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Chris from Nailsea
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« on: January 30, 2012, 22:12:46 » |
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From the Bristol Evening Post: Rail union members are set to protest over a recommendation to shut down hundreds of railway station ticket offices across the country.
Among the ticket offices on the hit list is the one at Yatton station, on the line between Bristol and Weston-super-Mare.
Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union will demonstrate over the plans at Bristol Temple Meads station on Thursday.
Yatton ticket office is among 30 in the Western region which could close or have its opening hours slashed if the Government follows recommendations made in Sir Roy McNulty's independent report into cost savings on the British railways.
His report recommends shutting ticket offices at the 675 small "Category E" stations and replacing them with ticket machines.
It found that although the majority of ticket sales at these stations take place between 7am and 10am, many ticket offices are open for an average of ten hours a day on weekdays.
The plans have alarmed passengers who would be left having to buy tickets from vending machines, which do not always offer the cheapest fare available.
The hit list of stations was included in the McNulty report, which was presented to Philip Hammond, the then Transport Secretary, in May.
Closing ticket offices at little-used stations was part of a package of measures aimed at cutting ^1 billion a year from the industry's running costs. Many of the stations in the Bristol area are either too big, such as Temple Meads and Parkway, or too small, such as Lawrence Hill and Montpelier, to be affected by the recommendations.
The recommendations have already been criticised by consumer watchdog Passenger Focus and the Transport and Salaried Staffs Association.
The Department for Transport says it is considering the findings of the McNulty as part of a Government review.
Gary Abbott, spokesman for the Bristol branch of the RMT▸ , said the morning protest on Thursday would be attended by the union's president Alex Gordon. He said: "The protest will be about the McNulty report and the consequences."
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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dog box
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« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2012, 23:05:28 » |
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cant think that Yatton is open for 10 hrs a day
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All postings reflect my own personal views and opinions and are not intended to be, nor should be taken as official statements of first great western or first group policy
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inspector_blakey
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« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2012, 01:01:36 » |
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0630 - 1230 M-F, 0700 - 1200 Sa, closed Su according to NRES▸ .
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JaminBob
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« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2012, 22:43:25 » |
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Is this a serious threat?
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2012, 22:53:40 » |
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Personally, I don't think so. See http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=9465.msg98015#msg98015 for more details of the background to this 'threat'. |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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JaminBob
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« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2012, 08:17:20 » |
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Hmm. I don't know... You can see the thinking. - people need to buy tickets anyway, cos if they don't we fine 'em. So they'll use machines or whatever, so in theory we don't lose any revenue - any loss of passengers as part of a compound effect of making rail travel less popular doesn't matter because the industry can't cope with growth anyway - instead of tackling the horrific inefficiencies within the industry, consultancy gravy train, army of loss adjusters, shareholder dividends, and network rail gold plating; its easier just to sack people and make life tougher for our customers.  |
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super tm
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« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2012, 09:30:48 » |
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What McNulty has done is look at the whole country and see what ticket provision there is and then proposed a standardised model to apply.
You can see the logic. If a place the size of Hungerford has no ticket office then why does a place the size of Yatton need one. Personally I think that Hungerford should have a ticket office.
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dog box
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« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2012, 11:00:25 » |
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Hungerford has a peak hours ticket seller as per Nailsea, but without the luxury of any form of hut
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All postings reflect my own personal views and opinions and are not intended to be, nor should be taken as official statements of first great western or first group policy
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John R
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« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2012, 19:45:32 » |
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0630 - 1230 M-F, 0700 - 1200 Sa, closed Su according to NRES▸ .
So what's the logic of Yatton opening longer on weekdays and also on Saturday in comparison to Nailsea, which gets only 3 hours on a weekday. Nailsea has around 10% more passengers by the way. By the way, anyone know when the latest footfall figures are due to be published? I can't find a date on the rail regulator's site. |
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JaminBob
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« Reply #9 on: March 03, 2012, 18:30:22 » |
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Well yes. But arguing for more ticket provision at station A doesn't necessitate arguing for getting rid of provision at another. Nailsea is packed at peaks, but yatton is more evenly spread, its a railhead for a larger area which includes Clevedon and others. It's still 'Yatton for Clevedon' on the signs. But I have nothing to base this on but daily observation.
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John R
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« Reply #10 on: March 03, 2012, 21:41:00 » |
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I wasn't arguing for Yatton's hours to be reduced - just enquiring as to what the rationale could be for the difference when Nailsea has the greater footfall.
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JayMac
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« Reply #11 on: March 03, 2012, 21:58:53 » |
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Yatton has some nice solid Victorian buildings still in situ, ideal for a nice cosy ticket office. Nailsea and Backwell has nowt but a plastic shed. Perhaps that may go some way to explaining why Yatton currently gets better manned ticketing facilities.....  |
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"Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
- Sir Terry Pratchett.
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devon_metro
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« Reply #12 on: March 03, 2012, 22:53:34 » |
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Perhaps FGW▸ consider the folk of Nailsea more trustworthy than Yatton folk, more likely to 'buy before they buy'. It always strikes me when I pass through Yatton what a ghetto it is...  |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #13 on: March 03, 2012, 23:56:33 » |
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... but that didn't deter you from actually living there, however ...  |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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devon_metro
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« Reply #14 on: March 04, 2012, 00:32:48 » |
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I jest of course, Yatton is a lovely place.
I don't however live there.
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