northern stopping on-train ticket purchase

[sir douglas]

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/northern-rail-passengers-who-try-14497302

 

ridiculous 

[LBRJ]

Seems sensible to me- Every fare dodger costs the railway money which gets passed on to the honest passengers eventually.

[E3109]

Quote: "Northern bosses say there is little excuse for not buying a ticket now that you can pre-purchase online or through the app."

 

I don't have (or desire) a smart phone. "App"??

 

Secondly only a COURT can impose a fine.

 

Please note that I'm not condoning fare evasion, if there is a ticket machine then buy a ticket or obtain a Permit To Travel.

 

They seem really keen to push the cashless society, don't they.

[johnd]

The next step is " NO GUARDS on the train ONE man operation " !

[jjb1970]

Is this not pretty much the norm now? Looking at the various intimidating notices around the trains I use it seems like Northern are just following many others.

[Ray M]

Does this also include park & ride ?

As when i work in the area, i always park at Adwick , and then catch the train to/from Doncaster.

and i always pay on the train.

[Zomboid]

So they're enforcing penalty fares then. Just like the rest of the network.

 

I imagine they'll enforce it for passengers at Manchester Piccadilly and the like, but probably not at places like Battersby or Dent.

[caradoc]

If Northern are now enforcing this on all their routes, presumably every station now has some means of selling tickets, either by a person or a machine ? And hopefully they have some means of monitoring machines and advising on-train staff if one fails, to avoid disputes between passengers and staff. 

[Boris]

If Northern are now enforcing this on all their routes, presumably every station now has some means of selling tickets, either by a person or a machine ? And hopefully they have some means of monitoring machines and advising on-train staff if one fails, to avoid disputes between passengers and staff. 

Read the article fully, its only Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.  I can still see this ending in tears though, some form of daily wail article with people sat looking glum with photos of pacers and maybe a random pic of Blakey.

[Legend]

I think as long as there are facilities to buy tickets on the platform, either a lovely manned station(unlikely) or a ticket machine then you should have a ticket before boarding . I don’t hold with “apps” . I think they’ve forgotten that many of their customers are maybe occasional users or just don’t have access to WiFi. I’m fed up with these companies forcing us down the tech route just because it’s easier for them, it may be not at all convenient for their customers

 

But basically I’ve been brought up to know you need a ticket before travel. As long as there’s a means of buying one , I think that’s reasonable . If you have to be at the station 5 mins before to make sure you get it then that’s what you have to do

[Talltim]

Northern have had a push to put ticket machines in small stations, but I don’t know how far they’ve got and whether they offer the full range of tickets

[62613]

Northern have had a push to put ticket machines in small stations, but I don’t know how far they’ve got and whether they offer the full range of tickets

We have one at Newton (for Hyde) now, apparently. The ticket office is (was?) always manned in the morning rush hour. I have seen people using apps. on the train to buy tickets. One point on this; when the guard has to sell tickets on the train it slows him down for his other duties, e.g. opening and closing the doors

[Oldddudders]

We have one at Newton (for Hyde) now, apparently. The ticket office is (was?) always manned in the morning rush hour. I have seen people using apps. on the train to buy tickets. One point on this; when the guard has to sell tickets on the train it slows him down for his other duties, e.g. opening and closing the doors

And today’s busy trains mean he/she is often unable to check the whole train regularly. On some routes even getting through the train once is a challenge due to numbers.

[woodenhead]

And today’s busy trains mean he/she is often unable to check the whole train regularly. On some routes even getting through the train once is a challenge due to numbers.

Even on empty evening services I rarely saw the guard when i am on a Northern service.

 

The on station revenue staff have really put paid to the need to check tickets on trains as you can't enter or leave the stations in Manchester without producing or purchasing a ticket. I wonder if they appear once past the suburbs where the Manchester commuters have left the service?

[Reorte]

Read the article fully, its only Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.  I can still see this ending in tears though, some form of daily wail article with people sat looking glum with photos of pacers and maybe a random pic of Blakey.

If it's only at those stations, i.e. places you can always buy a ticket before getting on the train, I don't see any issue with it.

 

Plenty of Northern stations without ticket machines or staff (my local, Whaley Bridge, is staffed in the mornings but it's buy a ticket on the train the rest of the time).

[Reorte]

The on station revenue staff have really put paid to the need to check tickets on trains as you can't enter or leave the stations in Manchester without producing or purchasing a ticket. I wonder if they appear once past the suburbs where the Manchester commuters have left the service?

There are occasionally people on the platform outside there checking tickets, I assume they've got a team they send around to random stations for that.

 

I have had Northern journeys where I've had no means of paying for a ticket (unstaffed and machineless stations and never came around on the train to sell them).

[Oldddudders]

There are occasionally people on the platform outside there checking tickets, I assume they've got a team they send around to random stations for that.

 

I have had Northern journeys where I've had no means of paying for a ticket (unstaffed and machineless stations and never came around on the train to sell them).

Trust me, that is not exclusive to Northern.

[40F]

What ever happened to Pay Trains ????

[Wickham Green]

If Northern are now enforcing this on all their routes, presumably every station now has some means of selling tickets, either by a person or a machine ? And hopefully they have some means of monitoring machines and advising on-train staff if one fails, to avoid disputes between passengers and staff. 

......... and some means of monitoring ticket office the queue when the person at the front is unfamiliar with the system and holding-up everyone else ! ............................... I was queuing for a ticket at a major northern station ( NOT Northern ) a few years ago with, perhaps, ten minutes available for my train ... after a while it became clear that I'd not get to the counter in time and dashed across to the machines : needless to say the system was different from that on my 'home' line and in my hurry I ended up paying rather more than expected - YEP !, First Class when I thought I was getting First Group ...... probably not a deliberate ploy by the Operator but it dd them no financial harm - an' the seat was nice an' comfy unlike the so-called First Class elsewhere.

[pharrc20]

Interesting that in the last year or so maybe 2 all the conductors seem to have these new fancy ticket machines along with a payment box that you can tap contactless or push card in the old way to make a payment. And the nice machine spits out a half roll of toilet paper sorry a ticket.

So why then issue all this presumably expensive ticketing kit?

As for revenue teams there is almost always a friendly guy in the mornings at Northwich in addition to the guy in ticket office. But not once since mid 2016 have i seen any revenue teams in the evenings at Northwich. And it is rare to get ticket checked after Hale too. I wonder what the MCRUA will make of this?

Cheers Paul

[40F]

Cost cutting and laziness

[duncan]

most ticket machines I have seen are card only, for security, not much use if you only have cash

[jjb1970]

Since London Midland morphed into London and North Western I have noticed a big increase in ticket checks and visibility of conductors. However despite the rules on buying tickets before boarding most conductors still sell tickets on board. I am not criticising that but it sends a bit of a confusing message. Can you buy a ticket off a conductor, yes or no? On my route it seems to be no in theory but yes in practice which could make it interesting if someone contests a penalty fare.

[LBRJ]

It has always been the case that if you board at a staffed station with an open ticket office you are only permitted to buy a standard single ticket on-train; officially. 

Its just that most Guards would apply some common sense, and avoid needless confrontation.

[caradoc]

Read the article fully, its only Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.  I can still see this ending in tears though, some form of daily wail article with people sat looking glum with photos of pacers and maybe a random pic of Blakey.

 

The article says initially the routes around the above cities will be included, the clear implication being that other routes not mentioned may also be affected and the scheme will be extended to further routes.