Mass cull of ticket offices

[The Stationmaster]

I often find in our local Tesco - and same agian yesterday - that there are more people queueing to use the self-service checkouts and it is far quicker to go to a staffed checkout.  However at any checkout a lot depends on how well the customers are organised in terms of quickly processing ,and. particularly packing, their shopping.  AND alot depends on custimers having the necessary cards ready to pay for it instead of spending ages ploughing through their wallet or handbag or even a shopping bag looking for whatever or trying to pay with their 'phone but not knowing how to do it.

 

It used to be - and might well still be the same? - at a booking office window where it wasn't at all unusual in my past experience for people to turn up not knowing which station they were travelling to so you had to ask them where they were heading.  or they asked for a ticket to a station which had been closed probably before they were even born (I'had examples of both back in the day)

Edited November 10, 2023 by The Stationmaster

[Nick C]

I suspect with the supermarkets there's a much more prosaic reason for going back from self-service to more manned tills - it's a lot harder to shoplift past a person than a machine...

[Wheatley]

6 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

It used to be - and might well still be the same? - at a booking office window where it wasn't at all unusual in my past experience for people to turn up not knowing which station they were travelling to so you had to ask them where they were heading.  or they asked for a ticket to a station which had been closed probably before they were even born (I'had examples of both back in the day)

Barnsley, 1990s, Mrs Richards out of Fawlty Towers approaches the window:

 

"I want to go to Scotland"

"Certainly madam, whereabouts  ?"

"Scotland"

"But where in Scotland madam"

"The railway station of course"

"Which station madam ? There are several"

"The main one"

"Glasgow or Edinburgh ?"

"Yes"

"Which ?"

"Which ever of those is in Scotland"

 

(Changes tack, colleague is ringing the hospital to see if they've mislaid anyone)

 

"Can I ask why you're going to Scotland madam?"

"None of your damn  business young man !"

"If I know why you're going I can sell you the right ticket"

"I'm going to see my sister although I don't see why that's any of your concern"

"And where does your sister live ?"

"Scotland."

"OK. Do you have your sister's phone number?"

"Of course"

"May I have it? So I can sell you the right ticket ?"

"Well I've never heard such nonsense" (reluctantly scribbles number down).

 

I rang the sister, who was somewhat  surprised but said her sister was  definitely 'a character' and could we sell her an open return to Pitlochry please. I did, and arranged disabled assistance at all the changes. I bet no-one's ever sent a TVM a box of biscuits and a thank you card. 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Wheatley
Fat fingers

[The Stationmaster]

Back in the 1960s slough still had a considerable Welsh expatriate population (a result of the trading estate attracting people from South Wales in the depression).  Thus Friday late afternoons/evenings  were always busy with Weekend Returns and one's pronunciation of welsh places names improved rapidly.  But you also needed to know the local geopgraphy hence somebody asking for a Weekend Return to Aberfan (we had a couple of regulars) actually needed a Weekend Return to Merthyr Vale, which is just up the road.  

 

They always travelled to Merthyr Vale, the ticket said Merthyr Vales, and the station nameboards said Merthyr Vale.  But they invariably always asked for a ticket to Aberfan - because that was where they were travelling to.

[Not Jeremy]

On 08/11/2023 at 09:32, Not Jeremy said:

 

You'd think so, but the instructions make it clear that I am to use my booking reference and my payment card at a machine only.

 

Maybe I'll ask the very nice people in the ticket office first to check this out, whilst congratulating them on having been "spared". They are all and without exception knowledgeable, helpful and jolly!

 

 

I picked up my tickets today at Bath Spa, getting them with no problem at all  from one of the jolly staff in the ticket office.

 

Had a nice chat with him as there was no one waiting, he and his colleagues are still working in a challenging environment since part of the ceiling in the booking office collapsed, and he said there was no sign of repairs either taking place or being planned.

 

And of course the station itself is still missing its clock and the distinctive “Elizabethan” style central stone pediment.

 

It looks very odd without it, I haven’t found a clear answer as to if or when it will be replaced.

[Bernard Lamb]

At our local station there seem to be more agency security staff than railway people in the ticket office most of the time.

Yesterday SWMBO had to alight at a certain North London tube station. She was the only person to get off the train and was surprised to find ten policemen on duty. We realize that it is a sensitive time for some of the local poulattion, but we think that this is a bit over the top and not quite the right balance. It is certainly not sustainable for either location.

Bernard

[Michael Hodgson]

"Can I have a return ticket please"

"Where to ?"

"Back here of course"

 

The old ones are the best 😁

[Chris116]

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

"Can I have a return ticket please"

"Where to ?"

"Back here of course"

 

The old ones are the best 😁

I always thought that was a bad joke but at both Earl's Court and Parsons Green that happened to me while working in the ticket office. Both customers couldn't understand why I didn't know what ticket they needed.

[figworthy]

6 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

or they asked for a ticket to a station which had been closed probably before they were even born

 

And some of us even managed to get them.

