Crewe station ticket barriers and new ticket office

[crehld]

My first visit to Crewe in three weeks and things are changing.

Firstly we have new ticket barriers in the subway which leads to the Weston Road car park. They don't seem operational yet but I'm guessing all one has to is flick a switch. There are four CCTV cameras protecting the gate line. This seems a bit like over kill to me given how small it is. Does their presence mean they are to be a remotely operated barriers rather than staffed?

Barriers are also going in on the main concourse. No precise location is given but I'm guessing the " gate expectations" poster is a pretty good indication.

There are also going to be changes to the concourse as a whole, and a new airy spacy with an open plan ticket office and increased retail space is promised. Anything to improve the drab and depressing welcome passengers currently receive is great. But Does anyone know if the new ticket office is increasing capacity? What about the travel centre; will this continue to exist?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would doubt there would be a separate travel centre - most advance bookings are done online and so the regular ticket office will be able to handle the few remaining ones that aren't. For immediate travel with a known ticket, TVMs take the "don't want to queue" market.

 

[Paul Kelly]

There are four CCTV cameras protecting the gate line. This seems a bit like over kill to me

I may be scaremongering here, but isn't one of the main reasons behind the government's insistence on TOCs installing gatelines everywhere that it helps line up people for tracking on CCTV?! It also ties in nicely with their continued push for acceptance of smart ticketing: every time somebody passes through a gateline with a uniquely-identifiable smartcard they can be matched up with the CCTV footage.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I may be scaremongering here, but isn't one of the main reasons behind the government's insistence on TOCs installing gatelines everywhere that it helps line up people for tracking on CCTV?!

No, it isn't. It is because the Government don't wish to pay subsidy to TOCs only for it to be lost because some passengers seem to consider that paying for their journey is not necessary.

 

[crehld]

For immediate travel with a known ticket, TVMs take the "don't want to queue" market.

Which reminds me, we are also to receive "new and improved fast ticket machines". I wonder what sort they'll be? I wonder if they'll make the Any Permitted fare to Manchester more obvious rather than assuming every one wants the Virgin fare?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Which reminds me, we are also to receive "new and improved fast ticket machines". I wonder what sort they'll be? I wonder if they'll make the Any Permitted fare to Manchester more obvious rather than assuming every one wants the Virgin fare?

So far as I've seen, once you select the destination you get a list of all fares on the VT machines.

 

[crehld]

I may be scaremongering here, but isn't one of the main reasons behind the government's insistence on TOCs installing gatelines everywhere that it helps line up people for tracking on CCTV?! It also ties in nicely with their continued push for acceptance of smart ticketing: every time somebody passes through a gateline with a uniquely-identifiable smartcard they can be matched up with the CCTV footage.

I don't think this is the case,mainly because I don't believe the railway industry has the requisite capacity or skills to manage and analyse this amount data. That said 4 seems a little over the top, and it does feel like you're entering a top security prison. Sure one camera would suffice?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

So far as I've seen, once you select the destination you get a list of all fares on the VT machines.

Perhaps you've seen the new and improved version?

To be fair I don't have much cause to use the VT TVMs save for collecting pre booked tickets. Given my inability to work the confounded machines I find the ticket office much more efficient for any last minute purchases!

 

[ag51ruk]

The new barriers have been installed at the main entrance over the last few nights but are not operational yet - only 5 gates (including 2 wider ones) which I suspect will prove a bottleneck

 

[crehld]

It will. I was under the impression they were removing the old ticket office to open the whole concourse up, which would have provided more space.

 

[ag51ruk]

Gates appear to be finished and switched on now, but open this evening. There is a video monitor of the gates in the underpass and the control panel next to the main entrance includes controls for the underpass gates as well - so it does look as though those will be controlled remotely from the main entrance

 

[iainbhx]

Gates appear to be finished and switched on now, but open this evening. There is a video monitor of the gates in the underpass and the control panel next to the main entrance includes controls for the underpass gates as well - so it does look as though those will be controlled remotely from the main entrance

The barriers were in operation this morning when I passed through them at 8am, there wasn't much of a queue exiting, but a small one to enter the station. When I arrived back at 5pm, they were open.

Same for the new barriers at New Street, there are dire warnings on arrival every night now, but I have yet to see them manned at 6:20pm.

 

[sheff1]

The barriers were in operation this morning .... When I arrived back at 5pm, they were open.

Same for the new barriers at New Street, there are dire warnings on arrival every night now, but I have yet to see them manned at 6:20pm.

When I commented on another thread that the Stockport barriers were open and unmanned within a week of them 'going live' a rather condescending reply said:

We are still in summer holiday times ..... why bother until the kids go back to school and the commuters come back to the trains? Its kind of how it works.

