Originally Posted by nomadking (Post 36160902)

Tedious that people are constantly giving the false impression that each and every rail station if going to be completely unmanned 24/7.
The Rail Delivery Group will be the ones that know the levels and times of demand for anything.

Originally Posted by Rillington (Post 36160901)

Im not entirely sure this is the case here bearing in mind that more than 600,000 responded to the consultation.

Originally Posted by ianch99 (Post 36160916)

And you think that this number of people, whatever they said, will change the outcome in a material way? They might but I doubt it.

The only way to stop this happening is to change to a society that puts people ahead of shareholder profits. This means that ... Seph, look away now .. we should never vote the Conservative Party into power ever again.

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 36160904)

And I am sure they will be completely customer-focused in their outcomes…

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 36160919)

Are they now?

Originally Posted by spiderplant (Post 36159955)

It is a little bizarre. You don't go to a ticket office to buy a bus or plane ticket - why should you for a train?

Originally Posted by spiderplant (Post 36159955)

It is a little bizarre. You don't go to a ticket office to buy a bus or plane ticket - why should you for a train?

Originally Posted by Itshim (Post 36160933)

Good point :p:

Originally Posted by Chris (Post 36159959)

Unless you’re boarding a driverless bus, every vehicle has a staffed ticket office. I used that ticket office to get into town only yesterday, because the ticketing options offered by both companies serving the route are so opaque it’s just quicker to ask the driver, and there is no cost-effective ‘any operator’ ticket for a simple return journey.

It’s also pretty much impossible to remove humans from the process of checking in for a flight because checked baggage has to go somewhere, so there will always have to be someone staffing check-in and taking money, even if only excess baggage charges.

Which pretty well illustrates the point - the systems require humans to make them work safely and effectively, and always will, no matter how seamless online ticketing becomes (and it is far from seamless on the railways). Even on the Glasgow subway there are an insane number of ticket options for a service that just goes round and round in circles through a mere 15 stops. You really do have to sit down with your calendar and a calculator to work out which one is more cost effective.

I visited a staffed ticket office at one of those 15 stops yesterday and had a nice chat with the man there in order to work out what to buy for our new student. It turns out you can charge up a Young Scot ID card with subway credit to spend on a per-journey basis, but you can’t charge it up with a season ticket, for which you either purchase a plastic card from the ticket man, or else go online and set up an account and get a free one with your photo on it - which clearly costs them more, so they are obviously very keen to push people online. One you have your subway photocard you can buy a weekly, monthly, six monthly or annual travel pass at the ticket office by presenting the card to charge it up … but if you want a 10-week season ticket (most useful to students) then oh, no, he can’t sell you that one, that’s online only. The whole thing is nuts, and while the pricing and incentives are obviously designed to push you to transact online, they are so opaque that perversely they also increase the likelihood that you’re going to want to actually ask a human employee for advice at some point.

Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36160945)

As I’ve said earlier. I don’t know what magical part of the country we’re talking about where these ticket offices exist.

But up here in West Yorkshire (apart from Leeds and possibly a handful of other stations I don’t know about) there hasn’t been a ticket office for well over a decade, probably two.

As long as there is a guard on the train (and in that argument I am on the side of the Rail unions) then you don’t need ticket offices.

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 36160947)

Here are the proposed closures in West Yorkshire

Bingley
Bradford Forster Square
Cross Gates
Garforth
Guiseley
Halifax
Hebden Bridge
Horsforth
Ilkley
Keighley
Leeds Travel Centre
Menston
New Pudsey
Shipley
Todmorden
Wakefield Westgate

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/...fices-27272127

Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36160948)

Useful, thank you.

Well, a sensible person would say. Keep Bradford & Wakefield. (& Leeds if that is actually Leeds Train Station)

None of those other stations need ticket offices, as long as the trains have guards.

Originally Posted by Pierre (Post 36160948)

Useful, thank you.

Well, a sensible person would say. Keep Bradford & Wakefield. (& Leeds if that is actually Leeds Train Station)

None of those other stations need ticket offices, as long as the trains have guards.

Originally Posted by Mr K (Post 36160950)

Didn't they want to get rid of guards too? Maybe also dispense with passengers, they make trains look scruffy and slow things down.

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 36160953)

What would the guards do, beside issue a fine if the passenger doesn’t have a ticket?