While I was at Liverpool St on Tuesday I was concerned not to enter the tube
before 9:30 so as not to be charged peak fares.

So I sought out a staff member near the ticket machines (the ticket office
closed 19th October) to find out how I could be sure that the gates thought
it was 9:30 before I touched in. They don't display the time which would
answer my question. The one staff member supposedly helping passengers could
only advise me to use my watch.

While I was waiting to speak to that staff member present (so much for the
no doubt more numerous ticket office staff being posted to help passengers)
I overheard a bit of the conversation she was having with a distraught
passenger could couldn't get his Oyster card to work. I didn't get to find
out why but all she advised him to do was to go to the Oyster web site. His
distress was because he was unable to travel, something she appeared to be
confirming.

I find this very disturbing and a consequence of ticket office closures we
don't seem to have anticipated in discussions here.

The staff member was so badly trained she didn't even suggest he go to the
office there that is still open.

That point only occurred to me later, unfortunately. I didn't have time to
find out more as I had a meeting to get to by 10, hence my desire to enter
the tube promptly at 9:30.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

wrote:

While I was at Liverpool St on Tuesday I was concerned not to enter
the tube before 9:30 so as not to be charged peak fares.

So I sought out a staff member near the ticket machines (the ticket
office closed 19th October) to find out how I could be sure that the
gates thought it was 9:30 before I touched in. They don't display the
time which would answer my question. The one staff member supposedly
helping passengers could only advise me to use my watch.

I'm not sure how a ticket office would have been any more help with
your query?

In practice the gates go to off-peak mode at 0928 or so if your watch
says 0930 you are safe unless your watch is very unreliable.

Peter Smyth

In article , (Peter Smyth)
wrote:

wrote:

While I was at Liverpool St on Tuesday I was concerned not to enter
the tube before 9:30 so as not to be charged peak fares.

So I sought out a staff member near the ticket machines (the ticket
office closed 19th October) to find out how I could be sure that the
gates thought it was 9:30 before I touched in. They don't display the
time which would answer my question. The one staff member supposedly
helping passengers could only advise me to use my watch.

I'm not sure how a ticket office would have been any more help with
your query?

In practice the gates go to off-peak mode at 0928 or so if your watch
says 0930 you are safe unless your watch is very unreliable.

Thanks. I would have expected well trained staff to have told me something
like that. It's a pity that gate displays just don't show the time.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On 28/10/2015 19:36, wrote:

In article , (Peter Smyth)
wrote:

wrote:

While I was at Liverpool St on Tuesday I was concerned not to enter
the tube before 9:30 so as not to be charged peak fares.

So I sought out a staff member near the ticket machines (the ticket
office closed 19th October) to find out how I could be sure that the
gates thought it was 9:30 before I touched in. They don't display the
time which would answer my question. The one staff member supposedly
helping passengers could only advise me to use my watch.

I'm not sure how a ticket office would have been any more help with
your query?

In practice the gates go to off-peak mode at 0928 or so if your watch
says 0930 you are safe unless your watch is very unreliable.

Thanks. I would have expected well trained staff to have told me something
like that. It's a pity that gate displays just don't show the time.


I don't think it'd be a great idea to advertise the 'window of
forgiveness', as it'd rather lose its meaning if so.

Using a watch or mobile - many of which will take the time from the
network - is fair enough, if you want to avail of the cheaper fares. I
imagine there may well be a clock somewhere in the ticket hall - if not,
the time is displayed on the main concourse at Liverpool St.

In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 28/10/2015 19:36, wrote:

In article , (Peter Smyth)
wrote:

wrote:

While I was at Liverpool St on Tuesday I was concerned not to enter
the tube before 9:30 so as not to be charged peak fares.

So I sought out a staff member near the ticket machines (the ticket
office closed 19th October) to find out how I could be sure that the
gates thought it was 9:30 before I touched in. They don't display the
time which would answer my question. The one staff member supposedly
helping passengers could only advise me to use my watch.

I'm not sure how a ticket office would have been any more help with
your query?

In practice the gates go to off-peak mode at 0928 or so if your watch
says 0930 you are safe unless your watch is very unreliable.

Thanks. I would have expected well trained staff to have told me
something like that. It's a pity that gate displays just don't show the
time.


I don't think it'd be a great idea to advertise the 'window of
forgiveness', as it'd rather lose its meaning if so.