I assume therefore that school holidays are still in full swing in Cheshire and Birmingham !

 

[BigVern]

The new ticket machines in Crewe seem to be a standard design. Sometimes you get your receipt printed on ticket stock. But other times it is printed from a paper roll that coils in such a way that you cannot get to it as you collect your tickets. Yesterday, after much fiddling and groping I managed to get mine - plus I got the receipt of the previous 3customers!
The card number keypad is shielded so that the top row cannot be seen unless you bend down.
I pointed out these issues to a 'welcome host' - she suggested I use the ticket office instead!
I agree that 5 gates is too few for the main entrance - it is only a matter of time before somebody gets crushed.

As for Stockport - what a circus. It is chaos every time I pass through. Why on earth didn't they use the full width of the undercroft for the barrier?

 

[TEW]

Same for the new barriers at New Street, there are dire warnings on arrival every night now, but I have yet to see them manned at 6:20pm.

I passed through on the opening day, a Sunday, and they were in use at about 19:00.

 

[iainbhx]

I passed through on the opening day, a Sunday, and they were in use at about 19:00.

In which case they weren't in use at peak times on Monday. Yes, I commute from Birmingham to Crewe.

 

[crehld]

Had a chance to properly use these barriers yesterday. The installation of the barriers in the subway is rather inconvenient for those of us who use the Weston Road car park or the bus stop on Weston Road and need to use the ticket office. Rather than access the station directly we now have to walk around the outside of the station to the front entrance, but I imagine there are relatively few of us in that situation, so no big deal on reflection.

I was at the main entrance at about 08:45 yesterday and it was quite evident there are not enough barriers to allow a smooth and swift flow of passengers. I overheard a conversation another passenger had with one of the staff who was complaining there were not enough. The reply was that at peak times when things get crowded they'll just open the barriers to ensure people keep moving. In some ways this confirms my suspicion that the installation of these barriers is merely to fulfil the franchise requirement rather than to conduct any meaningful revenue protection activities. Had they opened up the concourse more and installed more gates (which I initially thought was the plan) this wouldn't be a problem.

That said the barriers accepted my ranger, so in that respect they are already out-performing those installed at Stockport which seem to reject everything by default.

I exited via the Weston Road entrance in the evening about 22:00. The barriers were open. However, I now count six CCTV cameras all focused on the gateline; surely just one wide angle camera would have sufficed? After closer inspection there is a help point for customers to use if they need assistance, but it is not immediately obvious.

I also tried out the new TVMs in the main entrance to pick up some tickets for Sunday. They have four of them installed and none of them worked. I was able to put in my card and enter my booking number, but the whole thing froze when I pushed "Confirm". Explained this to one of the staff who openly confirmed "they're rubbish".

It should be added that the staff I observed were excellent, friendly and helpful to all they were assisting. As usual, Virgin have prioritized customer service skills and in their selection process.

 

[QueensCurve]

My first visit to Crewe in three weeks and things are changing.

Firstly we have new ticket barriers in the subway which leads to the Weston Road car park. They don't seem operational yet but I'm guessing all one has to is flick a switch. There are four CCTV cameras protecting the gate line. This seems a bit like over kill to me given how small it is. Does their presence mean they are to be a remotely operated barriers rather than staffed?

Barriers are also going in on the main concourse. No precise location is given but I'm guessing the " gate expectations" poster is a pretty good indication.

There are also going to be changes to the concourse as a whole, and a new airy spacy with an open plan ticket office and increased retail space is promised. Anything to improve the drab and depressing welcome passengers currently receive is great. But Does anyone know if the new ticket office is increasing capacity? What about the travel centre; will this continue to exist?

What a retrograde step.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I may be scaremongering here, but isn't one of the main reasons behind the government's insistence on TOCs installing gatelines everywhere that it helps line up people for tracking on CCTV?! It also ties in nicely with their continued push for acceptance of smart ticketing: every time somebody passes through a gateline with a uniquely-identifiable smartcard they can be matched up with the CCTV footage.

I think that is precisely why HM Government are so keen on ticket barriers. The ever-watchful eye of the state.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

So far as I've seen, once you select the destination you get a list of all fares on the VT machines.

I understand Virgin are repainting the machines a different colour to avoid the impression they only sell Virgin tickets.

 

[TEW]

That said the barriers accepted my ranger, so in that respect they are already out-performing those installed at Stockport which seem to reject everything by default.

Quite possible that the barriers are still set to accept all tickets. Try using a Rover again in a couple of weeks, and see what happens.

 

[ag51ruk]

The new ticket office opened today, at the back of where the travel centre was - three positions in an open plan style to replace the travel centre as well, which has now closed andwill be converted to a retail unit.

