On Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:52:11 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
Yes, the introduction of wide gates is an improvement over the rather
lax loophole that is a manual gate.

Having said that, they may not always be quick enough to only let one
person through.

Good. When I use the wide gates it is to get more than one person
through on one ticket. I don't think my 3 year old would like it
if the gates slammed shut on her or me.

David

On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 03:14:20AM -0700, elyob wrote:

But, seriously, my ticket is checked by machine getting through the
barriers both ends, do you really need a visual check as well?

Not everyone's ticket is checked at both ends. There are plenty of
ungated stations on SWT's nyetwork, and of course some people won't have
started their journey on SWT at all, having changed at Clapham Junction.

Treating us all like bloody criminals, I may start refusing to show my
ticket to the guard as they now have ample checks and six times a day
takes the p*ss.

You do that. Your consequent whinging here about what happens will be
most amusing.

--
David Cantrell | Official London Perl Mongers Bad Influence

Guns aren't the problem. People who deserve to die are the problem.

"elyob" wrote ...
Is it me or are the guards now checking the tickets on the trains even
more since they installed the gates at Waterloo?

One possible reason is their need to maintain their income - in the 'olden
days', they'd get a commission on on-train sales, and wouldn't have to work
too hard to get a reasonable fee. With gates forcing more advance sales,
they may have to check more people to make sales and/or find penalty
passengers.

Treating us all like bloody criminals, I may start refusing to show my
ticket to the guard as they now have ample checks

Careful; not only are you legally required to show ticket when asked, one of
the penalties for failing to show is being banned from the line.

It'll settle down - but revenue protection is a good way to avoid
subsidising thieves, and ultimately may slow down fair rises by a few pence
per year.
--

Andrew

"She plays the tuba.
It is the only instrument capable
of imitating a distress call."

David Cantrell wrote in news:20090318112707.GC13254
@bytemark.barnyard.co.uk:

SWT's nyetwork

If that's not deliberate, it's possibly the best typo ever!

"Tim Roll-Pickering" wrote:
elyob wrote:

Wouldn't it be easy enough to let the gates know which train has
come
in and then check the validity? i.e. if it's a fast from Surbiton,
no
way could a Vauxhall be valid.

Too many trains come in at once and also, IIRC, passengers are able to
move
between platforms behind barriers so there's no way one can fairly
assume
what stations a passenger could and couldn't have used.

Indeed-and at Victoria this is an essential part of the pedestrian flow
(i.e. a trainful of experienced commuters arriving on plat 3 will know
to spread out and use all 3 barrier lines, thus dispersing incoming
passengers much more quickly than if they were limited to the centre
gateline).

--
Current nearest station: City Thameslink