Problems with “Buy Before You Board” at smaller stations.

[tkboomer2]

My local station is Altrincham and I can see quite a few problems which would occur if conductors on trains fined people for boarding at a staffed station without a ticket.

Firstly a number of ticket offices only have one member of staff present at any time with no alternative ticket machine. This can for busy trains result in people who turn up more than 5 minutes before the train is due not being able to purchase a ticket before the train leaves. (Passenger Focus state that rail companies should allow passengers to buy tickets on the train if they have had to queue for more than 5 minutes.)

Also the member staff present is required to undertake other duties such as answer the phone which can result in no tickets being issued for a couple of minutes. The staff member can’t ignore the ringing phone as it may be news about a delayed or cancelled train.

Secondly the location of ticket offices can be a problem. At Hale and Knutsford accessibility between the ticket office and at least one of the platforms is very poor. At all these stations there is a step free entry to the platform for Chester bound trains, but the ticket offices have to be accessed via a footbridge. This makes it impossible for someone in a wheelchair to purchase a ticket before they board and also makes it very difficult for elderly people and people with baby’s buggies.

The location of the ticket office at Altrincham is particularly poor as it is located next to the Metrolink platform (former electric train platform) and not near the rail platform. If Metrolink want to close their platform for works then it would mean passengers would have to take a 10 minute walk around the roads to get between the rail platforms and the ticket office.

I’m aware that many people travel without tickets. This would be best illustrated by the 15:05 Chester to Manchester via Altrincham service on a school day. This train carries a lot of school children (about 20 board at Greenbank and about 80 board at Knutsford.) Whenever the conductor asks one of them for a ticket they always ask to buy a single, which suggests that many travel for free to school in the morning when the train would be even busier (carrying a lot of commuters as well as school children). The problem is that even if half of those boarding at Knutsford were to purchase a ticket before they board then the conductor would still not have enough time to sell a ticket to everyone else before they left the train. (Assuming that he or she could actually make their way through the crowded train.)

I’m also aware that on busy trains people wanting the next station will board the train at the opposite end from where the conductor opens the doors from in the hope that the conductor doesn‘t have time to check all the tickets before the next station. On my local line this occurs often for people travelling between Lostock Gralam and Northwich and between Hale or Navigation Road and Altrincham.

Maybe railway staff with machines like the conductor has should travel between smaller stations asking to see tickets as people leave the trains. Then they would be able to sell tickets to people who didn’t have tickets and it wouldn’t mean it’s a certainty that if you avoid the conductor then you won’t be asked for a ticket.