Severn Beach line - timetables, engineering work, closures, incidents (merged topics)

[whole diary]

[thetrout]

My suggestion is to have a Parking Meter type of machine (I imagine these are fairly cheap and vandal-proof), where the minimum for a ticket to be issued is 75p (i.e. the railcard price for a single).  This ticket can then be exchanged for a real ticket or used as a permit to travel for longer journeys.  At least FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will then take a minimum of 75p from every passenger who manages to get away without a ticket.

This is a very good idea. My understanding (open to correction) is that the fares on this line are charged by zones. So programming one of these in a similar way to the way you would pay to park your car by amount of time, surely cannot be too hard. Sort of like the self service bus ticket machines they have in london. Then these could be exchanged for a zero excess ticket on the train or at a staffed station.

The other problem is that the system needs to be 'cash only'. Besides the machines being slow to print anyway, it's the people purchasing a ^1.50 single fare with a credit card (mostly because they've been caught out trying to fare-dodge).

Whilst I accept that in most cases this could be due to faredodgers. I have a business credit card to cover my rail travel from my company, withdrawing cash on this is a no no as the company gets charged alot more than if it were a standard card payment. Also I have more paperwork to fill out, I have to justify on a form why i needed to pay cash and then (expectedly) return any leftovers. So I have been in the situation where I have paid a ^1.20 fare with a company credit card. I could use my own funds I suppose in this situation, but our accounts department... are somewhat a tad slowwwww in reimburstment... I try to avoid this...!

[Brucey]

If an easier cash-only tear-off & punch ticketing system was adopted - that would save all the hassle. I understand this would be non-standard - but so far, the furthest station I've heard anyone ask for is Bath Spa.

I've heard Brighton several times.  I'm buying tickets to Cosham and Havant on a regular basis.  I've even heard someone ask for a ticket to Manchester on one occasion.

[JayMac]

I start many a journey from SHH and have purchased tickets to many exotic locations beyond Bath Spa - often having to help the guard/ATE find the correct fare in Avantix^▸ (Ticket Issuing System used on board trains). I've also purchased multiple splits as well.

I guess it's my fault the the guards/ATEs aren't getting through the whole train!!!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for your interesting suggestion, rich0099 - and welcome to the Coffee Shop forum! 

[Brucey]

Another suggestion to speed up ticket issuing on the train could be to have a pad of tickets specifically for SVB line fares paid by cash where the ticket can be torn out of the pad.

It would need simple tick boxes.  List all the stations twice, tick one for origin, other for destination (or even just three options of "Zone 1", "Zone 2" and "Both Zones").  Then a box for railcard (if any), single/return and another tick box for the price (I think there are about 8 options, including railcard discounts).  Then rather than faffing around on Avantix^▸ (Ticket Issuing System used on board trains), these tickets can be issued in the time it takes for the guard to tick 5 boxes and stamp the date on the ticket.

Obviously, the guard would still have an Avantix machine to sell other tickets and take card payments.

Edit: Here is an example that I've just put together very quickly.  The section labelled guard's use only could be used for the guard to stamp/write the date when each leg of the journey has been taken.

[Hafren]

Assuming the biggest problem is in the morning peak, and that the majority of passengers want day returns to Temple Meads, how about giving the conductors a couple of carnets. In the morning there won't be too many railcards, what with minimum fares on certain types. A carnet of day returns CLI-BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) and another for SVB-BRI would probably be sufficient, given the zonal fare structure. The conductor would just need to grip the ticket with a clear date stamp - and there'd be no need for thermal coating on the tickets, so hopefully the date would dry quickly and remain clear! Perhaps with some small print giving an expiry date per batch to reduce the risk of tampering.

Maybe some weekly season carnets would help as well.

[TrainSpy]

My suggestion is to have a Parking Meter type of machine (I imagine these are fairly cheap and vandal-proof), where the minimum for a ticket to be issued is 75p (i.e. the railcard price for a single).  This ticket can then be exchanged for a real ticket or used as a permit to travel for longer journeys.  At least FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will then take a minimum of 75p from every passenger who manages to get away without a ticket.

