Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Graham, Tom and Ian
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What were the local issues four decades ago?
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
What were the local issues four decades ago?
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Northern Rail’s fare collection failure is bad for all of us
by Lib Dem team on 1 July, 2015
Iain writes in the Cheadle, Gatley & Cheadle Hulme Mail about why Northern Rail’s failure to properly collect fares on our trains simply isn’t good enough.
This is isn’t new, been going on for years. I complained on many occasions that the queue to pay took longer than the journey. They just ignore you, best of luck
I had this last year while doing jury service. When I said where I had got on I was questioned as he didn’t believe me. He even asked how I got onto the platform! In the end I showed him my driving licence to prove I lived in Cheadle so would use Gatley and not Heald Green. All this because the station ticket office was closed and even though there was a guard on the train.. Only he couldn’t be bothered leaving the rear cab.
I had the misfortune to be relying on the train when I did jury service in town. It should have been easy enough – walk the short distance to the station, buy a ticket, get on the train and get off at Piccadilly.
But no, I had to get a very early train to ensure I got there on time, because the service seemed to be cancelled or delayed frequently nearly every single day.
On one particular occasion, the Gatley ticket office had a massive queue. This was apparently because of a technical issue, though the ticket seller there does sometimes clear off for a while to go and buy a paper which can cause a bit of a build up.
While I was in that queue, my train turned up.
I boarded the train with a view to buying a ticket on board to avoid being late in court. No point buying a ticket for a train that has already gone!
Every day, apart from that one, there was someone on the train to buy a ticket from. That day there wasn’t, and I had a lot of explaining to do at other end when I joined a queue to buy a ticket and it turned out they were having a purge on ticketless travellers.
I’m all for stamping out crime, and to be fair the guy at Picadilly was reasonable enough in that he didn’t fine me, but this smelt of a total set up and I’m probably on one of their databases because of this.
I was especially annoyed because I was claiming back my fare from the court and had nothing to gain by not having a ticket. And had I not been doing a public duty, I wouldn’t have been there in the first place!
Yes, I know the small print and the letter of the law isn’t in my favour on this one (yes theoretically there was an opportunity to buy a ticket, though it would have then been for a train that was long gone), but to me this has become just another example of rubbish service from train company.
So with this, the regular delays and last minute cancellations, I use my car and not the train. And it’s not like driving is being made any easier these days…
Sounds like we could do with a local pre-paid travel card system to avoid queuing at the station or on the train. I have noticed that with the computer systems installed at stations now, it takes longer to buy a ticket at the counter than it did with the old racks of pre-printed tickets, resulting in queues at the counter.
Its rubbish.
Airport to Piccadilly has too few staff on the trains. Can’t get a ticket even you WANT to pay.
The poor guard has too many stations in a short period of time. He has no chance of collecting all fares.
Needs a solution that fits the service and station services.
Northern rail are paid to solve issues like thisb- it’s their job!
Let them sort it.
I too have been on trains when the conductor has never left his cab. Worse still there has been no-one at Piccadilly collecting fares so whole train loads of people travel for free. This came to a head one night when we were in the back coach and saw the guy go in his cab and never emerge. I wrote to NR who investigated and responded to confirm no fares had been collected, but it’s still the same now. What about ticket machines in the platforms? It’s a disgrace basically, they should lose their franchise.