Camborne Ticket Office

[whole diary]

[Tinminer]

Camborne Ticket Office is supposed to be open from 06:30 to 14:00 daily, yet when I was there recently (09/10/08) to catch the 08:48 to York, it had not opened for the morning.

OK, I only wanted to go to Redruth, but as there was not ticket collector/train manager available, I could not buy a ticket at all!

I traveled free of charge, but what about the lost income to FGW^▸ (First Great Western)?

How many others don't pay traveling the short journey to Redruth due to the closed ticket office?

When I asked in the cafe at Camborne before I caught the train, the cafe owner said that, in the past week, the ticket office had only been open for a couple of hours - in the entire week!

How much revenue is FGW losing, and how much in lost customer service, &, therefore, customers??

[Chris from Nailsea]

A very good question, Tinminer!

The cynic in me suggests that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) may perhaps weigh up the cost of providing a human being / ticket vending machine, at a rural station, compared with the potential lost revenue - and they perhaps make a commercial decision that it saves money to just not bother?

Any comments, FGW?

[chrisoates]

Camborne Ticket Office is supposed to be open from 06:30 to 14:00 daily, yet when I was there recently (09/10/08) to catch the 08:48 to York, it had not opened for the morning.

OK, I only wanted to go to Redruth, but as there was not ticket collector/train manager available, I could not buy a ticket at all!

I traveled free of charge, but what about the lost income to FGW^▸ (First Great Western)?

How many others don't pay traveling the short journey to Redruth due to the closed ticket office?

When I asked in the cafe at Camborne before I caught the train, the cafe owner said that, in the past week, the ticket office had only been open for a couple of hours - in the entire week!

How much revenue is FGW losing, and how much in lost customer service, &, therefore, customers??

The non presence of, or lack of openness of, a ticket office only causes losses from passengers who are willing to pay a fare.
There are plenty who don't intend to pay even if the office is open.

An HST^▸ (High Speed Train) must be impossible to check in 5 minutes or a two/four car rammed with schoolkids.

There'll be plenty of toilet activity to avoid or get behind the TM^‡(resolve).

The branchlines and short stops must suffer terribly.

At St Ives I've seen the TM stand in the narrow exit slope asking to see tickets.

At Penzance I've occasionally been asked to produce a ticket before boarding HSTs' on platform 4 - this doesn't quite work as you can walk through the station concourse and hop on at the front end.

   


     

[G.Uard]

It is frustrating for both staff and passengers when ticket offices fail to open.  It is also difficult for the conductor/TM^‡(resolve), (who is primarily responsible for the safety of passengers), to push through a crowded train and cover revenue duties as per company requirements when ticket offices are open.  When platform-based ticketing systems are down, the task becomes doubly complicated. There is however, nothing to prevent payment of a fare after leaving the train, when facilities exist to do so.

Time after time, I see passengers cram the front coach at popular stops on Bristol suburban routes in the often mistaken hope that they will avoid payment. (For the uninitiated, trains can also be worked from the front and many peak time services carry  additional revenue staff).  That said, there is a legal requirement for passengers without tickets to make all reasonable efforts to purchase one.  Ticket purchase is not a lottery based on whether the conductor/TM can reach you in time.  Deliberate attempts to avoid payment constitute a criminal offence, pure and simple.

[vacman]

If you travelled from Camborne to Redruth for free then it's YOUR responsibilty to pay for your journey so you should have paid at Redruth when you got there, Camborne ticket office is useless even when it's open, it is closed between 0745 and 0810 on weekdays as "staff are attending to other duties", those duties being tea drinking, this is by the way just before the busiest train of the morning at 0809 so people are travelling free every day.

[Tinminer]

If you travelled from Camborne to Redruth for free then it's YOUR responsibilty to pay for your journey so you should have paid at Redruth when you got there, Camborne ticket office is useless even when it's open, it is closed between 0745 and 0810 on weekdays as "staff are attending to other duties", those duties being tea drinking, this is by the way just before the busiest train of the morning at 0809 so people are travelling free every day.

So, why does no-one at FGW^▸ (First Great Western) do anything about it? Are senior FGW managers aware of this loss of revenue?

