Ticket checks

Tue 12 Jun 2012, 12:57

Over the years that I have been commuting to and from London, I have gotten to know the Worcester trains staff quite well - even the RPI people as most of them have been working on the trains in other roles previously. My ticket is very very rarely checked (even though I always have one) and I actually like being asked for my ticket from time to time. All FGW train managers I have encountered have been very courteous with ticket checks on board trains, especially during the evening rush hour. I very rarely get a seat in the evenings thanks to the massed hordes of people from Reading swamping the train before anyone else does. If you happen to stand in the vestibule or buffet carriage, train managers will generally not ask to see a ticket - which I consider to be quite considerate...

Fri 8 Jun 2012, 10:59

As Russell says, you buy the ticket on the train, or you buy the ticket at the station you are getting off at (if it's manned). Sometimes by the time the train gets to Oxford the ticket collector hasn't been round. The station staff aren't bothered as they know Charlbury is a small station, so you don't get any hassle from them.

Thu 7 Jun 2012, 22:37

You buy a ticket on the train. Often the automated machine is out of order or the touch screen is faulty when wet.

Thu 7 Jun 2012, 22:32

Can someone explain what happens if you board a train at Charlbury without a ticket?

Thu 7 Jun 2012, 20:35

Anyone more than 5ft (OK exaggeration) tall who has had to travel on a Turbo will be mighty relieved at the return of the Adelantes. They must have been designed by a very diminutive person.

Thu 7 Jun 2012, 12:29

Talking to the Revenue Protection Officer who was at Charlbury on Thursday 31st May, he told me that there was evidence of a considerable amount of ticketless travel on the Cotswold Line, even at Charlbury. However most of it is in the Honeybourne, Evesham and Pershore area where there are no facilities to purchase tickets from machines. Even at Charlbury and Hanborough, the ticket machines can be unreliable and, of course, do not take cash. Yes, you will probably have to produce a ticket at Oxford, Reading or Paddington, but places like Didcot Parkway only have intermittent checks.

Turning now to the question of Adelantes, as I recall it, First Great Western management were reluctant to release them, despite their unreliability problems. The decision was imposed upon them by parent company, First Group, who, instead, bought a small number of High Speed Trains. This caused most off-peak services on the Cotswold Line to be operated by slower and less comfortable Turbo trains. As William Crossley points out, these Turbos are now needed to strengthen services nearer to London, hence FGW's decision to get 5 Adelantes back for use on the Cotswold Line. They have to be paid for somehow! A 5-car Adelante costs a lot more to operate than a 3-car Turbo.

Sun 3 Jun 2012, 23:08

Just a note on the idea that it's difficult to get to Charlbury without a ticket. Not everyone is travelling out from Paddington. I regularly make the journey down from Yorkshire and board at stations without barriers. But I do always have a ticket as my depleted bank balance will testify.

Sun 3 Jun 2012, 10:32

Emily,

You asked a simple question and I gave a simple answer. You then started in on the revenue inspectors and FGW generally and asked how anyone could get to Charlbury without a ticket. I and others tried to address those points and why checks were made at the station exits. I am sorry if you and Lesley think I was being scathing (or irrational) but you have been pretty scathing about FGW and its staff - and I repeat a point made previously by myself and Brian, the Adelantes are leased. They were never owned by FGW and aren't now. Railway ticket checks will always involve asking honest passengers to show tickets, because unlike flying, the railways are not a sealed system - when and where that is done is up to FGW. I am not suggesting for a moment that everyone is a fare dodger, far from it, but they do exist and are estimated to cost the rail industry something like £200 million a year. Some of that money is now flowing into ticket offices on the Cotswold Line (and elsewhere on FGW's system) as a result of the increased checks. More rolling stock costs more money (the Turbos displaced here by Adelantes are all staying with FGW to ease overcrowding nearer London) - would you prefer it to come from an even bigger rise next in our fares next January or from the people who haven't been paying? And I won't say any more either.

Sat 2 Jun 2012, 22:34

Dear All,

I feel that this particular thread on the website has become a little out of hand and that clearly we are not going to have a rational conversation, so I would like end my part in it. I was initially just looking for some answers and a bit banter and swapping of opinions with fellow commuters, however I can this is not what has happened.

To put the matter to rest I would just like to reiterate my first comment on the matter; I, for one, do not object to my tickets being checked. I would quite happy stick the ticket to my forehead during my journey so FGW staff could see it and stamp it if they wish. What I object to is the reason for the ticket checks from the revenue inspectors at Charlbury station; the fact that FGW showed a complete lack of business sense when it originally sold the Adelante fleet off in the first place and NOW because they have seen sense and had to ask the Dept for Transport to fund the buying back, us honest commuters are subjected to checks at Charlbury and possibly other stations, by what I might add rude revenue inspectors, all because FGW are incompetent.

So that is it. I am not a ticket skiver or someone who thinks they are above everyone else and should not be subjected to ticket check, I am just someone who has an opinion. As a child of parents who both work for British Rail and Transport for London I am well aware of how the railway network works.

