"Graham Harrison" wrote:

In this country you're probably right. In others, however, I've seen
quite a few trains where the driver collects the fare.

In Germany on rural lines they nominally can, but it's more that they note
you've been to speak to them and tell any inspector not to issue a penalty
fare, rather than actually selling a ticket.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Sep 2012 14:57:28 +0100
"Graham Harrison" wrote:
a few trains where the driver collects the fare.

Which country is this? I've travelled a bit and I've seen tram drivers
collect fairs but never a train driver.

B2003


Most recently, Japan.

Does he walk down the train or do you just board through the front door?
I presume this is some local service and not the bullet train!

B2003


It was a single car (bit like a 153 in the UK or RDC in the USA but probably
lighter than either). Board at the front and pay. On a "level 3" (JR
being 1 and the major independents like Kintetsu 2) railway in the Aso
caldera on Kyushu (picture here http://goo.gl/maps/hyx4b ). I've seen it
somewhere in Europe but I can't remember where. It may have been Denmark

On 13/09/2012 12:05, Paul wrote:
Just noticed this on the TfL website

https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/bus...d/consult_view

Reason given is that very few (approx 1%) of bus journeys involve a cash fare.

Have to say that my experience of these machines is that they cause confusion for tourists, and often delays as the driver waits for someone to get off the bus, fiddle around and buy a ticket, and then get back on.

I have seen many a bus driver close the doors and drive off when some
yup gets off the bus to buy a ticket and insist that the driver wait.

Most regular travellers will have a travelcard or Oyster PAYG, as will some visitors, but there will always be a need for some people to pay by cash.

I suppose it makes sense to remove the machines as it will cut costs for
staff or contractors to go to each of these machines, carry out
maintenance and effect any needed repairs. Coin transport costs are also
not cheap, AIUI.

On 13/09/2012 13:29, Neil Williams wrote:
wrote:

And I guess you've never seen the fuss when someones Oyster card doesn't work
and they stand there for 5 mins arguing with the driver?

Which is one issue that the current policy causes, and a return to allowing
cash fares will solve, particularly where a group is travelling and the
last one to board has a card problem.

Neil


It always seems to happen in the morning when some woman has to fumble
through her purse looking for an Oystercard, and then starts yelling at
the driver when he says that he needs to drive off.

On 13/09/2012 13:51, Graham Harrison wrote:

No one would
think a train driver collecting fares is a good idea but for some reason
the idea a bus driver should do it passes unremarked.


In this country you're probably right. In others, however, I've seen
quite a few trains where the driver collects the fare.

Tram drivers will do it many cities around Europe. I have also seen
drivers on the Warsaw Commuter Railway sell tickets.

" wrote:

It always seems to happen in the morning when some woman has to fumble
through her purse looking for an Oystercard, and then starts yelling at
the driver when he says that he needs to drive off.

Sounds like the sort of people who get taken aback when they are asked to
pay for their shopping at a supermarket having packed it all, then spend
half an hour finding their cash or card to do so.

Here's an idea for those people - there is a handy little shelf above the
scanning thingy. Put your card/purse/wallet on there ready before starting
to pack and we won't all have to wait for you to faff.

(The lack of tolerance for such faffing is one of the benefits of shopping
at Aldi etc...)

As for the bus, if the driver can take cash, the bus can start moving while
the faffing takes place.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

On 13/09/2012 12:40, d wrote:


No one would
think a train driver collecting fares is a good idea

I've seen it in Germany. And on miniature/heritage/funicular railways...

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

Someone Somewhere wrote:

Wow - such vitriole over a policy that was developed to speed up services
in London for those of us who live there! It's not like having an Oyster
card is that much of a hardship, and nor is it like the credit on it
expires if unused.

It may not expire but I've never been able to transfer credit from one card
to another. When the discount cards have to be renewed each year you often
find either credit being wasted on old cards or a pain when one
miscalculates when cancelling the auto-top-up and finds the balancing
running out in the middle of the night.

--
My blog: http://adf.ly/4hi4c

wrote:

I suppose it makes sense to remove the machines as it will cut costs for
staff or contractors to go to each of these machines, carry out
maintenance and effect any needed repairs. Coin transport costs are also
not cheap, AIUI.

For presumably those reasons they've been withdrawn from stops outside the
cashless zone when the buses were debendified.

One of the harshest memories from when they were first brought in was when
machines broke down and drivers refused to take would-be passengers who said
this. A particular bad one involved a mother with a pushchair.

--
My blog: http://adf.ly/4hi4c

On 13/09/2012 23:32, Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:
wrote:

I suppose it makes sense to remove the machines as it will cut costs for
staff or contractors to go to each of these machines, carry out
maintenance and effect any needed repairs. Coin transport costs are also
not cheap, AIUI.

For presumably those reasons they've been withdrawn from stops outside the
cashless zone when the buses were debendified.

One of the harshest memories from when they were first brought in was when
machines broke down and drivers refused to take would-be passengers who said
this. A particular bad one involved a mother with a pushchair.

The driver should have just waved the mother on board in that case, at
least as a one-off.

The others could have gone to the newsagent and bought tickets or topped
up their Oysters.