Quote:
Originally Posted by hstudent
With regard to people choosing not to purchase a ticket. One station on the same line as I use, Northwich, has a ticket office which closes at 2:30pm. Northern have made zonal tickets avialable at a café. However, these aren't suitable for people who plan to change trains and while they are cheaper on most journeys, they are more expensive on others. Northwich can have about 20 people making an outward journey on the same afternoon train and the conductor has sometimes only done half the tickets from Northwich when the train is stopping at it's third station after leaving Northwich.
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Yes, by all means increase station ticket office opening hours for honest travellers but also introduce barriers for those that aren't.
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.
Passengers, especially ones only making short journeys, can also help the conductor by trying to have the right money available. It just needs a little bit of thought and forward planning and things can run much more smoothly.