I hope this closes the matter.

Sat 2 Jun 2012, 20:38

Do you really believe the people getting of at Charlbury are fare dodgers.

The only reason tickets are being checked at Charlbury is due to FGW buying the rolling stock they originally sold, and they had to borrow the money to do this from the Department of Transport. It is sad FGW didn't have the hindsight not to sell the trains. As for the train fares not increasing my fare to Oxford as gone up 50p a day, A young persons rail fare has also increased.

(posting slightly edited -- please remember the comment in the 'Civility' thread which is stuck to the top of the forum: "If you wouldn't say it to someone's face in a pub or cafe - especially if it's to the face of someone you've never met - then don't say it on the forum" -- Richard)

Sat 2 Jun 2012, 18:47

Lesley, how is "ridiculous checks" not complaining about the checks? And there are other reasons for improving checking than financing the extra rolling stock - such as catching people trying to travel without tickets, which many of us think FGW should have been rather better at doing anyway. The increase in ticket sales in recent weeks, thanks to the deterrent effect of the extra inspections, is not a coincidence. And by comparison with the ticket-checking techniques employed on the (entirely ungated) Oslo metro system when I lived in Norway, the FGW inspectors are pussycats.

You tell me I should get my facts right, so how is asserting fares keep going up correct, when they didn't on the Cotswold Line for three years?

Sat 2 Jun 2012, 13:58

If you had bothered to read Emily;s post properly you would have seen she was not complaining at her tickets being checked just the reasons behind it. Next time you decide to make scathing remarks get your facts correct! or maybe you need to go to Specsavers

Sat 2 Jun 2012, 01:08 (last edited on Sat 2 Jun 2012, 09:22)

Emily, I'm afraid I'm struggling to see what the problem is. You had a ticket, you were asked to show it by railway staff. So what? What is ridiculous about that? Or is just that they were 'rude'? And if so, how? By asking to see your ticket? It's their…

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Fri 1 Jun 2012, 17:04

I DO show my ticket, on the train, at the barriers, coming back on the return journey etc. Checking tickets have been going on for years and years and the prices keep going up so I'm not entirely convinced by your argument Brian.

Fri 1 Jun 2012, 17:03

I don't think FGW sold the Adelantes, they were leased and handed back to the owners as I recall.

Fri 1 Jun 2012, 16:43

Why shouldn't you have to show your ticket? If you board a bus or a plane you have to get your ticket checked, so there shouldn't be a problem at a railway station. Checking tickets and collecting fares is the best way to keep prices down!

Fri 1 Jun 2012, 16:19

With regards to Paddington, most of the trains end up on a platform with barriers and even if you had a good idea about which train got in where, you can't account for a platform change. So anyone travelling from Charlbury to Paddington and back again would HAVE to get a ticket; there's no way round it.
As for Worcester, in the last few months the ticket inspectors have been very 'hot' on checking tickets, so unless you hid in the toilets the entire way.... And finally Banbury, if you're travelling from Oxford to Banbury there are barriers at Oxford so you'd have to buy one.
I think what I'm finding hard to understand is that if FGW hadn't sold the fleet in the first place they wouldn't be under obligation from the Dept for Transport. Surely, this incident shouts bad business practices. Yes Richard they may not be as bad as Arriva but they're still bad and expensive!

Fri 1 Jun 2012, 16:09

I went to Paddington and back on Wednesday and no one checked my ticket at either station or on the trains. I did buy a carton of wretchedly tepid coffee though. Must remember the flask next time.

Fri 1 Jun 2012, 14:15

You'd be surprised - there's no barriers at Banbury or Worcester, for example; several platforms at Paddington are unbarriered; and buying a ticket that only takes you part of the way, then busking it for the rest, is a fairly well-known trick.

FGW aren't perfect but the more I use other railway companies, the more I appreciate FGW. Heaven help us if the ghastly Arriva get the franchise next time...

Fri 1 Jun 2012, 13:51

So... because FGW was stupid enough to get rid of the Adelante trains a few years ago and have no seen sense and brought them back we, the consumer, are having to put up with ridiculous checks at Charlbury station by very rude members of staff. On another note, how would anyone possibly get to Charlbury WITHOUT a ticket from any of the major stations, as you have to go through barriers at most.

Thu 31 May 2012, 21:56

It's not just Charlbury, it is all over First Great Western's network. As part of the agreement with the Department for Transport which helped fund the deal for five Adelante trains to return and an extra standard class coach for many of the High Speed Trains, FGW is obliged to toughen up revenue protection.

As a result, they have appointed a lot more revenue protection inspectors (they wear dark suits rather than a standard FGW uniform), including a number based at Didcot, Oxford and Worcester, so expect to have your tickets checked more frequently from now on, at stations and on trains.

Thu 31 May 2012, 18:19

Why are tickets being checked at Charlbury station at present?