Truro Station refurbishment and installation of ticket barriers (merged topics)

[whole diary]

[vacmanfan]

Flooring in booking hall grouted and completed.. Now 3 different types of floor tile in there! Area by ticket windows not yet re-carpeted.

Disabled toilets on P3 completed but an issue with drainage means they will not be in operation for the near future.

#cockup

[vacmanfan]

Also, FYI^▸ (for your information), delay minutes for the west Cornwall region have been slashed considerably in the recent year.  This is mainly due to the restricted access to the platform at Truro, allowing them to dispatch the train without dozens of 'well-wishers' seeing people off delaying the dispatch process.  Proof it does work.

[vacmanfan]

New canopy on P2 complete, what a difference it makes...

[old original]

...shame the new paint is so patchy, some bits done, some not

[caliwag]

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/About-Us/Media-centre/Transport-Minister-praises-improvements-to-rail-network-in-Cornwall

[Southern Stag]

New canopy certainly does look nice, the difference compared with platform 3 at the moment is remarkable.

[vacmanfan]

Footbridge isn't far off completion - New treads going down. Won't be long before the East end is closed.

[slippy]

Footbridge isn't far off completion - New treads going down. Won't be long before the East end is closed.

Thanks Vacmanfan, you are great!!!

[JayMac]

Thanks Vacmanfan, you are great!!!

It would appear we have a vacmanfan fan! 

[vacmanfan]

Thanks Slippy... Although sarcasm is the lowest form of wit!

Whilst I'm here - New toilets on P2 are done!
Work will now start on disabled and new mess room plus east end bridge.

[vacman]

Everyone who is a realist is a fan of the elusive vacman.......

[vacmanfan]

I'm not

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the West Briton:

Legal way to get 'platform tickets'

A campaign for non-travellers to be allowed back on to Truro Station's platforms has reached new heights.

City resident Daphne Worraker heard people were buying return tickets to Perranwell Station just to get on the platform to assist, greet or see off travelling friends or family members.

A member of Truro Civic Society, she did the same ^ for ^1.70 with a rail card or ^2.60 without ^ and said: "I spent an hour on the platform and watched the trains go past, totally legally."

Staff are advised to use their discretion to let people on to the platform, with requests receiving varying responses.

"If I visit my sister in Bristol the guards always let her on the station to say goodbye, but in Truro some of the staff can be more obstructive," Mrs Worraker said.

Truro councillor Bert Biscoe said: "People can come to the station and buy a return ticket to Perranwell Station to access the platform, so that's what I shall be encouraging."

He said doing so would "artificially increase" traveller numbers to the village, forcing First Great Western to review its status as a request stop, but he hoped to force it to reconsider issuing platform tickets.

A First Great Western spokesman aid: "To ensure the timely departure of services we ask that those wishing to say goodbye to friends and loved ones do so at the gate line. Anyone wishing to wave customers off from the platform should ask permission from our kind and courteous station staff."

[ellendune]

I cannot speak for Truro, but the gate staff at Swindon are always polite when I make such a request and sometimes offer unprompted.  However I have only ever asked on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

[JayMac]

"To ensure the timely departure of services we ask that those wishing to say goodbye to friends and loved ones do so at the gate line."

What? Can we see statistics from stations that don't have a gate line where trains are suffering from untimely departures cause by people saying goodbye to loved ones?

Does this sort of thing cause a delay? (note: the tender moment is rail side):



Being forced to say your goodbyes before the gate line is probably worse as folk may miss their train or end up rushing for it. If loved ones are with you on the platform, waiting for the train to arrive, there's little chance of that happening.

Come on FGW^▸ (First Great Western), where's your romance? Waving goodbye to someone on a departing train is heart warming to do or see. It's a scene that has endured since the dawn of passenger railways and to use the excuse of 'timely departure' is just pathetic. Just one more instance of a lack of empathy toward customers by a TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company).

Oh and what about Granny? How do you help her with her luggage from outside a gate line?