Quote:
Originally Posted by swisstrains
I don't think ticket machines are the answer at unmanned country stations because they are too susceptable to vandalism as the railways discovered to its cost a few years ago when some machines in Cheshire were wrecked within hours of being installed.
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I found out that the ticket machines that were installed on the Mid Cheshire line were at Greenbank and Navigation Rd. Greenbank does have problems with vandalism but isn't a rural station, it's on the edge of the town of Northwich and located within walking distance of 5 schools and a further education college. Navigation Rd's ticket machine was recently removed by Northern Rail because it was 'non econocially viable' to keep it there.
I'm not saying that ticket gates musn't be installed. I'm just questioning whether it would be the best use of Northern Rails' revenue to install them at stations like Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds where many fare dodgers are caught as it stands.
I'm aware people board trains at staffed stations without tickets. There was an example of this on a train I boarded this morning, a group of high school pupils boarded a train at Hale and hid in the toilets until the train got to Knutsford, where they were alighting. The conductor was aware of this and it held up the train for five minutes while the conductor took their details.
For most people travelling before 9:30 the reason people board trains without tickets is that there is no advantage to the passenger of purchasing a ticket prior to boarding the train (except to save the conductor time and not see other passengers fare dogeding.) Conductors can refuse to issue cheap day returns, savers and tickets with railcard discounts to people who board at a staffed station without a ticket, but obviously that dosen't apply to most journeys made before 9:30.