Why is it that.... (Gates questions)

[whole diary]

[jane s]

..... if you are breaking your journey, say at Reading, to kill time while waiting for a connecting train, e.g. to get breakfast or visit the shops in the concourse, you can put your season ticket through the gates to get out, but it won't let you back in again?

However, if you leave it an hour or more before coming back through, then it will let you just fine.

Why is there this "time lag"? It is a nuisance for both passengers and barrier staff, & seems to serve no useful purpose whatsoever!

On a related issue, now that we have the new gates at Paddington, what are you supposed to do if you are, e.g., getting a fast train from Reading to Paddington & then turning around to go back to Ealing Broadway? Presumably your card won't go through the barrier.

(Normally I would get the stopping train, but if it is cancelled, or I miss it, or it runs fast, occasionally I do have to do this.)

[Mookiemoo]

I suspect its in the manner of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) treating all people as guilty fare dodgers and then having to prove their innocence. 

I guess you could have one person go through then pass it over the barrier to let a friend through.

However if they did not treat innocent people as criminals then everybody's life would be much easier

[Jim]

It's to stop "Double Ticketing" or whatever it is called. When people pass their tickets back to their friends to use after.

[vacman]

I suspect its in the manner of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) treating all people as guilty fare dodgers and then having to prove their innocence. 

I guess you could have one person go through then pass it over the barrier to let a friend through.

However if they did not treat innocent people as criminals then everybody's life would be much easier

Unfortunately it's society that has made these sort of measures necessary.

[jane s]

But "double ticketing" involves passing the ticket through twice in the same direction - what I am referring to is going through in one direction & coming back in again in the opposite direction, using a totally different gate.

Are you seriously saying that the gates can't tell the difference between "coming in" & "going out"?

Even if this is the case, a time delay of 5 minutes would seem more than sufficient!

[swlines]

Next time you do it - check what code appears on the gate when you put it in and rejects it. (01 or 00, can't remember, should be accept.)

[Jim]

But "double ticketing" involves passing the ticket through twice in the same direction - what I am referring to is going through in one direction & coming back in again in the opposite direction, using a totally different gate.

Are you seriously saying that the gates can't tell the difference between "coming in" & "going out"?

Even if this is the case, a time delay of 5 minutes would seem more than sufficient!

It can tell the difference, but not that many people break their journey for such a short amount of time.

[jane s]

Actually, at Reading, a lot of them do, because they want to get to the shops/food outlets in the concourse while waiting for connections.

Obviously this would not be the case at smaller stations!