Great Western Coffee Shop

Are these still sold?

The machines are there I think - permit to travel and stick in the minimum cash you have!

is how I understand it

But I do object to have to pay to see my disabled mother onto a train

I'm pretty sure the facility to issue platform tickets exists within the Fujitsu STAR equipment that FGW use for selling tickets from (most) booking offices.

However, exactly what the company policy is with regards to issuing them I do not know. Around the time barriers were installed at Paddington, FGW issued and information bulletin that contained the words "Platform tickets will not be available because people will have no need for them" referring to the availability of staff to assist anyone elderly or infirm in boarding trains.

A permit to travel is different - it's something you buy when actually boarding a train at a penalty fares station when there is no booking office/ticket machine available. It provides proof of where you boarded and when.

That's it, STAR and Tribute still include the functionality to issue them, 10p each ticket.  However, and if I'm not mistaken, we are not suppose to sell any of them.  Better than that, I think we are not allowed to issue any platform ticket.  Anyway, we have occasional people asking for them for their collection, so take the 10p and run!

"SCANDAL AT FGW TICKET OFFICES"

I can just see the Daily Mail headlines now ;)

In all seriousness, I believe they have been discontinued and its best to ask the barrier staff.

I believe staff have been told they are not allowed to issue them. But unless the barrier staff are being totally unreasonable you should be able to go through.

that answers my earlyer question of how did a family of six get on at st davids without tickets....

Barrier staff let passengers onto the platform without a valid ticket for travel?  :o

Why on earth do they do this? >:(

The purpose of barriers is revenue protection. Letting ticketless people through undermines this objective!

Well, at Bristol Temple Meads, just for example, you need to be able to go through the barriers to be able to use the toilets, cash machines, cafeteria, customer enquiries desk and indeed enquire at the lost property office - none of which need involve any intention of actually travelling!  ;) :D ;D

Yes, but passengers changing trains can show their ticket to the barrier staff if the barriers themselves reject the ticket.

Non-travellers should have no need of the toilets, cash machines and cafeteria.

The other two do pose a problem, which should be fixed if possible.

A fare dodger could just say "I'm looking for lost property", and hope onto a train for Filton Abby Wood!

The barriers serve no purpose if dodgers can get past them, and if this is the case- then save money, and improve passenger flow by removing them!

It makes me angry: at Shrewsbury and Marylebone, you can be let through the barriers if you say you're travellign on W&S. How selfish of W&S, possibly loosing LM, Chiltern or ATW of revenue, when it would be no bother for thier passengers to buy a ticket at the station like everyone else! >:( >:(

[/rant]

Some train spotters minding their own business at the end of Bristol Temple Meads platform 5/7 are non-travellers, should they be disallowed access? Its the same principle!

Likewise the incontinent diabetic little old lady, standing in front of me at the 'future tickets', queue, who was desparate for the loo, then the cash machine, so she could buy a sugary bun, before she passed out ...  ::)

see i have issues even with this and incase noone noticed i may sometimes kind of spot trains caughs, anyway my point is would you go into a pub to sit down and watch a football game and not buy a drink? if your going spotting at st davids its actually cheaper to park at digby for free and buy a return to st davids  than it is to pay to park at st davids

cant comment on other stations however at st davids toilets cash machine and shop is before the barriers

This is a really tricky one!

There are no such thing as platform tickets anymore, even if some machines will still sell them. They are incompatible with protected revenue areas - i.e. those parts of stations on the platform sides of gatelines.

So, if you say to the gateline staff, can I go on to the platform to kiss my girl/boyfriend goodbye, the answer should be no - do it on the concourse side of the gateline You would not be allowed to go airside at an airport to kiss someone goodbye, so why expect to do it at a station.

Having said that, if you say I want to help my 70 year old mother onto the train, you will probably be welcomed through. Yes, the railways provide disabled assistance (not porterage), but it would be uneconomic to insist that every customer that needed it must have assistance only from railway staff.

Between these two examples there are a range of scenarios that test the discretion of gateline staff - its the conundrum of customer service against revenue protection.

Added to this is the "enthusiasts charter". Genuine trainspotters are to be welcomed onto the platforms.

Its not surprising that gateline staff are so often criticised for apparently getting it wrong.

Thanks for that very well-reasoned post, Oxman.  :)

The problem there, I think, is that we're comparing modern purpose-built airport facilities and layouts with rather less flexible (sometimes based on Victorian) railway station facilities - I refer to BTM, for example.  ::)

However, I do agree with you on the barriers: I think they are good at separating ... er, the wheat from the chaff, if you'll pardon the expression?  ::)

What I mean is, those passengers who have valid tickets for travel (which is most of them) can just use them to go through the barriers.  Those who don't have a ticket need to present themselves to a member of staff, to explain their reason for still wanting to go beyond the barriers.

So, the staff don't need to have any involvement with the majority of passengers (who go through the barriers with tickets): they can thus give their full attention to anyone who doesn't have a ticket, for whatever reason.  So, the barrier staff can then deal on an individual basis with those who want to escort an elderly relative aboard, nip to the loo, get some cash for a newspaper, meet someone in the cafeteria, reclaim some lost property, obtain a customer comment form from the enquiry desk, and so on.

And, in my experience, the barrier staff get it right, most times!

C.  ;) :D ;D

i love it when you go out of the back entrance of central and they have caught someone without a ticket... almost get the impression that they are going to get there head kicked in  :D

I hate to say this but given the quality of most of thebarrier staff and their English skills - I would NOT want to hand my mother over to them

I'd feel much happier getting her seated then handing her over to the train crew. 

Except if you buy the ticket on W&S you get a discounted price

Barriers DO NOT SAVE MONEY

If you are savvy - buy the cheapest ticket possible to get you through the barrier- Reading to Reading west will get you onto the platform at Reading to head west.  Less than ^2

I never had a problem at Bristol Parkway when I used to take my daughter and her ginormous suitcase there. Just asked the barrier staff if I could carry her case through, they would open the side gate for me - and when I came back.
Did seem somehow to make the barriers a bit pointless !
I never tried it at Chippenham where I often saw one man selling tickets and three on the footbridge checking checking them.