Using a watch or mobile - many of which will take the time from the
network - is fair enough, if you want to avail of the cheaper fares.
I imagine there may well be a clock somewhere in the ticket hall - if
not, the time is displayed on the main concourse at Liverpool St.

I was not confident that the clock used by the gateline was correct. I must
obviously be more suspicious than you.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

wrote:
In article , (Mizter T) wrote:

On 28/10/2015 19:36, wrote:

In article , (Peter Smyth)
wrote:

wrote:

While I was at Liverpool St on Tuesday I was concerned not to enter
the tube before 9:30 so as not to be charged peak fares.

So I sought out a staff member near the ticket machines (the ticket
office closed 19th October) to find out how I could be sure that the
gates thought it was 9:30 before I touched in. They don't display the
time which would answer my question. The one staff member supposedly
helping passengers could only advise me to use my watch.

I'm not sure how a ticket office would have been any more help with
your query?

In practice the gates go to off-peak mode at 0928 or so if your watch
says 0930 you are safe unless your watch is very unreliable.

Thanks. I would have expected well trained staff to have told me
something like that. It's a pity that gate displays just don't show the
time.


I don't think it'd be a great idea to advertise the 'window of
forgiveness', as it'd rather lose its meaning if so.

Using a watch or mobile - many of which will take the time from the
network - is fair enough, if you want to avail of the cheaper fares.
I imagine there may well be a clock somewhere in the ticket hall - if
not, the time is displayed on the main concourse at Liverpool St.

I was not confident that the clock used by the gateline was correct. I must
obviously be more suspicious than you.

I don't think the gateline has its own clock. The system uses an accurate
clock, presumably synced to an Internet clock. It's noticeable that most
station clocks are accurate to the second these days, just like
radio-controlled watches.

In message 1735851597.467769906.836649.recliner.ng-
, at 00:31:54 on Thu, 29 Oct
2015, Recliner remarked:
I don't think the gateline has its own clock. The system uses an accurate
clock, presumably synced to an Internet clock. It's noticeable that most
station clocks are accurate to the second these days, just like
radio-controlled watches.

Platform clocks were one of the first widely deployed public
'Rugby'-linked ones. If you don't count the "CEEFAX" clock which was
also linked to Rugby (and was designed by a friend of mine who worked in
BBC engineering).

http://www.aj-computing.co.uk/misc/clock/about/

This modern clock is "railway approved", and like most master clocks
deployed for such purposes the last 15+ years is linked to GPS rather
than 'Rugby':

https://www.wharton.co.uk/master_clo...-network-time-
server.htm
--
Roland Perry

On Thu, 29 Oct 2015 00:31:54 +0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

I don't think the gateline has its own clock. The system uses an accurate
clock, presumably synced to an Internet clock. It's noticeable that most
station clocks are accurate to the second these days, just like
radio-controlled watches.

How can the gate write the time of touching in or out to the Oyster
card in a timely manner without having a clock?

--
jhk

Jarle Hammen Knudsen wrote:
On Thu, 29 Oct 2015 00:31:54 +0000 (UTC), Recliner
wrote:

I don't think the gateline has its own clock. The system uses an accurate
clock, presumably synced to an Internet clock. It's noticeable that most
station clocks are accurate to the second these days, just like
radio-controlled watches.

How can the gate write the time of touching in or out to the Oyster
card in a timely manner without having a clock?

It certainly has access to an accurate clock, but whether that's in the
gate itself, periodically corrected, or accessed on-line I don't know.

On 28/10/2015 22:41, wrote:

In article , (Mizter T) wrote:
[...]
Thanks. I would have expected well trained staff to have told me
something like that. It's a pity that gate displays just don't show
the time.

I don't think it'd be a great idea to advertise the 'window of
forgiveness', as it'd rather lose its meaning if so.

Using a watch or mobile - many of which will take the time from the
network - is fair enough, if you want to avail of the cheaper fares.
I imagine there may well be a clock somewhere in the ticket hall - if
not, the time is displayed on the main concourse at Liverpool St.

I was not confident that the clock used by the gateline was correct. I
must obviously be more suspicious than you.


Paranoid, you mean?

Oyster validators (fixed ones, at stations/tramstops) are more or less
'online' these days. I think it's kinda absurd to reckon they have the
time wrong (at least more than a few seconds, though I doubt that too).