 

Many years back, the travel agents that my then employers used managed to issue me a return ticket to Southwell (I actually wanted Fiskerton, but thought it was called Southwell).  And Southwell did indeed close (to passengers) before I was born.

 

Adrian

[Michael Hodgson]

I used to get tickets at this (now demolished) station which was still staffed in the early 1970s though it had lost its passenger trains in 1960 and closed to freight in 1964.

 

[caradoc]

20 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Thus Friday late afternoons/evenings  were always busy with Weekend Returns and one's pronunciation of welsh places names improved rapidly.

 

I'm still grateful now, 40 years on, when a booking office clerk at Reading, that the regular passenger we had for Llwynypia travelled on a Forces Warrant, so his destination was written rather than spoken! 

 

I've mentioned before I think the passenger for Tavistock who was taken aback when we told him the fare, the journey time, and the bus ride needed; It turned out he wanted Tavistock Place in London. 

 

[2E Sub Shed]

22 hours ago, Nick C said:

I suspect with the supermarkets there's a much more prosaic reason for going back from self-service to more manned tills - it's a lot harder to shoplift past a person than a machine...

Does not explain why WH Smith put the tills at the back of the shop, would have thought it increased opportunity for theft.  

[Nick C]

3 hours ago, 2E Sub Shed said:

Does not explain why WH Smith put the tills at the back of the shop, would have thought it increased opportunity for theft.  

It would,  I'd have thought. Our local Smith's has the tills in the normal place though, by the doors. It's the clothing stores round here that tend to have them in strange places.

[2E Sub Shed]

1 hour ago, Nick C said:

It would,  I'd have thought. Our local Smith's has the tills in the normal place though, by the doors. It's the clothing stores round here that tend to have them in strange places.

I was thinking of London Termini branches, e.g. Paddington, Victoria as examples, even in Exeter they have moved away from doors at some point.

[Chris116]

The reason tills are put at the back of stores is because it means sell customers have to walk through the whole store and therefore according to the sales experts are more likely to make impulse purchases. Trouble is it makes shop lifting easier without security near the doors. If the tills are near the doors then the staff on the tills do the security job so the question has to be asked if security costs more than the extra impulse sales.

[johnlambert]

On 10/11/2023 at 16:51, Wheatley said:

Barnsley, 1990s, Mrs Richards out of Fawlty Towers approaches the window:

 

"I want to go to Scotland"

"Certainly madam, whereabouts  ?"

"Scotland"

"But where in Scotland madam"

"The railway station of course"

"Which station madam ? There are several"

"The main one"

"Glasgow or Edinburgh ?"

"Yes"

"Which ?"

"Which ever of those is in Scotland"

 

(Changes tack, colleague is ringing the hospital to see if they've mislaid anyone)

 

"Can I ask why you're going to Scotland madam?"

"None of your damn  business young man !"

"If I know why you're going I can sell you the right ticket"

"I'm going to see my sister although I don't see why that's any of your concern"

"And where does your sister live ?"

"Scotland."

"OK. Do you have your sister's phone number?"

"Of course"

"May I have it? So I can sell you the right ticket ?"

"Well I've never heard such nonsense" (reluctantly scribbles number down).

 

I rang the sister, who was somewhat  surprised but said her sister was  definitely 'a character' and could we sell her an open return to Pitlochry please. I did, and arranged disabled assistance at all the changes. I bet no-one's ever sent a TVM a box of biscuits and a thank you card. 

At least she wasn't complaining about the view from the train window.

On 10/11/2023 at 19:26, Michael Hodgson said:

"Can I have a return ticket please"

"Where to ?"

"Back here of course"

 

The old ones are the best 😁

I did once have a moment of brain failure with an automated ticket machine at Coventry station. This was about 23 years ago, if not a bit more. The machine started by asking if you wanted a single or return, then asked for your destination. Because I was thinking (or not) that I wanted to return to Coventry after my trip, I couldn't understand why the machine wouldn't accept this as an option. Eventually I twigged that I needed to choose where I was going (probably either London or Birmingham). So, it's not a new problem or limited to old people.

11 hours ago, Chris116 said:

The reason tills are put at the back of stores is because it means sell customers have to walk through the whole store and therefore according to the sales experts are more likely to make impulse purchases. Trouble is it makes shop lifting easier without security near the doors. If the tills are near the doors then the staff on the tills do the security job so the question has to be asked if security costs more than the extra impulse sales.

I guess it means that business analysts can have endless fun (I use the term loosely) calculating whether the revenue from impulse purchases will outweigh the money lost through shoplifting.

 

As for ticket machines and offices, I'm quite pragmatic. If there's a queue at the machine, I'll use the window if it's staffed. If there's a queue at the window and not at the machine I'll use that. I do the same in supermarkets with the checkouts (and I think there's a place in hell reserved for those who clog up the self-checkout area with their trolley). I had a minor moment of confusion at Gravesend station last Saturday. I was travelling to London, the ticket office was closed. I had no problem selecting the ticket I needed, but I was slightly thrown by the fact that the thing that I thought was the debit card reader wasn't in fact that card reader. I figured it out eventually.