I DID^» (Didcot Parkway - next trains) try to purchase a ticket upon arrival at Redruth, but both ticket windows were closed - both the train I had got off, and another train were in the station, meaning that both staff were dealing with dispatch of those trains.

I had an appointment in Redruth, so I could not wait 5-10 mins for staff to open ticket windows up. I arrived early at Camborne with plenty of time to purchase ticket - I did NOT try and catch an earlier train so I could have some spare time at my destination to wait to purchase a ticket AFTER I had made my journey!!

Incidentally, there is nothing in the ticket office at Camborne saying that it is shut between 07.45 & 08.10. I arrived at 08.05, and there was no staff around at all, and no-one apart from train staff, to dispatch the train at 08.48.

If FGW are incapable of employing reliable staff to man a ticket office at its advertised opening hours, then they should install a ticket machine.

If I and other shoppers went to Tesco/Sainsbury/etc,  at their advertised opening hours, only to find the store shut on several occasions, they would soon go out of business! (Supermarket customer services reply ,"ah, but you should have purchased your groceries BEFORE you needed them - we cannot guarantee our stores will be open at advertised times...")

[Tinminer]

A very good question, Tinminer!

The cynic in me suggests that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) may perhaps weigh up the cost of providing a human being / ticket vending machine, at a rural station, compared with the potential lost revenue - and they perhaps make a commercial decision that it saves money to just not bother?

Any comments, FGW?

It is NOT a rural station though, Chris. It is within an urban area (CPR), of over 35,000 inhabitants. I think the population of Camborne itself is over circa 12,000.

The number of annual passengers is above 140,000 IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly).

Good point about the commercial decision - but why don't FGW say that the office is closed rather than advertise that it is open?

[John R]

If you travelled from Camborne to Redruth for free then it's YOUR responsibilty to pay for your journey so you should have paid at Redruth when you got there, Camborne ticket office is useless even when it's open, it is closed between 0745 and 0810 on weekdays as "staff are attending to other duties", those duties being tea drinking, this is by the way just before the busiest train of the morning at 0809 so people are travelling free every day.

Does this mean they are due and have a 25 minute tea break after just 1 hr 15 mins on duty? If true, and this is leading up to the busiest train then it is ridiculous.   

[Timmer]

Are senior FGW^▸ (First Great Western) managers aware of this loss of revenue?

If they weren't aware of this they probably are now after reading this post as FGW do drop by the coffee shop that is named after them from time to time 

[Chris from Nailsea]

... as Andrew Haines was telling me, only the other day ... 

[vacman]

Tinminer, PLEASE complain about Camborne as on train staff are gettin peed off with the place, a ticket machine is required at the station along with a booking clerk! Camborne is far from rural and is a bloody busy station that has totaly inadequate facilities! the more people complain the better! Staff are forever complaining!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Tinminer, thanks for your comments - yes, I honestly wasn't being patronising about Camborne as a 'rural location'.  It sounds rather like Nailsea, actually - we have a population of about 18,000, but with all the surrounding villages, it's more like 25,000?

We have also had problems in the past with our local station being advertised as 'manned', when it blatantly wasn't - and with the trashing of one of our ticket machines, and no chap with even an Avantix^▸ (Ticket Issuing System used on board trains) machine to make up the shortfall, the burden has fallen on the on-train staff to sell tickets.

And, to give credit where it's due, our local FGW^▸ (First Great Western) train staff have always been happy to sell tickets on board - thanks, FGW!

However, we now have an official confirmation, in posters at Nailsea, that our local chap will be fully trained and equipped with an Avantix machine, from next Wednesday - so, a result! 

[devon_metro]

And, to give credit where it's due, our local FGW^▸ (First Great Western) train staff have always been happy to sell tickets on board - thanks, FGW!

However, we now have an official confirmation, in posters at Nailsea, that our local chap will be fully trained and equipped with an Avantix^▸ (Ticket Issuing System used on board trains) machine, from next Wednesday - so, a result! 

Commission!! Can't blame guards for wanting to sell a few tickets!