Great Western Coffee Shop

I travelled down to St Ives on Monday and back to-day.  On Monday (as the last time I headed west) there was no ticket check beyond Plymouth (and because of this and no announcement a passenger in coach H got overcarried from Liskeard to Bodmin Road, but that's another story).  To-day, we had a 100% check after St Austell.  But then a new crew got on at Plymouth and all the Ticket Examiner asked for as she passed through the train was for "any tickets that haven't been checked?".  This may be OK for a TE with a good memory who can recognise new people on the train, but surely not for her first pass through the train.  In fact there was a lady in the first class near us who got on at Plymouth and never showed a ticket at all (at least as far as Reading where I got off).

My point is.. what is the point of a TE asking for passengers to "volunteer" for a ticket check? How many passengers are going to volunteer the fact that they're travelling without a ticket or in First with a Standard ticket?

It shows a general tendency for rail companies to embrace a service rather than a compliance ethos. My morning commute is on a Cross-Country train that gets full after Bromsgrove. The conductor usually makes a tannoy announcement that he will be passing through for customers who require a ticket only, before wandering past without any attempt to check the tickets of all passengers. This strategy is justified by the statement that there are barriers at the next two stations, University and Birmingham New Street. However some passengers use those stations as an interchange with no need to approach the barriers, which may not be operating at all times and, in the case of New Street, can be avoided. 

I've travelled on FGW trains between Nailsea and Bristol on occasions where the train staff have walked through the carriages asking "Does anyone need to buy a ticket?", rather than asking for 'all tickets from Nailsea, please'.

I'd suggest that's a sensible approach - particularly when the Nailsea ticket office is unmanned: the on-train staff don't have time to check all tickets, and many people will have bought them from the TVMs before boarding. The train staff are merely inviting just those passengers who still need to buy a ticket to do so - bearing in mind that the TVMs at Nailsea won't accept cash (for obvious reasons!), and the barriers at Bristol and Bath will account for a large proportion of such commuters.  ;)

Definitely a sensible idea.  The revenue gained from ticket sales probably outweighs that lost by fare evaders and also increases people's opinion of the railway (i.e. they don't need to queue at the barrier).

Am I only one who doesn't bother showing my ticket when asked for "unchecked tickets"?  I don't really fancy having my railcard wallet re-inked every journey and it seems a waste of time taking the ticket out of my pocket only to put it back again having been stamped by someone who didn't even look at it.  However I always present a ticket when asked for tickets from a named station.

It's tough striking a balance that pleases both those looking at a person who hasn't had their ticket checked, wondering if they've paid or not and those who tut at being asked to present their ticket more than once on a journey "I've already shown you" - a comment that comes more often than not when I am a different age / gender / race than the previous Train Manager.
My personal approach is that if I'm going to be on a train for more than three hours then I'll do a full check, if not then I'll do a callover from whichever stations are appropriate.

I think you've got it about right, readytostart.  I don't think anyone travelling from Penzance to Paddington would object to just 2 full checks (ie 1 before Plymouth, 1 after Plymouth) on a 5+ hour journey.  But cleary the situation on short journeys into Bristol (as mentioned above) is different.

I must admit to being a bit mystified by wehrwulf's comment that "It shows a general tendency for rail companies to embrace a service rather than a compliance ethos".  I wonder if there are any more examples of this.

Brucey, just noticed that on the Truro Barrier topic you stated: 

"I believe there should be effective and visible on-train ticket checks, as this is the only way of making sure someone has a valid ticket."

Have you mellowed since last May?

My post here shows that the "visible on-train ticket checks" that I want simply aren't happening; as 10 times out of 10, I am not challenged when I don't offer a ticket on main line services.