sorry end up with a "s**t seat"? A seat is a seat, as long as you get one it's not worth complaining about.

In regard to your first point at Slough, staff would have been right to make sure the light was off before entering platform, it is a distraction to passing trains, and if it was thought to be a waving white light, they driver may see it as a sign to stop the train. And if it was bright like you say it could dazzle them.

Point 2, Egham is a south west trains station, but I'm aware they are strongly enforcing the National Rail Conditions of Carriage in that a ticket must be purchased before boarding a train, otherwise facing penalty fare, or full standard/first fare. Egham has a half hourly service to Putney, and has ticket office with opening hours of: Monday-Saturday 06:15-19:55 // Sunday 08:10-19:40 and machines. In terms of parking if half was coned off that leaves about 35 spaces, which isn't much, but at the same time you did get a space, and out of 35 possible spaces wouldn't have to look hard. Either way you would be best of querying it with SWT. Or as you were penalty fared you are entitled to appeal via an independent body and the address would have been on your penalty fare notice.

Down to the barriers, they are known to reduce ticketless travel. I agree with earlier points that they should remain in use late evening to assist with disruptive behaviour.
Barriers will be the way forward in terms of smart cards, so we do need them, especially within London so that Oyster can finally be accepted.

No, it doesn't. Condition 16 states: '...you will be treated as breaking your journey if you leave a Train Company^s or Rail Service Company^s stations...', so you can leave a platform, as long as you stay in the station.

Mookiemoo, all stations on the SWT network either have a Ticket Vending Machine or a PERTIS machine. If you cannot buy a ticket from one of these, then see the guard. They are always in the middle of the train on the class 458 operated trains, or the rear if it is only a 4 coach. Invariably, they are non-commercial and cannot issue tickets.

The point is on this particular day I showed up at Egham 20 minutes before my train - which was 40 minutes before the last train I could get and still make my meeting

It took me 37 minutes to get parked.

As I ran out of the car park the train was already going over the level crossing.

If I did not get that train, I was going to miss my meeting

I had left plenty of time on any normal day - how was I supposed to know half of the car park was coned off.

Or do you suggest that people miss trains whilst buying a ticket?   And dont say leave earlier - how early does one have to leave!

All I can say is - SWT have a firm policy on penalty fares, if you are about to miss your train - it is far better to miss it than lose potentially ^20 + double your fare (they can do that!) ... or go to court!

To my mind ticketless travel is a relatively petty crime compared with abusing or intimidating other passenger or staff which ought to be treated as a very serious crime especialy when there is violence involved.   FGW would have more respect from me over the barrier issue if they kept them in use late evening in order to adress the serious crime issue rather than only using them to maximise revenue collection because they would be sending out the message that they cared about the safety of the pasengers and staff rather than the current message that they care about money.

Purchase your tickets in advanced if you have an important meeting to attend to. You can easily do it online and have them delivered to your home address or if the station your going to has a FastTicket machine get them there.

Also to my knowledge there has been advised information regarding SWT's car park upgrades over the last few months, so you should of seen the information in the stations you use.

So the fine you got was justily given, you broke the rules by boarding a train without a ticket and were fined for doing it. You would expect no less from SWT or any other Train Company if it was some "yob" who didn't buy a ticket either.

For me, the interesting thing about this thread is that responses seem divided between those who believe that the Train Companies exist to serve the needs of their customers, and those who believe that customers exist to serve the needs of the Train Companies.

I know which side I'm on.

I don't believe either of those, I believe that both the Train Company and all the customers are figments of my imagination, which would completely explain the un-nerving weirdness and surrealness I feel every time I get on a train and travel with hundreds of other allegedly ^real^ people.  Mind you, I feel the same way in supermarkets too so maybe I am just a figment of my own imagination ^ is it the weekend yet?