This is a very good idea. My understanding (open to correction) is that the fares on this line are charged by zones. So programming one of these in a similar way to the way you would pay to park your car by amount of time, surely cannot be too hard. Sort of like the self service bus ticket machines they have in london. Then these could be exchanged for a zero excess ticket on the train or at a staffed station.

Exactly the solution FGW are looking at...solves everything

[rich0099]

er... not that I want to doubt the general honesty of mankind (cynic that I am), there will still be people who choose to board without bothering to use the machine.

I don't suppose any system is foolproof - but I'm sure 'on train' ticketing with a quicker system would catch more fares.

[Brucey]

I travelled through Redland station on Friday and again this evening.

The information point was there and working on Friday.  Today it wasn't.  The front part (screen, button and speaker panel) had been removed with just the bracket (rear shell) remaining on the wall.

Does anyone know what happened to it?  Is this a case of a local thief thinking it will look good on their mantelpiece or was there something wrong with it?

[Brucey]

I passed through Redland again yesterday and the information point still hasn't returned.  The box on the wall is currently taped up.

[Oxman]

It was stolen. The thieves must have thought there was osme value in it - there isn't!

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) press release:

BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE APPEAL FOR INFORMATION AFTER CUSTOMER HELP POINTS STOLEN - BRISTOL

British Transport Police (BTP) officers are appealing for information after two Customer Help Points were stolen from stations on the Severn Beach rail line in Bristol.
 
The computerised systems were taken from Redland and Montpelier rail stations between Thursday 25 and Sunday 28 February.

As well as providing passengers with up-to-the-minute travel information, the devices are also designed to be used in the event of an emergency at the stations.
 
BTP officers investigating the thefts, and bosses at train company First Great Western, say the Customer Help Points are of no use to anyone outside the rail industry and the thieves may have taken them believing them to be of high value.
 
Sgt Mark Harris, of BTP^s Neighbourhood Policing Team, which patrols the Severn Beach route, urged anyone with information about the whereabouts of the machines to contact police in confidence.
 
Sgt Harris said: ^It may be that these devices have been taken as a prank or that those responsible believed they may have included computer parts that are of high re-sale value. It could be that they have been dumped or left somewhere and members of the public have seen them but were unaware what they were. I would urge anyone with any information about the thefts, or the whereabouts of the missing Customer Help Points, to contact us in the strictest confidence. They could be your lifeline if an emergency takes place on the railway or at your local station so it is vital for everyone that they are located and replaced.^

First Great Western Station Manager for the area, Richard Morrish, said: "The Customer Help Points are of no use to anyone outside the rail industry. However these machines do help people within the community and it's a shame that the minority have to ruin things for the majority in this way. We thank all of our our customers for their patience while we endeavour to rectify the problem."

Anyone with information is asked to call British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting incident number 172 of 02/03/2010.

[Brucey]

The Redland one was certainly there at 12:51 on Friday 26th February.

I'm still pretty surprised that there isn't any CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) at these stations.  I've been there at about 6:30am previously and it can feel very isolated, so the emergency button could be very important.

[Graz]

I went with my friend up to Severn Beach saturday and noticed the ones at Montpelier and Redland both were just the cases with tape over them. As far as customer information screens, I would have preferred the orange/black LED displays like South West trains have all over small stations but I definitely think the emergency button is useful (except when kids play with it, which I have seen happen.)

CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) must be implemented at these stations!

[Brucey]

Perhaps this might be a lesson to the designers of these displays that having a tracking device fitted could be a pretty good idea - can't imagine they are particularly expensive these days.

I agree with Graz, the orange LED display would have been more suitable and probably less prone to damage/theft.  The station already had an emergency button, so this could have been left in place and perhaps given a lick of paint.