Paul Corfield wrote on 22 October 2009 19:07:48 ...
On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:57:55 +0100, "Batman55"
wrote:

"trainmanUK" wrote in message
...
Now that the new wide gates have replaced the old manual ones I notice
a reduction in staff hear the barriers. A couple of time recently at
High Street Ken at about 2000 there have been no staff visible
anywhere.

Are we moving to the Paris Metro situation where the staff can remain
in the office and only come out if there is a problem or are they
reducing the number of staff at stations ?

Some years ago I was with a colleague at La Defense and his ticket wouldn't
work, no one came to his aid despite my shouting in my best Franglais at the
ticket office clerk, and in the end he had to climb over the barrier. Nobody
objected!

Been there, done that too!

Well yes but La Defense is a perfect example of the nonsense of Paris's
fare scheme once outside the central area. The Metro to La Defense is
all flat fare. If you use the RER it is in Zone 2 or 3 and therefore
there are gates to check whether you have a valid ticket [1]. People
moan about London's alleged lack of fare integration but we don't have
that sort of nonsense although Thameslink at Farringdon might get close.

Heathrow is an exactly similar situation. A Z1-6 Travelcard will get
you to Heathrow on the Piccadilly, but only as far as Hayes & Harlington
on Heathrow Connect, which for most of its journey is an ordinary
suburban stopping train.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)