Whoevers side your on, there are two pricipals, not paying for your rail fare is wrong, if you don't like the service, don't like the way it's implemented, don't like the trains etc, etc, then theres a simple answer, DON'T USE IT, train companies are no different to other businesses in the fact that they exist to make money, same as Tesco, same as Sainsburys same as all the places where people on this forum go to work every day, so why is it wrong for train companies to expect everyone who uses their services to pay for it? they have every right to protect the interest's of their business and thats a fact, like it or lump it! The railways were first built as a business, by private companies, why should it be any different today?? the Government are the villians, they accepted the bid, they set the spec,they re-privatised the railways! [/rant]

I'm not advocating fare evasion.

I'm simply advocating a more customer friendly approach to revenue protection.

These things are "barriers" in more ways than one. They alienate people.

And you wonder why FGW has so few of its passengers standing up for it at the moment...

Almost every TOC in the country has ticket barriers, can you think of a more effective way to protect revenue? the vast majority of passengers are actually pro barriers, I don't see how they are particularly customer unfriendly,and I really don't see how they alienate people?

Barriers is the reason there are riots on the LU every day  ::)

If you read the instructions barriers are easy! How hard can it be to understand if you have large luggage to go through the side gate. Also how hard is it do understand the words 'seek assistance'

Let me give you an example of how FGW takes perfectly legitimate action to deal with fare evasion and then shoots itself in the foot by implementing it badly.  It is this sort of attidute that turns law abiding passengers against FGW's barrier policy:

Cheltenham Spa does not have automatic bariers.  The down platform at Cheltenham spa has a nice ramp from the carpark/ticket office to the platform. This provides easy access for wheelchairs and pushchairs but as it is another enterance into the station platform it could potentially lead to increased ticket fraud.  The only other access to the platform is down steep steps.  The ramp also provides a step free energency exit from the station.

It seem that during the week at peak times FGW sometimes operates a manual ticket barrier.  In order to do this it makes sense for access to the ramp asess to be also manned or if there are not spare staff to do this to close the ramp acess by locking the door at the bottom.  If anyone needs the ramp at such times there will be barrier staff on duty at the barrier who can arrange to have acess to it opened.

Now, on Saturday I travelled form Cheltenham to Bath mid afternoon with my son in his pushchair.  I brought my ticket at the ticket office at the "top of the station" and then tried to acess the platform down the ramp and through the door onto the platform.  But there was a sign on the locked door saying "ramp access s now closed - please ask if you need assistance"

There was noone arround to ask the only staff I chould see where in the ticket office (at which there was a queque) and anyway I wasn't sure if the offer of assistance applied to me or was only really for folks in wheelchairs.  plus I didn't trust that I could get assistance in the five minutes needed.

I ended up carrying the pushchair down the steps and just making the train.  The experince left a bitter taste in my mouth which could have been avoided if FGW was more customer focused.  My beefs are:

1) There were no ticket checks at the station that day, so why not unlock the acess from the rampduring such times?
If you are going to lock acess from the ramp (and I acept that FGW is perfectly entitled to do this), then how about:
2) removing the signs that point to the ramp.  At the moment there are signs directing you all the way down the ramp and to a locked door which you only realise is locked when you reach the bottom. 
3) replacing the solid door at the bottom of the ramp with a gate through which you could see the platform staff and ask them to unlock the gate and let you through or installing a "door bell" arrangement like platform 2 in Bath.

If I was in a wheelchair I would have missed the train and my journey would have taken 30 miuntes longer.

If bariers and other controls are neccessary to safeguard income then we need them (and the stats provided by Vacman would appeear to justify them) , but we can't ignore the fact that FGW can p**s off their customers very easily and this too is a real risk to their revenue.  There are so many examples where the barriers themselves are not the problem just the cackhanded way in which they are implemented.  FGW would annoy fewer customers if it:

1, added a couple of extra gates at BTM. there is plenty of room to do this
2, removed the wheelcahir sign from the wide automatic gate at Bath.  This tempts wheelcahir uses and pushchairs through the gate, but once you are on teh other side, there are steps to the platforms so having an acessible gate if worthless (I understand that lifts are planned - how about covering teh wheelchair sign until teh lifts are installed?)