[Michael Hodgson]

57 minutes ago, johnlambert said:

 

I did once have a moment of brain failure with an automated ticket machine at Coventry station. This was about 23 years ago, if not a bit more. The machine started by asking if you wanted a single or return, then asked for your destination. Because I was thinking (or not) that I wanted to return to Coventry after my trip, I couldn't understand why the machine wouldn't accept this as an option. Eventually I twigged that I needed to choose where I was going (probably either London or Birmingham). So, it's not a new problem or limited to old people.

 

When I used to catch trains to London from Coventry (over 50 years ago!) I used to ask for a ticket to Rugby, where I would rebook, as this was cheaper.  I would however return on a non-stop service from Euston, showing only the return half to Rugby at the barrier.  I was only challenged once with "this train doesn't stop there" and then produced the return half of the original ticket which was accepted.

 

When going to Birmingham I used to travel from Tile Hill or instead with another student, as you could get 2 for the price of 1 tickets, but these were not available from Coventry.

[Porkscratching]

35 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

When I used to catch trains to London from Coventry (over 50 years ago!) I used to ask for a ticket to Rugby, where I would rebook, as this was cheaper.  I would however return on a non-stop service from Euston, showing only the return half to Rugby at the barrier.  I was only challenged once with "this train doesn't stop there" and then produced the return half of the original ticket which was accepted.

 

When going to Birmingham I used to travel from Tile Hill or instead with another student, as you could get 2 for the price of 1 tickets, but these were not available from Coventry.

As teenagers in the 70s we used to do all kinds of jiggery-pokery  to save some pennies, particularly useful was the fact you could get from BR main lines onto the LT Underground system , without going through any ticket barriers, by simply crossing the down platform at New Cross, which was also a terminus of the old spur that went thru Surrey Docks etc. There was usually a nice set ( R stock as I recall ) sitting there waiting for you 😉

[The Stationmaster]

On 10/11/2023 at 19:26, Michael Hodgson said:

"Can I have a return ticket please"

"Where to ?"

"Back here of course"

 

The old ones are the best 😁

As Chris 116 has said it is definitely far more real than a bad joke.  in fact people might be surprised at just how often it happened in the real.  And ir didn't seem to be a geographical thing as I encountered it on various parts of the WR over the years.

[Porkscratching]

Reminiscent of the Irish station scene in The Quiet Man where someone's asking directions, one of the helpful replies being..

"Sure now, if I was wantin' to go there, I wouldn't be startin' from here".. 

[The Stationmaster]

22 hours ago, caradoc said:

 

I'm still grateful now, 40 years on, when a booking office clerk at Reading, that the regular passenger we had for Llwynypia travelled on a Forces Warrant, so his destination was written rather than spoken! 

 

I've mentioned before I think the passenger for Tavistock who was taken aback when we told him the fare, the journey time, and the bus ride needed; It turned out he wanted Tavistock Place in London. 

 

40 years so you probably just missed out on the young ladies travelling on Forces Leave warrants as HMS Dauntless, the WRNS  establishment, at Burghfield was closed down in 1981.

 

Windsor was apparently the place for Forces Leave warrants and it supporteda  massive range of printed stock tickets well into the 1960s.

[Dagworth]

On 10/11/2023 at 19:26, Michael Hodgson said:

"Can I have a return ticket please"

"Where to ?"

"Back here of course"

 

The old ones are the best 😁

Sat in the cab of an EPB at London Bridge:

 

Customer: Is this Charing Cross?

Me: No, this is London Bridge

C: How long's the next train to CX?

Me: 8 coaches, same as this one.

 

Another time at Lewisham

C: Are you Victoria?

Me: No, I'm Andi

[The Stationmaster]

Passenger rings enquiry office or arrives at booking office counter ' ;Whens the next train to London please?'   Response  as appropriate but e.g. 'In 10 minutes time sir'. 

 

Then in about 30-40% of cases the the passenger then asks ' When was the last one?'  Your response then depends on how long you have been on duty, how many other idiots you have had to deal with., and numerous other more personal items such as the state of your digestion.  If you are feeling the pain of any of those you go for it and say ' You've missed it - surr '     If - as I've seen some do - you d-n't give a damn you reply 'Why do you want to know that, it's gone and you missed it' 0r wirse).

 

It was one of the most commonly asked stupid questions I ever came across at a booking/enquiry office.  Have people got any more intelligent since the late 1960s/early '70s I wonder?

[Wheatley]

Most stations kept an "Idiot of the week" page in the help pages on CRS, in amongst other more officially approved information. The themes were depressingly similar across the country. 

[pete_mcfarlane]

On 10/11/2023 at 19:26, Michael Hodgson said:

"Can I have a return ticket please"

"Where to ?"

"Back here of course"

 

The old ones are the best 😁

I've seen this exact encounter many times between the guard and people getting on at unstaffed stations. With the added complication of the guard not always knowing where they've started from.