Ticket machines at Maidenhead?

[whole diary]

[johoare]

Hello

Does anyone know what has happened to the ticket machines at the Shoppenhangers road entrance to Maidenhead station? They're all taped up with signs on saying sorry for the inconvenience, but I don't often use that entrance so have only driven past so don't know exactly what has happened to them..

It must be a pain for those people who enter that way and now can't buy  tickets there, especially since it's now quite a trek from there round to the front entrance (now the tunnel is no longer a public right of way).. I guess some people will be missing their trains then...

As an aside, this morning the ticket machines at the main station entrance were all saying cash only which wasn't particularly helpful when I was trying to buy my weekly travelcard..

[Oxman]

They were attacked by thieves over the weekend. Police were after the robbers, but don't know if they caught them. There has been an outbreak of attacks over the last few weeks, on SWT^▸ (South West Trains) and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) machines, which is why many of them have been put over to cash only.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm.  Wouldn't it make more sense to switch them all to 'card only', to make them less attractive to thieves??

[johoare]

hhm well yes card only would be ok apart from (as I said above) when the remaining ticket machines at Maidenhead wouldn't accept cards this morning...Then there is no way to pay when the ticket office is closed...

The vandalised machines at Maidenhead were added (way before they were vandalised  ) due to the tunnel that linked shoppenhangers road with the main station being closed to anyone that didn't have a ticket..whereas before anyone could walk through it to the main ticket office..

I know not everyone agrees with me, but I still think that was a very bad move, which I'm sure people who are now missing their trains, due to an extra long walk to get tickets, will agree with..

[Oxman]

Apologies. I mean't card only!

[Chris from Nailsea]

No worries!

It seems to me that TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) sometimes only offer card transactions (if their coinbox is full, or the mechanism has been jammed in some way), but they also sometimes only offer cash transactions (if their computer link to the banking system is down, for example).

I've never had any problem then buying a ticket on board (or even at my destination station), but with the introduction of penalty fares, is that likely to cause problems?  Do staff have any way of checking that a particular TVM was not working fully at any particular time?

[inspector_blakey]

Do staff have any way of checking that a particular TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) was not working fully at any particular time?

Supposedly yes, although I have no idea how robust it is. But in order to issue a valid penalty fare the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) needs to be able to prove that there was at least one ticket machine in full working order where you started your journey. If not then the PF^▸ (Penalty Fare) is wide open to appeal and revocation.

[grahame]

Do staff have any way of checking that a particular TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) was not working fully at any particular time?

Supposedly yes, although I have no idea how robust it is. But in order to issue a valid penalty fare the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) needs to be able to prove that there was at least one ticket machine in full working order where you started your journey. If not then the PF^▸ (Penalty Fare) is wide open to appeal and revocation.

The problem with all of this is that it's an imposition on the customer.  If a customer gets "PF"d and appeals and has it revoked, is (s)he paid for the time and trouble and raised blood pressure of going through that procedure?

[inspector_blakey]

True. Having said that, and whilst I'm not entirely sure how this actually works in practice, I would hope that a penalty fare is not issued before staff have taken the time to confirm or check any claims from the passenger concerned about non-working ticket machines at their origin.

[BBM]

The ticket machines at Twyford were card-only this morning and there must have also been a problem with the car park machines as someone was complaining to one of the booking office staff about them being faulty (not that that's an FGW^▸ (First Great Western) problem of course). So I guess the local scrotes had been busy there too last night?

[JayMac]

I know it is still a case of the onus being on the passenger and this won't be a suitable answer for everyone, but if I find myself at a PF^▸ (Penalty Fare) station and the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) is in one of it's 'cards/cash only' modes, I will take a picture of it (perhaps framed with my watch hand holding a newspaper - to prove the time/date!) to show any RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) I might encounter en-route. I don't trust the revenue staff enough to believe that if they check that the machine is unable to retail all tickets in all payment methods, that the answer they get back will reflect reality. Is it not possible for a machine to be card/cash only and when checked remotely be shown as functioning normally. Like Inspector_blakey said, I'm also unsure just how robust the system is for remotely checking faults - what if the the banking system is down temporarily and by the time you are challenged and the machine is remotely checked, it is functioning normally again?

[BBM]

http://www.maidenheadadvertiser.co.uk/news/article-15077-station-ticket-machines-vandalised/

CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) is being checked for clues after ticket machines were ripped off their hinges at Maidenhead train station.

Thieves broke into two 6ft machines outside the Shoppenhangers Road entrance in the early hours of the morning before making off with cash.

The incident was reported to police just after 3am.

A spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) said they were now checking through CCTV for any clues.

"It is unclear at present how much cash has been taken, and officers are working to establish any forensic opportunities from the scene," he added.

Call police with information on 0800 405040 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

[johoare]

"It is unclear at present how much cash has been taken, and officers are working to establish any forensic opportunities from the scene," he added.

You'd like to think the cash was emptied out regularly from these ticket machines as they are placed on the pavement next to a fairly main road, especially since there is no access to them from the station overnight so they are effectively cut off..

[willc]

Does anyone know if the station staff are actually allowed/able to empty the cash boxes, or do they have to rely on someone coming round in a van to do the job?

[inspector_blakey]

From conversations I've had with booking office staff they certainly have access to replace consumables (well, the ticket rolls) inside the machines and I think that "cashing up" the TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) was also part of their job, although I'm open to correction if circumstances have changed or if that's never been true.