I don't have a problem with barriers at all - as long as my ticket'll work in them, which it usually does for about a month then it can't be read after that. 

My annual season ticket is fast approaching it's 4th month birthday and it's still going strong!  (looks a bit worn now though) but I have had monthly ones die on me and won't be accepted by the barriers.....

Of course, if your season ticket stops working in the barriers you can get it replaced free of charge.

M

You make a few valid points there tim, but the wide gates are a legal requirement, and they have to marked as such, as for the gate situation then that doesn't really have much to do with ticket barriers as Cheltenham is ungated (at the moment, but watch this space! along with Gloucester), at the end of the day whatever happens then you cant please everyone, but the truth is that the majority of regular passengers (the bread and butter) are in favour, the points that you've brought up are quite minor really.

Except that I then have to queue for a replacement.  I was going to do it a couple of weeks ago and was told that to revalidate the ticket would take "around 7 minutes".  So, that's 10 minutes of queueing, 7 minutes of revalidating.....The time adds up and I miss my train. :(

You make a few valid points there tim, but the wide gates are a legal requirement, and they have to marked as such, as for the gate situation then that doesn't really have much to do with ticket barriers as Cheltenham is ungated (at the moment, but watch this space! along with Gloucester), at the end of the day whatever happens then you cant please everyone, but the truth is that the majority of regular passengers (the bread and butter) are in favour, the points that you've brought up are quite minor really.
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I have noticed that LondonUnderground does the same thing with labelling wide gates with a disabled symbol even though nothing beyond the gate is accessible (Waterloo underground is a good example of this.  One of the ticket halls there is actually accesible.  The other is not but you can be tempted into the inaccessible hall by the wheelchair symbols on the gate you go through). 

You are correct, my points are fairly minor (although if I was in a wheelchair and couldn't get down the stairs and consequntly missed my train and ended up travelling on the next one on which my ticket wasnt valid and then got a penalty fare - I'd be more than just mildly annoyed and might decide to drive next time). 

1 The Underground Barriers have a Push through for cases and large items, FGW barriers that I've seen do not, so I've seem people get traped when they go through carrying a case first, how long till someone sues?

2 All tickets issued should fit the Barriers not those Huge pink tickets.

3 As the Barriers may retain your ticket it means you can now claim compensation for a delayed journey without sending in your ticket, thats not very bright FGW.

A replacement taking 7minutes. Not a chance. 2-4 mins max.

1, the wide gate has a big picture of a suitcase on it indicating that people with luggage should use that,
2, Yes, tell me about it!!!
3, Ticket remains property of the railway at all times, it can be retained at any time, i've seen many undesireables looking through bins at non gated stations for used tickets so barriers keeping them is actually a good idea.

If the barriers are introduced, they need to be sensible about using them. Barriers should be active late evenings and early morning. Slough has such barriers, but are not in use late at night, (presumably because they don^t want to put staff out to man the barriers) If you ask me the most of the fare evasion happens late at night out of Paddington on the local lines. The majority of people catching these trains are coming back from a night out and have not bought tickets. This is not helped by the fact that FGW NEVER check tickets on these trains, and they are often so full that it would be impossible to check the tickets anyway.

I hate travelling on the trains late at night or earlier in the morning, both myself and my girlfriend do on a regular basis. My girlfriend has even told me of an occasion when a man has flashed a gun (only caught a gimps of it) in an argument with another passenger. If ticket barriers are introduced this would hopefully increase the security for passengers on these services.

My point is that these barriers need to be introduced and used properly:
1) In use 24/7
2) Standard ticket sizes
3) Not used as replacements for onboard ticket inspections

I wouldn't say no ticket checks are done on local services.
On the few occasions I have been on one of the local stoppers it has been checked by Revenue Protection.