 

[martinsh]

I think the barriers are only manned on one shift. Two weeks ago it was the early shift, last week (possibly because Crewe Alex were at home on the Tuesday) it was the late shift (still manned at 7 pm, but not 9.30 pm )

One thing that surprised me about the barriers, is that thwy seem to return your ticket to you even if Crewe is the destination. [ Not yet tried entering an invalid ticket ! ]

And yes the "new faster ticket machines" are slower and more unreliable than the previous ones ...

 

[childwallblues]

Whilst I was at Crewe yesterday morning a girl came up to one of the barrier staff and said that she wished to use the cash machine. She was let through. I hung around and after five minutes she had not returned. I had a valid ticket to travel so accessed the station and there was no one at the cash machines. Obviously this young lady had found a way to get on and presumably board a train without a ticket.
Also I note that the W H Smith outlet outside the barrier has closed.

 

[crehld]

Had cause to use what was billed as the 'new light and airy open plan ticket office'. It's dark and dingy and has absolutely no natural light flowing in. The artist's impression of what the new concourse would look like was clearly misleading. I hope the excellent staff working in there have been given vitamin D tablets!

The barriers have gone from 'accept everything' (including collection receipts!!) to 'Stockport mode' (i.e. reject everything). Out of about 50 people I observed using the barrier line this morning all but two had their ticket rejected. Their tickets were all scrutinized closely by staff who let passengers through so I assume all held valid tickets. This caused much crowding around the barrier line on both sides. And I feel for the lone member of staff left to deal with this while colleagues were busy having a natter round the corner.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The barriers have gone from 'accept everything' (including collection receipts!!) to 'Stockport mode' (i.e. reject everything). Out of about 50 people I observed using the barrier line this morning all but two had their ticket rejected. Their tickets were all scrutinized closely by staff who let passengers through so I assume all held valid tickets. This caused much crowding around the barrier line on both sides. And I feel for the lone member of staff left to deal with this while colleagues were busy having a natter round the corner.

Some barriers are more stupid than others.
Chester seems to allow all valid tickets and is relatively painless.
But every time I break my journey at Cardiff (with a ticket to beyond Cardiff), I have to go through a charade of having my ticket rejected, present it at the manual gate and getting the daft answer "because it doesn't say Cardiff on the ticket" response to my question "why".
All the time holding up me and those behind.
Same again 10 minutes later on re-entry (maybe also later in the day if I break my journey on the way back).
Why can't the barriers accept all valid tickets?

 

[crehld]

Well I stepped off the train at around 9am this morning (an hour delayed ). The barriers were rejecting lots of tickets again. A couple of minutes later they were just all opened up.

However, upon my return this afternoon it accepted my ticket without bleeping at me so perhaps they're 'learning'?

 

[QueensCurve]

There are four CCTV cameras protecting the gate line. This seems a bit like over kill to me given how small it is. Does their presence mean they are to be a remotely operated barriers rather than staffed?

There are always CCTV cameras overlooking the barriers. The reason they are is to line us up for the ever-watchful eye of the state.

 

[crehld]

There are always CCTV cameras overlooking the barriers. The reason they are is to line us up for the ever-watchful eye of the state.

'The state' could quite have easily managed to cover the whole area with one, max two camera. It just seems excessive (and no dount expensive)!

 

[cool110]

Chester seems to allow all valid tickets and is relatively painless.

Are the smartcard readers in use yet? Otherwise Saveaways on Walrus will be a problem.

 

[iainbhx]

Well I stepped off the train at around 9am this morning (an hour delayed ). The barriers were rejecting lots of tickets again. A couple of minutes later they were just all opened up.

However, upon my return this afternoon it accepted my ticket without bleeping at me so perhaps they're 'learning'?

They appeared to have reverted to accepting everything this morning, this is possibly because they had to open the barriers up several times during the morning peak because the queues were hazardous. It would also help if some of the "welcome hosts" didn't stand in the way so that they effectively block one gate whilst helping people at another. I can't help feeling they needed a couple more gates there at times.

 

[childwallblues]

They appeared to have reverted to accepting everything this morning, this is possibly because they had to open the barriers up several times during the morning peak because the queues were hazardous. It would also help if some of the "welcome hosts" didn't stand in the way so that they effectively block one gate whilst helping people at another. I can't help feeling they needed a couple more gates there at times.

Agreed. The barrier area is too small for the station throughput. And the barrier "controls" being part of the line reduces the number of barriers possible.

 

[craigybagel]

Had cause to use what was billed as the 'new light and airy open plan ticket office'. It's dark and dingy and has absolutely no natural light flowing in. The artist's impression of what the new concourse would look like was clearly misleading. I hope the excellent staff working in there have been given vitamin D tablets!

It's not finished yet.